Funny Girl (1968)

Directed by William Wyler. Starring Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Kay Medford, Mae Questel, Lee Allen. [G]

“Non-biographical musical bio” of singer/actress Fanny Brice, as adapted from the 1964 Broadway production, suffers like so many big movie musicals from the 50s and 60s do: too much movie, too little show. In her film acting debut, Streisand demonstrates agility and timing as a comedienne, and there’s certainly no faulting her singing voice, but the dramatic scenes elude her. It’s not all her fault, however—Isobel Lennart’s script addresses Fanny’s setbacks and domestic friction with a leaden pen, and few of her co-stars are up to the challenge (Sharif’s fire and charms are muted, even when arguing with Fanny, and Pidgeon is a stiff as Ziegfeld). A big, swooping camera shot of Babs on a ferry belting out “Don’t Rain on My Parade” is the kind of artless spectacle a kitschy melodrama like this needs to soar; what luck, they’ve got one! Other songs include “People”, “I’m the Greatest Star”, and the title tune written new for the film. Streisand nabbed an acting Oscar in an extremely rare tie (with Katharine Hepburn from Lion in the Winter); if you need a tiebreaker, consider how inexcusable it was for Streisand to be an Academy member after completing just one movie, and she, no doubt, cast the tying vote for herself. Sequel: Funny Lady.

59/100