Barbra is Funny

As Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice (Barbra Streisand) awaits the return of her husband Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif) from an 18-month prison stay, she recalls her career as a Funny Girl (1968) and her introduction to the gambler who would become her husband.

When Funny Girl opened on Broadway in 1964, the star, Barbra Streisand had appeared in only one other play - the musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale.  She had, however, become well known to the public due to television appearances - including The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show. Funny Girl ran from 1964 to 1967 (Ms. Streisand was in the lead for the first year, after which she appeared in the West End production). Regardless, Hollywood did not want her - Anne Bancroft, Carol Burnett (TCM Trivia), and Shirley MacLaine (Tribeca News) were all considered for Fanny. It was the film's producer Ray Stark who wanted Streisand, despite Columbia Pictures fear that Ms. Streisand was not pretty enough. The result - an Academy Award win for Ms. Streisand, in the only tie for the Best Actress category in Oscar history (Ms. Streisand shared the award with Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter). It's not a surprise - Ms. Streisand is amazing Fanny Brice, bringing just the right amount of humor and passion to this story of a career and a marriage. And while most of the songs in the film were done in the conventional way, William Wyler decided film the song "My Man" live, as Ms. Streisand was having some issues with the emotion required for the scene (TCM Behind the Camera). 

The story of Ms. Brice - a comedienne and singer from the early days of Broadway, was put together by her son-in-law, Ray Stark (Mr. Stark was married to Frances Arnstein). Not surprisingly, he took some liberties with his mother-in-law's life. For one thing, her rise to fame was not as meteoric as stated in the film - it took her years, starting at Keeney's (Frank Faylen) Theater on Fulton Street, then on tour in the chorus, to Burlesque, and then to the Ziegeld Follies. Her marriage to Nick Arnstein was fraught - both had been married before, Arnstein had already been in jail and would end up there again, and he was perfectly happy to live off his famous wife's money. Ms. Brice finally divorced him when she discovered his record of infidelities. The couple had two children, however son William Arnstein did not wish to be mentioned in the film. (Encyclopedia of Jewish Women)

 

Omar Sharif is appealing as Nicky - he's very sexy and the relationship between the couple in the first half of the film is delightful. But this is also the story of the end of a romance, and Mr. Sharif makes Nicky understandable as a man who loves his wife, but wants to stand on his own. He almost lost the part, however. There was much anger against him because he was an Egyptian national, add to that his romancing of a Jewish woman. However, William Wyler insisted that he be kept on. A romance flamed between Mr. Sharif and Ms. Streisand that surely added to their onscreen relationship, but probably ended her marriage to Elliot Gould. Before Mr. Sharif came into the production, David Janssen (fresh off The Fugitive) was being considered for Nicky.

Kay Medford  (Rose Brice) was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress as Fanny's mother. It's a relatively small part, but an important one, as Rose is the one person to whom Fanny will listen, and as her marriage becomes strained, it is Rose to whom she turns. At some point, Rosalind Russell was being considered for the role ( AFI catalog). 

Anne Francis (Georgia James) appears briefly as a showgirl in the Ziegfeld Follies. By the second half of the movie, Georgia has disappeared (sadly). Ms. Francis was frustrated by her diminishing role in the film - she would blame it on Ms. Streisand, however as much as we enjoy seeing Ms. Francis, it must be pointed out this is the Fanny Brice story. Ms Francis sued to have her name removed from the credits (TCM article).

Walter Pidgeon has a more visible role as impresario Florenz Ziegfeld. As always, Mr. Pidgeon brings just the right amount of veritas to the part. His interplay with Ms. Streisand is spot on - especially the scenes when she is auditioning for a place in the Follies. 

 

Though her part is small, Mae Questel (Mrs. Strakosh) is adorable as Rose Brice's friend. The mother of Sadie (the married lady), Ms. Questel is the original yenta, busily trying to get a husband for Fanny. Ms. Questel is probably best remembered today as the voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl.

Many of the train sequences on the film were shot at the and Jersey City and Hoboken Train Stations, both beautiful old stations. Hoboken has seen its share of issues in recent years, including flooding from Superstorm Sandy and a train which crashed through a bumper block into the concourse (Wikipedia).   

While the New York Times review by Renata Adler was extremely negative, many other reviewers were more enthusiastic about the film (TCM Critics Corner). It would eventually wind up with 6 Oscar nominations (including Picture, Cinematography, Sound Mixing, Film Editing, Original Musical) and the win for Ms. Streisand. It was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2016 and is #16 on the AFI's 100 Years, 100 Musicals.

It was a treat to see this film again, and we heartily recommend it.  Here is the re-release trailer:

Peter Visits Arabia

Lieutenant T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) is working in the map division in the Arab Bureau in Cairo, when he was assigned by Mr. Dryden (Claude Rains) to evaluate Prince Faisal's (Alec Guinness) war against the Turks. Lawrence's interest in Arab culture and his eagerness to form a united Arabia impresses Faisal; when Lawrence comes up with a plan to cross the Nefud Desert with 50 men and attack the Turks in Aqaba, Faisal supports it. Lawrence's daring impresses his troops who make him one of their own -  Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

The recent TCM Presents: Fathom Events presentation of this film was a must-see. Jon Stewart was right - you have to see this movie wide-screen (and not on a cellphone!). The heat of the desert and the glare of the sun are visceral in the film - even in an air-conditioned theatre, you are hot and thirsty. With commentary by Ben Mankiewicz, this was an exceptional TCM Presents.

Albert Finney was originally approached for the lead role of T.E. Lawrence; he was even given an extensive, expensive screen test (costing £100,000), but Mr. Finney balked at a five-year contract with Sam Spiegel. (TCM article). At some point, Spiegel tried to interest Marlon Brando, but that raised a row in the U.K., and Brando pulled himself out of consideration (AFI Catalog). Anthony Perkins was also considered (but his appearance in Psycho made him less appealing to Spiegel).  Director David Lean was more interested in an unknown actor, and had seen Mr. O'Toole in The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960). Halfway through O'Toole's screen test, Mr. Lean stopped the cameras - "No use shooting another foot of film. The boy is Lawrence."

It is hard to imagine anyone but Peter O'Toole in the part. He embodies Lawrence, even resembling him a bit, as you can see from the photos below (though at 6'2", Mr. O'Toole would tower over the 5'5" Lawrence). Mr. O'Toole captures the whimsy as well as Lawrence's personal and emotional conflicts. Lawrence was born to unmarried parents (though his father was not an absentee one); he was well educated and lived fairly well, but he was also teased and tormented about his bastardy. In his book Hero: The Life & Legend of Lawrence of Arabia, Michael Korda states that Lawrence was tortured by the pleasure he found in pain. That he also took pleasure in killing is not discussed in this book - in fact, he was a vegetarian (PBS) who professed his gladness that "nothing had to be killed to feed us." His death on a motorbike was the result of his need for speed - he was probably going nearly 100 miles per hour. Mr. O'Toole did an interview for TCM about his work on the film here. His tale on the filming of the scene where Lawrence is given his white robes is fascinating.

Alain Delon was originally cast as Sherif Ali iben el Karish, but David Lean wanted Ali to have brown eyes, and Mr. Delon was unable to wear the contact lenses required to turn his blue eyes brown. So, they hired Maurice Ronet for the part - but his eyes were green. Director Lean, already in Jordan, asked to see photos of Arab actors - he was sent a photo of Omar Sharif, resulting in a collaboration that would result in Mr. Sharif getting the lead in Dr. Zhivago (1965). Mr. Sharif and Mr. O'Toole became great friends on the shoot, learning to do The Twist together; as a result of their dancing prowess,  Mr. O'Toole called Mr. Sharif "Cairo Fred" because "No one in the world is called Omar Sharif." Mr. Sharif won the Golden Globe for Supporting Actor for his work in this film.

The list of actors who almost appeared in the film is breathtaking - Cary Grant, David Niven, Gene Kelly, Kirk Douglas, Horst Buchholz were all considered or approached at one time or another. Even so, the list of actors in the cast is spectacular: Anthony Quinn (Auda Abu Tayi) is strong as a desert chiefan; Jack Hawkins (General Allenby) is both tough and sly as a British officer looking out for the best interests of his country; Alec Guinness is a cagey prince looking for the best deal for his nation; Anthony Quayle (Col. Harry Brighton) portrays an officer who cannot comprehend the man that is Lawrence; Jose Ferrer (Turkish bey) gives us a fiendish enemy to the Arab nation - and to Lawrence. Last, but by no means least, is the wonderful Claude Rains (Mr. Dryden), initially Lawrence's benefactor, but in the end, a pragmatic official using the best man at hand for the job.

Jackson Bentley (Arthur Kennedy) was to have been played by Edmund O'Brien, but he left three days into the shoot. Kennedy is excellent as an opportunistic reporter who builds his reputation - and Lawrence's - with the articles he publishes about the conflict. The character of Bentley is based on Lowell Thomas; the name of the character was changed because Mr. Thomas did not wish any association with the film (Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean by Gene Phillips). Mr. Thomas would later state that "the only true things in it [the film] are the sand and the camels." Though initially friends, Lawrence became disillusioned with Thomas when Thomas toured with film footage he had shot of Lawrence in Arabia (PBS); Lawrence felt himself exploited, while Thomas claimed "[Lawrence] had a genius for backing into the limelight."

To say that you should see this film if you have not already done so is redundant. Though Bosley Crowther's New York Times review was unenthusiastic, it has since garnered much praise. Janet Maslin discussed the beauty of the movie when it was restored in 1989 (New York Times). It won 7 Oscars (Picture, Director, Cinematography, Art/Set Direction, Sound, Film Editing, and Score), and was nominated for 3 other (Actor: Peter O'Toole; Supporting Actor: Omar Sharif; Writing: Robert Bolt & Michael Wilson - Mr. Wilson's contributions were finally acknowledged in 1995). It also won best film awards from the Golden Globes and BAFTA, with David Lean taking the Director's Guild Award and Sam Spiegel winning the Producer's Guild Award.  It was added to the National Film Registry in 1991. It's also on five American Film Institute lists: #1 in the Ten Top Ten for Epic; #7 in the 100 Years, 100 Movies Anniversary Edition (#5 in the Original List); #3 in Film Scores; #23 in Thrills; #10 in Heroes.

Even if you can't see it on a big screen, do seek this remarkable film out. We'll leave you with the trailer to this amazing work of cinema: