Funny Girl
First screened in May 2000
Director: William Wyler. Cast: Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Kay Medford, Walter Pidgeon, Ann Francis, Lee Allen, Mae Questel, Frank Faylen, Mittie Lawrence, Gerald Mohr, John Harmon, Gertrude Flynn, Penny Santon. Screenplay: Isobel Lennart (based on her book for the musical Funny Girl by Jule Styne).

Twitter Capsule: Seldom has a ballyhooed acting debut so lived up to every expectation. Meanwhile the movie lumbers and slowly dries up.

VOR:   No history of major American musicals or of post-World War II Hollywood stardom is complete without it, yet it feels increasingly slow and heavy, despite the supernova at its center.



Photo © 1968 Columbia Pictures

Not yet reviewed in full. Grade: C+


Academy Award Nominations and Winners:
Best Picture
Best Actress (tie): Barbra Streisand
Best Supporting Actress: Kay Medford
Best Cinematography: Harry Stradling, Sr.
Best Film Editing: Robert Swink, Maury Winetrobe, and William Sands
Best Musical Score (Original or Adaptation): Walter Scharf
Best Original Song: "Funny Girl"
Best Sound

Golden Globe Nominations and Winners:
Best Picture (Musical/Comedy)
Best Director: William Wyler
Best Actress (Musical/Comedy): Barbra Streisand
Best Original Song: "Funny Girl"

Other Awards:
Writers Guild of America: Best Written American Musical

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