Funny Girl (William Wyler-1968) is a semi biography based on the life of Broadway and film star Fanny Brice and her marriage to gambler Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif). The film was a great success and brought Barbra Streisand to stardom after winning an Accadomy Award for Best Actress.
Originally a stage production, Funny Girl shows Fanny Brice’s rise to stardom, from being turned down at every theatre company to being one of the top theatre company’s, Ziegfeid, most recognized stars. Her success ultimately led to the failure of her marriage to Arnstein who struggles with a gambling addiction and refuses help from fanny and evidently is jailed for fraud.
Streisand and Sharif actually fell in love during the making of this film which is evident on screen, their chemistry works for the film. Other than this chemistry I do not believe Sharif was the right choice to play Nick as he is too rugged and has a mystery about him. His character is a sensitive man who the audience is supposed to sympathize with when he is jailed however his character gives off a ‘bad guy’ vibe and you get the feeling right from his first appearance on screen that something bad is up with him. Sharif actually was not the first choice to play Nick with Frank Sinatra, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Marlon Brando and Gregory Peck turning down the part.
The film defiantly shows off Streisand’s amazing voice, which is emphasized with panning close-ups of her face when she really is belting out in song. At the end when she sings on stage, everything around her is black and Streisand is highlighted in a spotlight, her emotion and passion is clearly portrayed in this way to the extent that the audience can see her neck muscles contracting.
In 1975 brought the sequel, Funny Lady. The film shows the life of Fanny after her divorce from Nick, she has lost her stardom and money, however with her knowledge from the past she is able to regain her status finding love in her director Billy Rose (James Caan). Keeping with tradition as most sequels do, it is more an ‘afterthought’ then another great film.
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