Funny Lady

• Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice
• James Caan as Billy Rose
• Omar Sharif as Nick Arnstein
• Roddy McDowall as Bobby Moore
• Ben Vereen as Bert Robbins
• Carole Wells as Norma Butler
• Larry Gates as Bernard Baruch

Although she was contractually bound to make one more film for producer Ray Stark (Fanny Brice's one-time son-in-law), Streisand balked at doing the project. She told Stark "that it would take litigation to make her do a sequel." However, Streisand liked the script, which showed Fanny to be "...tougher, more acerbic, more mature...", and she agreed to do the film.[4][5]

The first actor to read for the role of Billy Rose was Robert Blake. Other actors were mentioned, including Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, but ultimately James Caan was chosen. Streisand explained: "It comes down to whom the audience wants me to kiss. Robert Blake, no. James Caan, yes."[5]

Stark, unhappy with the scenes shot by the original cinematographer, lured an ailing James Wong Howe out of retirement to complete the film. It proved to be his final project, and it earned him an Academy Award nomination.[6]

Studio heads forced Ross to trim the film to a manageable 136 minutes before its release. Much of Vereen's performance ended up on the cutting room floor, together with a recreation of Brice's Baby Snooks radio show and dramatic scenes involving her and her daughter.[7]

In addition to Howe, Oscar nominations went to Ray Aghayan and Bob Mackie for Best Costume Design, John Kander and Fred Ebb for Best Original Song ("How Lucky Can You Get?"), Peter Matz for Best Scoring of an Original Song Score and/or Adaptation, and the sound crew. Streisand, Caan, and Vereen all received Golden Globe Award nominations, as did Kander and Ebb and the film itself, but it was shut out of any wins in both competitions.[8]

Funny Lady received mixed reviews from critics. It holds a rating of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews.[9]

Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "As long as Miss Streisand as Fanny is singing the blues, or singing anything else, 'Funny Lady' is superb entertainment, but the minute she stops the movie turns into a concrete soufflé. It's heavy and tasteless ... Moments meant to be dramatic are embarrassingly bad."[10] Roger Ebert gave the film 1 star out of 4 and called it "a big, messy flop of a movie that's almost cruel in the way it invites our memories of 'Funny Girl' and doesn't match them."[11] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune awarded 2.5 stars out of 4 and wrote, "It takes few chances and delivers mostly what you'd expect ... What was missing, for me at least, was a sense of surprise, of unpredictability—the sort of wit or pacing that separates a memorable musical like 'Cabaret' from the merely tuneful."[12] Pauline Kael of The New Yorker wrote, "Streisand is in beautiful voice, and her singing is terrific—too terrific. It's no longer singing, it's something else—that strident overdramatization that turns a song into a big number. The audience's attention is directed away from the music and onto the star's feat in charging it with false energy. Streisand is out to knock you cold, and you get cold, all right." Kael also criticized the plot as "right out of those terrible forties movies in which couples who break up spend a lifetime thinking about each other, with encounters every five or ten years. And we get a double load of it here, with two graying ex-husbands."[13] Arthur D. Murphy of Variety wrote, "Barbra Streisand was outstanding as the younger Fanny Brice in 'Funny Girl,' and in 'Funny Lady' she's even better ... However much of a letdown the plot becomes, there's no denying the superior integration of drama, comedy, show music and personal dramatic music en route."[1] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Barbra Streisand, like the picture, extends the characterization she launched so dazzlingly in 'Funny Girl' ... What I find most impressive and likable about the performance is the softened, bittersweet maturity that Streisand lets us see in Fanny Brice. You sense that Streisand understands the star as well as she understood the impetuous young hopeful. An extraordinary presentation is the power and delight of both movies."[14] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called it a "lavish but uninspired" film that "seems to be celebrating stardom for stardom's sake. It's a joyless, mechanical Big Movie Musical."[15]

James Caan thought there were "too many cooks messing around" the film, although he liked his performance.[16]

The film was nominated for five Academy Awards:[17]

• Academy Award for Cinematography
• Academy Award for Costume Design
• Academy Award for Music (Scoring: Original Song Score and Adaptation)
• Academy Award for Music (Original Song) "How Lucky Can You Get?"
• Academy Award for Sound (Richard Portman, Don MacDougall, Curly Thirlwell and Jack Solomon)

It was also nominated for six Golden Globe Awards:[18]

• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Barbra Streisand
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for James Caan.
• Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score – Motion Picture
• Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song – Motion Picture for "How Lucky Can You Get?"
• Golden Globe Award for Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture – Male for Ben Vereen

The soundtrack peaked on the Billboard Album Chart at number 6 and was certified gold.[19] A majority of the songs were written by Kander and Ebb.[20]

• List of American films of 1975

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Funny Lady.

• Funny Lady on IMDb
• Funny Lady at AllMovie
• Funny Lady at Rotten Tomatoes
• Barbra Archives Page on Funny Lady film, including cut scenes
• Barbra Archives: "Funny Lady" Soundtrack page