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| Funny Girl | 
 enlarge | Director: William Wyler
Actors: Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Kay Medford, Anne Francis, Walter Pidgeon
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.94
Buy New: $6.77
You Save: $8.17 (55%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $4.79
Avg. Customer Rating:  (89 reviews)
Sales Rank: 3468
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Georgian (Subtitled), Chinese (Subtitled), Thai (Subtitled)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 155 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: COLD03089D
ISBN: 0767824938
UPC: 043396030893
EAN: 9780767824934
ASIN: B00005O3VD
Release Date: October 23, 2001
Theatrical Release Date: September 19, 1968
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Funny Girl/Funny Lady DVD - Great Seller, very fast delivery September 21, 2007
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
The seller was great. I received the product shortly after I ordered it. It was in perfect condition. I will buy from this seller again!
Great Job.
Barbra At Her Best June 29, 2007
The vehicle that made Barbra Streisand a major superstar. From Broadway acclaim, to her 1968 Academy Award winning performance, "Funny Girl" is Barbra Streisand. When she sings its most familiar number "People", it seems all time stands still. And to date, there still is no one else who can touch that song but Barbra. As the popular comedic singer/actress Fanny Brice, we're given a lesson of survival through adversity. And Omar Sharif's finest hour since his appearance in "Doctor Zhivago" as Fanny's gambling addicted first husband Nicky Arnstein. You so much want to see these two succeed as a couple; but alas, it just wasn't to be.
Another standout is the finale, as Barbra so convincingly sings "My Man" with every award winning emotion imaginable. A note of trivia, Barbra Streisand won her 1968 Best Actress Oscar in a tie with Katherine Hepburn for her grand performance in "The Lion In Winter". An extreme rarity in Oscar history, having only happened once before back in the 1930s.
 MUST SEE - Once May 17, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This used to be one of my favorite movies. The songs are spectacular, and the telling of Fanny Brice's rise to stardom is a lot of fun. Once she has it all, the movie tends to drag. It's an interesting perspective on how we might look at life, however - it's the struggle to get somewhere that most intrigues us. Once we get there, it's no fun anymore. That's why this is a must see once movie - and you will want a CD of the music.
 BARBRA AT HER ULTIMATE BEST May 2, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
"FUNNY GIRL" is arguably Barbra Streisand's best film; probably because, as Fanny Brice, Barbra was human and
vulnerable; qualities she has rarely displayed on screen since. (In "THE WAY WE WERE", another three handkerchief weepie, she comes close.) "FUNNY GIRL" is one of my favorite movies from my teen-age years, but I certainly see it differently as an adult.
As a musical biopic, "FUNNY GIRL" is a mixed bag. Several of the best songs from the original Broadway production, noteably "Coronet Man," "Who Are You Now?" and "The Music That Makes Me Dance", are absent from the film version. This is probably due to director William Wyler's inexperience with musicals. Composer Jule Styne was reportedly furious about the musical omissions. Herbert Ross directed the musical numbers that did survive, Wyler did the rest. Somehow, though, Barbra's amazing charisma and the spirit of Fanny Brice herself carry the viewer over numerous rough spots.
The film is best when depicting Fanny's tremendous drive and deterimination to succeed in show-business, which mirrors Barbra's own. Whereas Barbra's quest for perfection and control made her an untouchable, unreachable star, I suspect Fanny always essentially stayed a kid from Brooklyn. Nobody from show-biz came pounding on Fanny Brice's door. So, Fanny opened doors herself, and paved the way for generations of unconventional, talented funny girls after her. If Fanny had lived in our generation, she would have undoubtedly earned a top spot on "Saturday Night Live" or something similar. She did become a top star of the Zigfeld Follies, but on her own terms, I'll bet. In the musical, she wants the audience to laugh with her instead of at her. So, she sticks a pillow under a wedding gown and turns a lavish Zigfeld production number into a comic farce. She feels the wrath of the Great Zigfeld (Walter Pidgeon) immediately afterwards, but even he admits her comic instincts were brilliant. He hated it, but the audience loved it.
In terms of depicting Fanny's less than brilliant private life, the musical is a sketchy and inaccurrate mess. Fanny was briefly married to Harold White before she met and married gambler/con man Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif).
So, Nick was Fanny's second, not first, husband. But the audience is not likely to quibble over the facts. When
Barbra sings "Don't Rain On My Parade" and Fanny Brice's signature song "My Man", the movie is sheer, absolute, bliss.
The picture and sound quality, and the Interactive Menu, on the DVD are superb. This is a restored print.
Barbra has often said that "FUNNY GIRL" is her favorite movie. Sadly, there is no Audio Commentary. If Barbra would (please!) someday do an Audio Commentary for another DVD edition, then the audience would truly be "the luckiest people in the world!" Oh, Barbra tied with Katharine Hepburn in "The Lion In Winter" for "Best Actress" of 1968-- the only "Best Actress Tie" in the history of the Academy Awards.
To see the real Fanny Brice on film, check out 1938's "EVERYBODY SING" from MGM. I don't know if it is out on DVD. Fanny plays Olga, the Yiddish maid to Judy Garland's daffy theatrical family. Billie Burke (Glinda in "THE WIZARD OF OZ", and widow of Fanny's former boss Florenz Zigfeld) plays the scatter-brained mother.
It's Judy Garland's show, but Fanny proves she is a funny girl when she gets into the act as her celebrated Baby Snooks character. Barbra is dressed as Baby Snooks in "FUNNY GIRL" in the scene where reporters ask Fanny about Nick Arnstein's criminal activities. She answers back in comical, Baby Snooks fashion until one reporter asks a question that hits a raw, emotional nerve.
Not to be missed March 31, 2007
This movie is beautiful and entertaining. I have seen it 8 times and never miss it when it is on TV. Omar is so gorgeous to look at and makes a perfect Nick. Barbra shows off her voice in many dimensions and proves what a great singer she is. Most of us did not grow up with Fanny Brice except on the radio so her life was a mystery. It always seemed funny but there was plenty of heartbreak. I know the producers took many liberties in depicting her life but I think we all get the gist.
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