Funny Girl (1968)
90%RT Audience Score: 85%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
8 wins & 16 nominations total
Barbara Streisand elevates this otherwise rote melodramatic musical with her ultra-memorable star turn as Fanny Brice.
Funny Girl is a movie that’s all about Barbra Streisand, and boy does she deliver! She’s got the power to knock all the props and sets on their ear, and she’s stunning in her Hollywood debut. Sure, the film might have some leaden melodrama and forgettable supporting characters, but who cares when you’ve got Babs belting out showstoppers and making you laugh and cry all at once? It’s a transformative experience that’ll have you embracing your own chutzpah and insecurities, just like Fanny Brice. So grab some popcorn, sit back, and let Funny Girl work its magic on you.
Production Company(ies)
Shinchosha Company, Studio Ghibli,
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Jersey Central Railway Station, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
MPAA / Certificate
G
Year of Release
1968
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTSS DDS Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 12.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 31m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 19, 1968 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 21, 2003
Genre(s)
Musical
Keyword(s)
starring Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Walter Pidgeon, Kay Medford, Anne Francis, Lee Allen, directed by William Wyler, written by Isobel Lennart, Bob Merrill, Isobel Lennart, musical, G rating, box office gross $223.3K, reviewed by Margaret Hinxman, Renata Adler, Dave Kehr, Variety Staff, David Parkinson, Roger Ebert, KC Star Staff, Penelope Houston, Brandon Judell, David Keyes, Renee Schonfeld, MaryAnn Johanson, Barbra Streisand elevates, Fanny Brice, vaudeville, Broadway, Florenz Ziegfeld, vocal talents, comedic talents, suave, imprisoned businessman husband, Nick Arnstein
Worldwide gross: $52,224,636
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $503,041,893
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 285
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 54,857,349
US/Canada gross: $52,223,306
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $503,029,082
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 75
US/Canada opening weekend: $65,560
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $631,492
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,350
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $14,100,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $135,815,033
Production budget ranking: 260
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $73,136,396
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $294,090,464
ROI to date (est.): 141%
ROI ranking: 794
Omar Sharif – Nick Arnstein
Walter Pidgeon – Florenz Ziegfeld
Kay Medford – Rose Brice
Anne Francis – Georgia James
Lee Allen – Eddie Ryan
Director(s)
William Wyler
Writer(s)
Isobel Lennart, Bob Merrill, Isobel Lennart
Producer(s)
Ray Stark
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
8 wins & 16 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (46) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (43) | Rotten (3)
It’s hard to think of Funny Girl, in fact, apart from Barbra Streisand. She is the life force. Director William Wyler simply drapes the opulent show around her.
January 23, 2018
Margaret Hinxman
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
When she is singing–in a marvelous scene on roller skates–when she throws a line away, or shrugs, or looks funny or sad, she has a power, gentleness and intensity that rather knocks all the props and sets and camera angles on their ear.
January 9, 2018
Renata Adler
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
Streisand is stunning, but the film is a trial, particularly when the music disappears somewhere around the 90-minute mark and all that’s left is leaden melodrama.
August 12, 2008
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Barbra Streisand in her Hollywood debut makes a marked impact.
August 12, 2008
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
You will have made your mind up about Babs one way or the other, but for the rare uninitiated, this is a fine introduction to her talents.
December 30, 2006 | Rating: 4/5
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
It is impossible to praise Miss Streisand too highly; hard to find much to praise about the rest of the film.
October 23, 2004 | Rating: 4/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
[Barbra Streisand] is the best of all possible reasons to see the movie version of the musical. In short, she is sublime — which saves the film as a whole from suffocating under its own glossy, ill-conceived hugeness.
March 2, 2022
KC Star Staff
Kansas City Star
In Barbra Streisand Funny Girl thumps down an ace.
July 16, 2018
Penelope Houston
The Spectator
William Wyler’s adaption of the stage musical is transformative for many millennials. Whether wearing a hijab, sporting a yarmulke, or bareheaded, my students embrace Streisand’s Brice and the star/character’s professional chutzpah & insecurities.
January 9, 2018 | Rating: 9/10
Brandon Judell
Huffington Post
In lesser hands this would fall flat because nothing is written to comfort the supporting players. They are extras with names and blurred faces.
February 3, 2017 | Rating: 3/4
David Keyes
Cinemaphile.org
Dazzling musical romance is long but entertaining.
February 15, 2012 | Rating: 4/5
Renee Schonfeld
Common Sense Media
Legendary diva Streisand won an Oscar for her performance as legendary Ziegfeld girl Fanny Brice… who else but Babs could have portrayed her so well?… Great film it isn’t, but it sure is a helluva lot of fun.
November 19, 2008
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher…
Plot
Early twentieth century New York. Fanny Brice knows that she is a talented comedienne and singer. She also knows that she is not the beauty typical of the stage performers of the day, she with skinny legs and a crooked nose among other physical issues. So she knows she has to use whatever other means to get her break in show business, that break so that she can at least display her talents. With the help of Eddie Ryan who would become her friend, Fanny is able to get a part in a novelty act in a vaudeville show, the renown from which eventually comes to the attention of famed impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. Fanny does become one of the Ziegfeld Follies most popular acts, despite she almost getting fired after her first performance by defying Flo’s artistic vision for her closing number. Beyond stage success, Fanny also wants a happy personal life, most specifically with the suave Nicky Arnstein, a gambler in every respect of the word. Fanny loves him and loves that he loves her despite her lack of traditional beauty, but she does not love that he comes in and goes out of her life based on his financial standing at any given time and his need to earn that quick buck by the next poker game or high stakes business deal as he feels he needs to play the traditional role of money maker in their relationship on his own terms.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Barbra Streisand won an Oscar for her performance as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl.
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