A film adaption of a successful stage musical loosely based on the inspiring life of Fanny Brice (1891-1951), a popular vaudeville performer belongs to a bygone era, one of girls of Zeigfeld Follies, and her tempestuous marriage with Nick Arnstein (Sharif), a notorious gambler and debonair con artist.Barbra Streisand reprises her role on the big screen as her tailor-made debut and star-making vehicle, helmed by Wyler as the sole musical in his illustrious filmography and the penultimate feature of his glorious career, in addition to music and lyrics of Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, the film would be a major contender in the Oscar game and would eminently wins Streisand a BEST LEADING ACTRESS honour and the one-and-the-only time, in a tie with Katharine Hepburn in THE LION IN WINTER (1968). FUNNY GIRL ambitiously amalgamates an unconventional passage-to-fame of an ugly duckling with a mellifluous voice and an attitude of self-mockery, with a rote romance follows by the matrimonial turbulence, which mordantly bears out why it is so difficult for a successful woman to find a suitable hubby under the chauvinistic macro-milieu, especially when a husband's ego is too proud to accept the succour from his own wife even the situation is completely owing to his own defects.At a length of 150 minutes, including an overture and intermission, FUNNY GIRL is wholly focused on Streisand's Fanny and her affair of the heart. A not-so-attractive girl with a lowbrow upbringing, dreams of being a star on stage thanks to her singing talent, breezily challenges the customary but fluffy images of a Ziegfeld's girl (against the will of Mr. Florenz Ziegfeld, played by a stern-looking Pidgeon) and meets her deserved success. The first half of the movie is a high-octane studio-bound musical, Streisand's vocal prowess is impeccably affecting and puissant, you don't have to be her fan to acknowledge that (PEOPLE is such an empowering ballad, whereas the first half bookends with an exhilarating DON'T RAIN ON MY PARADE and the film crowns with her heart-rending delivery of MY MAN). Meanwhile she is quite effective as a comedienne too, the romantic chemistry between her and Sharif (if we can overlook his foreign accent and exotic looks to believe he is a Caucasian) is palpable since in real life there was a thing between them.The second half is more about Fanny and Nick's relationship than her career orbit, so a more melodramatic mood shift infuses gradually (although Fanny's Swan Lake spoof is a tension diffuser), but luckily Streisand and Sharif retain in their composure most of the time without hamming up the ugly confrontation, rarely, a celebrity's marriage can disintegrate with such dignity and mutual understanding, love is still there, but marriage just doesn't function for them. Omar Sharif, slums it cautiously for fear of stealing the diva's thunders in his most charming appearance, thus it is almost like a miracle that the veteran Kay Medford, who also reprises her role from the stage, can usurp an Oscar-nomination as Fanny's unpretentious and level-headed mother Rose, as far as we know, her scenes could all have been left on the floor of the editing room.Maybe Streisand is a prima-donna during the film's making and production process, but standing in the view of a showbiz outsider and a pure spectator, viewing this picture for the first-time, one thing I must admit, she shines in it magnificently, there is no shame to be nitpicking of one's own passion project, after all it is her own reputation and future are at stake, plus being a woman, it does take guts to effectuate the take-no-prisoners modus operandi in this profession, what's why even under a global scale, no other female star hitherto can inherit her mantle, she is indeed the nonpareil Barbra Streisand.

"Show me an actress who isn't a personality and you'll show me a woman who isn't a star," declared Katharine Hepburn when asked about her smashing screen persona. Humble, no. Correct, yes. Take any legendary performer — Humphrey Bogart, Joan Crawford, Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe — and you will not only find a terrific actor but also a presence that could interrupt the breathing patterns of an entire room just by walking through a door. And if you don't inspire that same breathless room to immediately bow down in a we're-not-worthy Wayne's World dramatization, then you probably aren't a star.Fortunately for us, fortunately for Funny Girl, but unfortunately for the self-proclaimed icon herself, Katharine Hepburn, Barbra Streisand just so happens to be a star — a star that, incidentally, matched Hepburn's explosive performance in The Lion in Winter so well that the two ended up tying for the Oscar win. Now that Funny Girl and The Lion in Winter are nearly a half-century old, it's probably safe to say that Hepburn and Streisand are unofficial gods of the entertainment industry; but Funny Girl is the more important film, introducing the world to a new voice, a new actress, and yes, a new personality.In the years since Funny Girl, Streisand hasn't lost her bewitching zeal, but only a few of her following films have captured the same sort of youthful gusto of her debut. The early days of Babs, with roles in What's Up, Doc? and The Owl and the Pussycat, bring lasting joy. Like many actresses that appeal to the Broadway inclined crowd, she is more fun to watch in quickly-paced adventures in comedy than sappy behemoths like The Mirror Has Two Faces. Funny Girl is a snapshot of everything we've come to admire about Streisand — that immediate likability, that one-million- miles-an-hour comedic timing, those dramatic chops, and that voice. You can bet that the film itself is given the standard Hollywood musical treatment — but what isn't standard is the girl from New Yawk with charisma the size of Alaska and Texas put together.Funny Girl is technically a true story: its leading character, Fanny Brice was, in fact, a famed Ziegfeld girl, and she was, in fact, married to Nicky Arnstein. But Streisand is such a ball-of-fire that we aren't paying much attention to Brice's accomplished (and melodramatic) life. Streisand demolishes every confine a characterization can bring. She's not so much playing Fanny Brice as she much as she is Fanny Brice. She doesn't act out a scene; she is the scene.I suppose for the sake of a plot summary I should cover the basics so you know what you're getting into. The film travels across the life of Brice from the early 1900s to the beginnings of the 1920s, detailing her whirlwind (and lasting) relationship with show business and stormy marriage to gambler Nicky Arnstein (Omar Sharif). There's comedy and music and tear-jerking and romance and overtures and more hoohas that come along with the big-budgeted movie musical genre; Funny Girl has all the makings to become an epic production of the Sound of Music class. But Streisand keeps the film from getting whisked away into unremarkable giganticness. The film is about her, not its supporting characters, photography, or set design. Roger Ebert noted that everything other than Streisand is mostly flat. While this is partially true, I think, on the other hand, that if Streisand wasn't the star, suddenly the supporting characters, photography, and set design would seem bigger-than-life, extraordinary even. But she's like a blinding light from outer space running around a soundstage; you can only wonder why the items surrounding her don't spontaneously combust.I'm not a part of the devoted fan base that refers to Streisand exclusively as "Babs" and lists "Evergreen" as their theme song, but I am a part of the fan base that recognizes her as one of cinema's most unique and versatile actresses. Funny Girl is a loud and proud musical, and Streisand is the microphone. Read more reviews at petersonreviews.com

Barbra Streisand made her film debut as singer, actress, comedienne Fanny Brice and bagged a Best Actress (co-win) helped by big song numbers such as 'People,' 'My man' and 'Don't rain on my parade.'The first part of the film starts of brightly as Fanny tries to get into showbiz from being a chorus girl and finds out that she steals the show from her bad roller skating. She is brash, determined, single minded, strident and gets her own way which even the Great Ziegfeld soon finds out.The film is then soon bogged down with the love story with Omar Sharif (Nick Arnstein). Although Streisand and Sharif make a good couple, this heavily fictionalized part of the story is just humdrum. You just know that as Brice becomes more famous and rich, her and Nick, her gambler husband will drift apart before he gets involved in a dicey bond caper.Streisand shows the film world her talents and although her singing is spectacular you cannot help wondering whether she could had stretched herself as an actress, because she kept on mining the same type of character. The single minded, dominating, wannabee someone.

I just watched the entire film "Funny Girl" for the first time. I of course had seen the tug boat "Don't Rain on my Parade" scene countless times (gotta love DVD select chapter feature) and "People", but had never seen the entire film. How can one even begin to criticize a film with a legend like Barbra over 40 years later? It might not even be worth a shot but here it goes. The worst thing about the film are the inconsistencies in the production. Which time period are they depicting: late 19th century (judging from the costumes and furnishings) or early 20th century (there are motor cars)? The kitsch is never-ending, even for someone who enjoys that sort of thing. But it was Hollywood and the film is over forty years old. The Swan Lake scene is so unfunny and borderline offensive to dancers. I realize that Omar Sharif was the heartthrob of the time but he is shallow and not very convincing in this role. Again, times have changed. The film is too long and drags on between musical numbers. I gather from reading other reviews that this might be due to the hack job they did to the original Broadway musical to make a film out of it. Now for the good parts: Barbra. Her carefree acting and character are still refreshing even by today's standards. Her voice, Lord that voice. It is interesting to hear the crystalline timbre she had at that age, despite the slight technical flaws. Her delivery is always moving and perfect. The high notes are tense and at times scary, but that's what makes her exciting. What else can be said? I know that Barbra Streisand tends to elicit extreme love/hate reactions from people and I have never been a fanatic. But her natural talent has always kept me interested enough over the years despite the eccentricities of her personal life and the plastic side to the Malibu persona she has become. Her recent release "Love is the answer" stayed in my CD player for six months straight and is still my favorite record at the moment. Ironically I love her voice on the album for reasons similar to those I mentioned above. You can hear it crack sometimes on the high notes, but it is so moving, especially in a jazz context. To this day, no one (outside of opera) can make their voice soar like she can. The lady has staying power and it is fascinating (even for non fans) to witness her budding talent in Funny Girl. Brava Barbra!! By the way, now that I've suffered through the entire film once, I'll stick to the "select chapter" function and jump straight to "Don't Rain on My Parade" (Number 16) from now on.