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Funny Face
Beautiful Parisian scenery, the incomparable music of George Gershwin, a clever screenplay some gorgeous costumes, and wonderful lead performances all help the 1957 musical Funny Face appointment movie viewing for the classic film lover.
Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) , the editor of Quality Magazine and Dick Avery (Fred Astaire) discover a young woman named Jo Stockton (Audrey Hepburn) during a photo shoot at a Greenwich Village bookstore and offer her a job as a model in Paris. Jo only agrees to take the job as a means to meeting her literary mentor,a Professor Emile Flostre (Michel Auclair).
Stanley Donen, the undisputed king of romantic musical comedy, exquisitely mounts this dazzling piece of cinematic fluff that seems more important than it is thanks to the professionalism both in front of and behind the camera. Leonard Gershe's Oscar-nominated screenplay is rich with sophistication and serves the characters effectively, providing a story that the actors are perfectly suited for. The Maggie Prescott character is actually based on fashion editor Diana Vreeland and the Dick Avery character is based on famed fashion photographer Richard Avedon.
A lot of the fun in this musical was watching the evolution of the relationship between the photographer and his muse. Loved the way Avery would set the scene for Jo before every shot describing exactly what is supposedly happening in her life and how she's supposed to be feeling when the pictures are being taken. Though not surprised, it was lovely watching Jo not being able to take being photographed in a wedding dress so lightly.
Gershwin's music provides a perfect accompaniment for this story without ever getting in the way of the story. The highlights for me were Thompson's opening number "Think Pink", Hepburn's surprisingly effective "How Long has this been Going On?", a duet for Thompson and Hepburn called "On How to be Lovely", and the Astaire-Hepburn pas-de-deux to "He Loves and She Loves". Hepburn has a beautifully choreographed dance number in a dark Parisian nightclub and Astaire provides his accustomed solo with an inanimate object...this time with a hat, an ambrella, and a cape. Also loved the "Bonjour Paris" number and the duet with Thompson and Astaire called "Clap a Yo Hands." The musical numbers are smartly staged by Astaire and Eugene Loring.
Hepburn makes a delightful leading lady in a role that was actually offered to Cyd Charisse originally. She's not a great singer, but she knows how to sell a song and even though, once again, she's cast opposite an actor decades older than Hepburn, she and Astaire do make the pairing work for the most part and we're behind the rocky road to their getting together. Of course, it goes without saying that Hepburn was one of the 1950's greatest clothes horses giving Edith Head's stunning costumes a proper easel.
But the real star of this movie is Kay Thompson. Thompson had a long and distinguished career in Hollywood as a writer, composer, vocal arranger, pianist...she was a close personal friend of Judy Garland, but she only made five appearances on film and this was her most significant film role and she makes the most of it. Thompson is dazzling in this movie, providing perfect support to the leads while simultaneously stealing the movie without anybody onscreen realizing it. It's Thompson's performance here that earned an extra bag of popcorn from this reviewer.
Beautiful Parisian scenery, the incomparable music of George Gershwin, a clever screenplay some gorgeous costumes, and wonderful lead performances all help the 1957 musical Funny Face appointment movie viewing for the classic film lover.
Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) , the editor of Quality Magazine and Dick Avery (Fred Astaire) discover a young woman named Jo Stockton (Audrey Hepburn) during a photo shoot at a Greenwich Village bookstore and offer her a job as a model in Paris. Jo only agrees to take the job as a means to meeting her literary mentor,a Professor Emile Flostre (Michel Auclair).
Stanley Donen, the undisputed king of romantic musical comedy, exquisitely mounts this dazzling piece of cinematic fluff that seems more important than it is thanks to the professionalism both in front of and behind the camera. Leonard Gershe's Oscar-nominated screenplay is rich with sophistication and serves the characters effectively, providing a story that the actors are perfectly suited for. The Maggie Prescott character is actually based on fashion editor Diana Vreeland and the Dick Avery character is based on famed fashion photographer Richard Avedon.
A lot of the fun in this musical was watching the evolution of the relationship between the photographer and his muse. Loved the way Avery would set the scene for Jo before every shot describing exactly what is supposedly happening in her life and how she's supposed to be feeling when the pictures are being taken. Though not surprised, it was lovely watching Jo not being able to take being photographed in a wedding dress so lightly.
Gershwin's music provides a perfect accompaniment for this story without ever getting in the way of the story. The highlights for me were Thompson's opening number "Think Pink", Hepburn's surprisingly effective "How Long has this been Going On?", a duet for Thompson and Hepburn called "On How to be Lovely", and the Astaire-Hepburn pas-de-deux to "He Loves and She Loves". Hepburn has a beautifully choreographed dance number in a dark Parisian nightclub and Astaire provides his accustomed solo with an inanimate object...this time with a hat, an ambrella, and a cape. Also loved the "Bonjour Paris" number and the duet with Thompson and Astaire called "Clap a Yo Hands." The musical numbers are smartly staged by Astaire and Eugene Loring.
Hepburn makes a delightful leading lady in a role that was actually offered to Cyd Charisse originally. She's not a great singer, but she knows how to sell a song and even though, once again, she's cast opposite an actor decades older than Hepburn, she and Astaire do make the pairing work for the most part and we're behind the rocky road to their getting together. Of course, it goes without saying that Hepburn was one of the 1950's greatest clothes horses giving Edith Head's stunning costumes a proper easel.
But the real star of this movie is Kay Thompson. Thompson had a long and distinguished career in Hollywood as a writer, composer, vocal arranger, pianist...she was a close personal friend of Judy Garland, but she only made five appearances on film and this was her most significant film role and she makes the most of it. Thompson is dazzling in this movie, providing perfect support to the leads while simultaneously stealing the movie without anybody onscreen realizing it. It's Thompson's performance here that earned an extra bag of popcorn from this reviewer.