Funny Girl - revisiting my favorite(?) films of all time

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with finding a blue marble egg, similar to the one Nick Arnstein give Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl." I am pretty sure I was still in elementary school when I saw the film on television for the first time. I caught it right at the beginning, recording it on VHS. I think I might have only missed the overture.

This was long before the internet, so the only way to find out more about the film and it's star was to ask. I learned that Barbra was a bleeding heart liberal from my parents (I think), and my high school geometry teacher told me that it was adapted from a Broadway musical, which she had been able to see when she was a girl. I begged her to bring me the playbill, but she never did. Probably because I might never give it back to her. My cousin Ann, who hated all things left, still managed to enjoy Barbra's music, and we played her albums on loop every time I visited.

I watched "Funny Girl" over and over and over, for many years. I couldn't get enough. I can still remember listening to the cast recording in our living room when no one was at home (the film, not Broadway...I saved that only for the "Music That Makes Me Dance" a song that was cut from the film when they got the rights to "My Man"), willing my teenage vocal chords to hit the notes during "I'm the Greatest Star" and "Don't Rain on my Parade."

The hunt for the blue marble egg took many years. I looked in every Kirkland's, every outlet mall tchotchke store...everywhere. I eventually found one in Destin, FL, and I have it today. Once I found the egg, it was on to the original movie poster (still have that one as well...it's the rerelease poster, the original was $250, and I knew my parents wouldn't get me that one!), then it was the Original Cast recording of "Funny Lady," the sequel to "Funny Girl."

I also became quite obsessed with the Oscars at this time and couldn't believe that "Funny Girl" had lost Best Picture to "Oliver," another musical. But at least my Babs had won Best Actress. Even if she had to share the win in a tie. Although, who am I kidding...that tie is one of the greatest Oscar moments in history!! If only Kate Hepburn had been there to accept as well.

As I got a bit older, into my late teens, when people would ask me what my favorite film was, I always said "Funny Girl," until it because a "5 way tie," in my early 20s...but still including "Funny Girl." As the years have gone by, other films have made their way into my personal favorites list. One as recent as 2017. Surprise, surprise. My favorite film may or may not be a certain film by David Lynch that I saw the first year I moved to NYC. Or it may be another film about a perfectionist artist...a not so funny girl possessed by the demon, perhaps?

When thinking about what I might want to do here at Awards Wiz this summer, I decided, since it was the 10 year anniversary of the site, to revisit each year of the site, re-examining my top 10, particularly my favorite film of each year as it correlated to the Oscar season. Then I realized it was the 9th year for Awards Wiz and I decided to wait. Instead, I'm going to revisit the films I have called my favorites for as long as I can remember. Watching them in order of release. With a few others thrown in that probably need to be considered. Right now, I'm at 15. That's a hefty list, but I can do it.

So, where does "Funny Girl" stand? It's not pretty, y'all.

The film begins exactly as I remember it. The overture is brilliant...I can still remember every note. When Barbara sings, "I'm the Greatest Star," it is electric. This is the moment I loved so much as a kid.

She is utterly hilarious in the Roller skate number. And then comes an absolutely terrible edit, right before "Id Rather Be Blue." I remember this as well, but I always looked over it.

As the film goes on, the musical numbers are incredible ("People," "Don't Rain on My Parade"), the costumes stunning...and Barbra somehow manages to balance Fanny's self deprecation/humor on a pin point. Omar Sharif is ok as Nick. He doesn't quite manage the balancing act that Streisand does.

They do have incredible chemistry in the street scene when Streisand sings "People," and Sharif is best when he is gambling in the 2nd half of the film, playing a very good addict. Trust me on that one.

But in scenes where he is completely bent on being the big, strong man, particularly when he demands to "be the head of this family," for it to be the way he says "or not at all," I wondered why on earth she would stay with him. Then again...I've certainly gone down that path.

After intermission, Fanny gets a haircut...time jumps...the tone shifts significantly and then we have the worst shot in the film as Fanny runs desperately to Nick who has just "lost his ruffled shirt." Time seems to jump again, and the film completely unravels. The film suddenly stops being a musical, until the horrible "Swan Lake" number, with even more terrible edits. Sharif's best scene happens right before this number, and I wondered if William Wyler, the director and screenwriter Isabel Lennart could have constructed something much more interesting here. A back and forth between Fanny and Nick that showed us what Fanny was going through in song. A different song. NOT this song:

Although, now that I think of it, editors William Sands and Maury Winetrobe, clearly weren't up for that task. (How the heck were these two nominated for an Oscar for this film?!) Can you imagine how incredible "How Lucky Can You Get" would have been at this point in the film?! Then we could have forgone "Funny Lady" altogether.

All this aside, the elephant in the room when revisiting "Funny Girl" is the fact that Fanny is punished for being successful all the while trying, demurring to be the subservient wife...all without irony. This doesn't hold up. I don’t think it even held up in the late 80s. She does nothing to deserve the way Nick treats her. I'm honestly surprised that Barbra stood for this. Even in 1968.

But the most infuriating thing in the film…other than the shoddy editing and the horrible Swan number is when, in the final act, Fanny tells Zigfield that she is willing to give up the theatre for Nick right before he comes into her dressing room, having been released from jail, and gives her the coldest of cold shoulders. Suddenly Fanny says that after months of tears she finally thought about “them," and she came to the realization that he is right. They aren't good for each other.

WHAT?! It doesn’t make sense and it’s beyond deprecating. She was ready to give up the theatre for someone she already knew wasn't right for her?

That all being said, this infuriating moment leads into one of the most incredible film performances of all time. A truly sad, borderline pathetic torch song...but brilliant nonetheless.

Here's a thought though. If these choices are those that a real person would make, does it matter if they don’t stand up to feminist ideals? My own ideals? Does that mean it can still be a wonderful film? One of my favorite films?

One thing is absolutely certain when it comes to "Funny Girl." Barbra Streisand deserved the Oscar. It is a performance for the musical ages. The film itself?

As a kid I remember fast forwarding from the end of Act 1 to "My Man," many, many times. And there is a reason for that.