Hello Dolly Film Version — Page 3

I thought Babs gave an ok performance. Yes she was too young but still gave a good performance (although that was Carol's role and she deserved to have it) I joke with my friends and call it the Hugh Heffner story....a 29 year old woman marries a man who is as old as dirt! lol

During IT TAKES A WOMAN, is it planned or was it a blooper when Michale Crawford was right in the horse's face and the horse kinda licks/chews on his head? That is my FAVORITE moment of the movie! I don't stop laughing for at least 1 min!

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I don't care what you say

Likewise, I'm sure.

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And I agree with you! But what I was saying was that even though it didn't make sense she was ok performing wise. THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN HER FOR IT!

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Ah! Well, still I agree with you!

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Haha, well thanks.

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I think it can work age wise, its just that it wasn't written that way, and that's the big issue. Thirty was a big deal back then, just watch reruns of the Mary Tyler Moore show. The big problem is it wasn't written that way. But I enjoy Barbra's preformance, I think the movie does have a few issues, but I enjoy it, and I think it is much better than certain other attempts at this genre.

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Babs may have been young, but she didn't look THAT young, IMO. You can just use your imagination and pretend she's 40.

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The basic problems:

1. barbra is too young
2. matthau looks like he swallowed vinegar
3. gene kelly was past his prime as an artist-director
4. the timing; this film was made in 1968 and 1969 at a time when the world was changing for the better and the worse

Can you imagine making this film in the midst of assassinations, riots in the streets, etc?

Even though too young, Barbra is the saving grace of the film. There is no way this film would have been made or been tolerable with Channing. Her voice, her look, her persona is better suited for the stage not for the camera. She is best in small doses; if she were a great screen actress she would have done more after the Millie film.

If BS did not star in the film, who would have been Dolly? Can you imagine a studio bankrolling a musical film in the late 1960s starring a woman over 50? [the same could be said for today.]

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while there's still time left

Exactly, there's still time left. And as far as Walter Matthau, it proably didn't help that he hated Barbra in person.

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I still love the film and the stage show.

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Barbra was actually younger than 29 when she filmed Dolly. I am quite sure she was 26.

I have always enjoyed the movie immensely, and don't care if she was technically miscast. I would rather hear her sing the score any day over Channing. And many of her line deliveries were quite funny. I always thought Barbra had an older look to her when she was young.

Devotees of CHICAGO and MOULIN ROUGE might say otherwise, and *they*, frankly, would win. DOLLY is a big, clunky movie musical. Had it been made the same way with anyone other than Streisand, it would have been like THE WIZ -- eminently forgettable.

Wow...just, wow!

The film is not horrible in the least and is actually quite an achievement. Whatever one thinks of La Streisand's performance, you cannot deny her star power, humor, charm, and seductiveness. The production and costuming design are simply phenomenal and among the best of their era. The orchestrations manage to make Herman's serviceable score sound thrilling and the musical staging serves the material well. It's only flaw was to have appeared in a time of adolescent rebellion and juvenile tastes at the box office. Judging from its continual appearance on cable TV, the film has a wide and receptive audience and I suspect its reputation will only grow in stature in the years to come.

TheEnchantedHunter
Ted Hunter, Cane, NH