| | | S'wonderful, s'marvelous!
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Dolby, Digital Audio, English, Dolby Digital (5.1), Dolby Surround Sound
Paris, the City of Light, shines even brighter when Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire team up for the only time and bring their luminous starpower to this exquisite musical featuring songs by George and Ira Gershwin. This dazzling romp--filmed on location in Paris--garnered four Academy Award Nominations. In the role of a bookstore clerk transformed into a modeling sensation, Hepburn showcases singing and dancing skills she had honed on the London stage, performing "How Long Has This Been Going On?", a "Basal Metabolism" dance in a cool-cat bistro and more. Astaire, as the fashion photographer who discovers her, conjurers up his inimitable magic for sequences that include his "Let's Kiss And Make Up" matador diversion, a heavenly dance with Hepburn to "He Loves And She Loves" and, again with Hepburn, the title-tune enchantment "I Love Your Funny Face". Now and forever, so do we.
"Stylish and highly stylized musical...striking use of color..." Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
Editor's Note
Splashes of vivid color light the way through Stanley Donen's very modern musical. "Think pink!" commands Miss Prescott, head of Quality Woman fashion magazine, and American women obey--all except Jo (Audrey Hepburn), an intellectual young woman who tries to prevent Miss Prescott from staging a photo shoot in Jo's bookshop. Photographer Dick Avery (Fred Astaire) sees something interesting in Jo's "funny face," and soon he's lured her to Paris to model during the day and discuss philosophy in smoky cafés at night. Modeling Givenchy clothes, Hepburn steals the color in every scene, and her funny face enchants all, including Dick and, unexpectedly, the dark and handsome philosophy master whose theories Jo adores.The musical numbers are primarily duets--Jo and Dick glide together in each other's arms, Jo and Miss Prescott find unexpected solidarity in womanhood, and Dick and Miss Prescott cavort in the philosopher's salon--but the most engaging scene is when the three come to Paris, plead exhaustion to one another, then secretly race around the city, singing and dancing and reveling in being tourists.
Plot Summary
Serious thinker Jo catches the interest of fashion photographer Dick Avery, who is seeking a natural and "funny" face to take with him to a Paris fashion show. Seeing the opportunity to bring her ideas on philosophy to the Left Bank cafés, Jo agrees to join him, but once in Paris, Dick's focused attention on her and the fairy-tale clothes inspire daydreams of love. Fred Astaire's silky dance moves and Audrey Hepburn's fresh, wistful spirit charge this modern-day Cinderella story with elegance and charm.
| Features | Restored English Mono | | Theatrical Trailer | | Widescreen Version Enhanced For 16x9 TVs | | Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround | | Scene Selection | | French Mono | | English Subtitles | | Interactive Menus | | Photo Gallery | | "Paramount In The 1950s" Retrospective Featurette |
| Technical Info
|
Release Information
| | Studio: Paramount |
| Release Date: 1/25/2005 |
| Running Time: 103 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1957 | | Catalog ID: 056084 | | UPC: 00097360560848 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: Color |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (1958) | | | Sam Comer, et al., Nominee, Best Art Direction/ Set Decoration | | | Ray June, Nominee, Best Cinematography | | | Herbert de Givenchy, Nominee, Best Costume Design | | | Leonard Gershe, Nominee, Best Writing, Story And Screen Play Written Directly For The Screen |
|
| | Professional Reviews | Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "FUNNY FACE is a visual treat. Technicolor set-pieces showcase the real stars of the picture -- Hepburn's lavish, Givenchy-designed dresses." 01/01/2008 p.162Wall Street Journal
"George and Ira Gershwin supplied the music and lyrics. Thompson, Astaire and Hepburn supplied the magic." 08/28/2009 The Motion Picture Guide 7 of 10
...some of Gershwin's best tunes and some wonderful dancing... beautifully photographed and executed.
|
| |
|
|
|
