After the runaway success of Barbra Streisand’s Oscar-winning film debut Funny Girl(1968), it was inevitable that Columbia would want her to return in a sequel.
The result was Funny Lady, a sort of ‘Fanny Sings Again’ which takes up the Fanny Brice story after the end of her marriage to callous gambler (Omar Sharif) and continues to show how the great comedienne has no luck with her love life by chronicling her unhappy marriage to overbearing producer/songwriter Billy Rose (James Caan).
The film’s first quarter, which hilariously describes the trials and tribulations of an Atlantic City try-out for a new revue – titled Crazy Quilt – promises far more than the rest of the movie delivers.
Ultimately, Fanny drifts away from both Rose and Arnstein and finds a career in Hollywood as the star of The Baby Snooks Show, a long-running radio show for CBS.
Also in the cast are Roddy McDowall, Ben Vereen, Larry Gates, Carol Welles and Heidi O’Rourke.
Fanny Brice
Barbra Streisand Billy Rose
James Caan Nicky Arnstein
Omar Sharif Bobby Moore
Roddy McDowall Bert Robbins
Ben Vereen Norma Butler
Carole Wells Bernard Baruch
Larry Gates Ned
Gene Troobnick Eleanor Holm
Heidi O’Rourke Adèle
Royce Wallace Mademoiselle
Lilyan Chauvin Fran
Samantha Huffaker Buck Bolton
Matt Emery
Director
Herbert Ross
Related Posts
Fugitive Kind, The (1960) This screen version of Tennessee Williams stage play Orpheus Descending introduces Val "Snakeskin" Xavier (Marlon Brando), a young mixed-up guitarist…
Fall of the Roman Empire, The (1964) Although superbly filmed in 70mm, The Fall of the Roman Empire feels cynical compared to the bombastic emphasis on scale…
Fun With Dick & Jane (1976) When aerospace executive Dick Harper (George Segal) loses his job as part of a company-wide downsizing, he and his stay-at-home…
Sweet Hostage (1975) This made-for-TV movie for ABC starred Martin Sheen as Leonard Hatch, an escaped psychiatric patient who kidnaps illiterate 16-year-old farm…
From Here To Eternity (1953) This first-rate, compelling drama about army life in Hawaii on the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor comes across…
Flirting (1989) Director John Duigan began the coming-of-age story of Danny Embling in the wonderful The Year My Voice Broke (1987), and continues…
Full Circle (1977) Richard Loncraine’s almost forgotten ghost story features Mia Farrow as Julia Lofting, a young mother grieving the loss of her…
Frankie & Johnny (1966) This musical comedy-drama stars Elvis Presley as a Mississippi riverboat entertainer who's in love with his (female) partner, Frankie (Donna…
