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Paramount Pictures presents Funny Face: 50th Anniversary Edition. Written by Leonard Gershe. Songs by George and Ira Gershwin. 86 minutes. Unrated. Originally released in 1957.
Directed By:
Stanley Donen
Cast:
Audrey Hepburn. Jo Stockton
Fred Astaire. Dick Avery
Kay Thompson. Maggie Prescott
The Film:
Funny Face is a great movie for many reasons. It’s a classic love story with memorable songs by George Gershwin. It’s the only on screen pairing of to silver screen legends, Hepburn and Astaire. This was also Hepburns departure from drama where she proved not only could she be funny, but she could sing and dance too.
Funny Face is the story of Jo Stockton (Hepburn) and Dick Avery (Astaire). Jo is a philosophic bookstore clerk whose life is turned upside down when a fashion photo shoot barges into her world. Here she meets fashion photographer Dick Avery (based on real photographer Richard Avedon who did most the photography for the film) who sees something in her the other fashionistas don’t. Dick convinces his editor that Jo would be perfect for the new clothing line and they whisk away to Paris for a photo shoot.
What follows is a whirlwind of song, merriment, misunderstanding and all the ingredients for a timeless love story. One scene in particular that stands out is the memorable moment when Jo dances around the be-bop club in her all black outfit. You may remember this from that horrible Gap commercial where they mixed this footage with AC/DC’s Back In Black.
This is a bright vibrant film; the colors just pop off the screen. On top of that most the film was shot on location in Paris so all the scenes are superb. About the only thing that doesn’t work in this film is that fact that Hepburn was 30 and Astaire was 60 and it’s hard to believe that a girl like her would fall for a guy like him. Astaire wasn’t the most attractive man, but his charisma seems to more than make up for it. However this is just a tiny annoyance that is quickly forgotten as the film sucks you in.
Audrey Hepburn is a vision on screen and one can’t help but be hypnotized by her beauty. In fact, that’s the other thing that’s a little amiss here. Jo is supposed to be this unattractive brain that the fashion editor thinks will never work as a model. Hence the title, Jo is supposed to be Funny Face. But no matter how much they dress Hepburn down she is still ravishing.
Funny Face is a whimsical magical film that is timeless. The early scenes in the magazine offices seem like something right out of The Devil Wears Prada or Ugly Betty, but far more entertaining. This is one musical not to be missed.
Jo Stockton struts her stuff.
The DVD:
This film is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen and is enhanced for 16:9 televisions. Sound is in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and original Mono. Also has French And Spanish Mono. English, French, Spanish and Portuguese Subtitles.
Extras:
The Fashion Designer and his Muse: This featurette talks about fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy and how he and Hepburn met. They forged a life long friendship and he dressed her in 8 of her films. This is interesting for anyone interested in fashion of Hepburn.
Parisian Dreams: This one talks about the wonder of Paris and why the city works so well for the story of this film. The people they interview here REALLY love Paris.
Paramount in the 50’s: This piece talks about all the great films that Paramount released in the 50’s and is a little masturbatory. Still it’s kind of interesting.
Photo Gallery
Original Trailer
The Inside Pulse
It can’t be said enough how wonderful and timeless this film is. Not being a huge musical fan myself I couldn’t helped be sucked in my Hepburn’s allure. If you love musicals then you already know how great this is and if you’ve never seen a musical this is a great place to start.
