Opened September 18, 1968
On this page: Rehearsals | Makeup/Screen Tests | Filming
Barbra Streisand played Funny Girl on the Broadway and London stage from 1964 to 1966.
Work on the film version of Funny Girl began with the screenplay adaptation of the stage play.
Producer Ray Stark approached Sidney Buchman (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) to write the first Funny Girl screenplay. Anne Edwards revealed in her 1997 book Streisand: A Biography, that she was hired as an uncredited co-writer of that script. Buchman and Edwards wrote their screenplay using several sources: the playscript; Isobel Lennart's very first screenplay (My Man)—written before the Broadway show; and Fanny Brice's reel-to-reel autobiography tapes.
William Wyler's personal papers show that there was a Buchman draft screenplay dated September 25, 1966, and then another revised draft dated November 7, 1966.
Buchman and Edwards’ early drafts began with Fanny visiting Nicky in jail. The flashback motif was used. They inserted the Georgia James character, added the roller-skate number, and included a scene showing racism with Bert Williams, the black Follies performer.
Then, Buchman and Edwards were off the picture. In the Spring of 1967, Isobel Lennart (who wrote the Broadway book) began writing the Funny Girl film.
Ray Stark started looking for directors as well. Stark and Streisand were spotted, in October 1967, discussing the film with prospective director Sidney Lumet (1978's The Wiz). Lumet left the project in January 1967, though.
(Above) Many actors were considered for the role of Nicky Arnstein: Sam Wanamaker, Sean Connery, Vince Edwards, David Janssen, Robert Culp ...
By the time Barbra Streisand arrived in Hollywood in May, 1967, William Wyler was helming the film, which was still being written and developed.
In his revered career, William Wyler directed Hollywood stars Audrey Hepburn, Bette Davis, Charlton Heston, and Laurence Olivier.
Since William Wyler had never directed a musical, Herbert Ross was added to the team as the director of the film's musical numbers.
As late as September 14, 1967, Funny Girl composer Jule Styne sent a telegram to Barbra Streisand: “Dear Barbra,” he wrote, “Please consider Who Are You Now for Music That Makes Me Dance before you settle on reprise of You Are Woman for that spot.”
Styne was trying to secretly influence the film by enlisting Streisand's aid because he added a post script in the telegram: “Do not say I said so.”
From the telegram, it sounds as if Styne still hoped two of the songs he wrote for the Broadway show would make it into the movie.
They did not.
Lennart's April 11, 1967 “estimating draft” screenplay of Funny Girl featured a musical number called “Tomboy,” which, at that time, was considered for the place where “Roller Skate Rag” now resides.
Not only did Ray Stark request that the Fanny Brice standard, “My Man”, be added to the film version, but he also toyed with adding “Rose of Washington Square” (introduced by Brice in Ziegfeld's 1920 show, Midnight Frolic).
Funny Girl, the movie, began rehearsals in July 1967.
“Funny Girl” Rehearsals
Publicity photographs of Streisand and Omar Sharif (cast as Nicky Arnstein) were released to the press in June 1967.
In Earl Wilson's column, he wrote about the Streisand/Sharif rehearsal:
Barbra Streisand was rehearsing for the "Funny Girl" movie with Omar Sharif who ... was biting her neck. He pulled her down on a divan and bit her neck some more. While he was still biting her neck, she snapped her fingers to choreographer Herb Ross. No more neck-biting just now, anyway. Omar Sharif quit biting her neck. Barbra and Herb Ross talked, earnestly in low voices about how a girl reacts to having her neck bitten. Then Herb took her in his arms and bit her neck a while. Honest to God [...] They were rehearsing for recording "You Are Woman" ...
For several weeks before filming began, Barbra danced ballet for the new “Swan Lake” number, and practiced her roller-skating skills for “Roller Skate Rag”.
All the time, Streisand pre-recorded the Funny Girl songs with music director Walter Scharf (photo below).
“We probably spent $200,000 pre-recording everything,” Jack Solomon—who did the sound on Funny Girl—said. When Streisand was filming a musical number on set, she “would come to me and say, ‘There are certain parts of this song I want to sing live,’” Solomon explained. “So I would cut forty bars out of the playback, and she would sing live at that particular portion of the song.”
Makeup/Screen Tests
Herbert Ross directed Streisand's test footage. “We spent hours shooting her to test her in different lights, different makeups, different hairdos,” Ross explained. “Well, on screen she looked a miracle. How could anyone have known that her skin was going to have that brilliant reflective surface, that she was going to look radiant—that was just a wonderful plus.”
Streisand was even tested on set for the Ziegfeld wedding number wearing a bonnet and flowered gown. This costume was nixed for the one you see in the final film.
Filming “Funny Girl”
Funny Girl began filming in August 1967 at an abandoned rail depot in New Jersey. This was the location for “Don't Rain On My Parade”. Streisand's first scene on film: Climbing down from the train car and posing for photographers.
William Wyler said of the new film star, “Barbra was insecure and nervous about the new medium at first. She was a bit obstreperous in the beginning but things were ironed out when she discovered some of us knew what we are doing. She seems happy in her work.” Wyler saw Streisand play Fanny Brice on stage in London. “I hadn’t decided to do the picture until I saw Barbra,” he said. “She had a lot to do with my decision. I wouldn’t have made the picture without her.”
Barbra told Charles Champlin, in November 1967 as she was finishing up principle photography on the film, “The first few weeks [of filming] were tense, but nothing terrific. They're not used to an actress speaking up.”
(Below: Some movie magic! The screen still on top shows Streisand as Fanny Brice with her bride music right before she makes her debut in the Ziegfeld Follies. The scene was actually shot in front of a blue screen so that filmmakers could magically add the theater background to the scene later. The bottom picture shows Streisand in the studio filming this scene.)
Streisand spent the rest of 1967 filming Funny Girl. Principle photography finished in December with the re-filming of Barbra’s final number, “My Man”, which she sang live. (The second half of the song, after the master shot, is dubbed). Jack Solomon helped technically make the number work. “We can use the playback, but the master shot has got to be with a tight lens so I can get the microphone right there. [Streisand] was hearing the orchestra [playback] real low. I fed her with a little tiny speaker—that's why we had a tight lens on, so that I could put the speaker there. Later, we put the full track over it.”
In 1967, Streisand said the following to columnist Harold Heffeman:
To me, being a star is being a movie star. I remember a long time ago when I was a kid. I had to be somebody and I decided I didn’t want to be just the best of one thing. I would be the best singer, best actress, best recording star, best Broadway star—and now best movie star. That was my challenge to myself and I hope to see it fulfilled!
(Above: Walter Scharf and Streisand in the recording studio, working on FUNNY GIRL vocals.)
Army Archerd wrote a story about Barbra's first film in his 1967 syndicated column:
The film version of Funny Girl is more difficult than the stage [Streisand] admitted. It wasn't easy for her to adjust to doing musical numbers over and over for different camera angles ... When we first visited her at the film's pre-recording session, Barbra was dressed in a severe black dress. She looked like a Manhattan version of France's Edith Piaf as she recorded the “Funny Girl” title tune, backed by a Hollywood symphony orchestra under the baton of Walter Scharf who has worked on over 200 films. This was Barbra's first. Scharf came over to tell us what a great talent Barbra Streisand is. And as we watched and listened, we understood. She asked for take after take, insisting she could do it better each time. At the finale, the orchestra of veteran musicians in this business, stood to applaud her.
(Above: Director William Wyler riding a bike on the Columbia backlot, accompanied by Streisand in fur; Below: three items from the gossip columns about filming FUNNY GIRL.)
End.
