Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn - Funny Face (1957) DVDRip (SiRiUs sHaRe)

Funny Face (1957)



Fashion photographer Dick Avery (Fred Astaire), in search for an intellectual backdrop for an air-headed model, expropriates a Greenwich Village bookstore.



When the photo session is over the store is left in a shambles, much to salesgirl Jo Stockton's (Audrey Hepburn) dismay. Avery stays behind to help her clean up. Later, he examines the photos taken there and sees Jo in the background of one shot.



He is intrigued by her unique appearance, as is Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson), the editor of a leading fashion magazine. They offer Jo a modeling contract, which she reluctantly accepts only because it includes a trip to Paris.



Eventually, her snobbish attitude toward the job softens, and Jo begins to enjoy the work and the company of her handsome photographer.



Audrey Hepburn ... Jo Stockton

Fred Astaire ... Dick Avery

Kay Thompson ... Maggie Prescott

Michel Auclair ... Prof. Emile Flostre

Robert Flemyng ... Paul Duval

Dovima ... Marion



Stanley Donen's "Funny Face" was one of the best musicals that came out of Paramount, a studio not known for that genre. The DVD format we watched recently seems to have been transferred with great care as the colors have a vibrant look, something that wasn't the case with the technique used during that era that made colors fade.



The film owes its appeal to Audrey Hepburn, an actress not known for being a singer, or a dancer, but who had enough charm to make the movie her own. The pairing with the great Fred Astaire pays off well because Mr. Astaire was always an actor who had enough chemistry with his leading ladies. Ms. Hepburn's costumes by Givenchy and the way she carries herself in them is one of the best assets about "Funny Face".



The other surprise of the movie is Kay Thompson, who plays the magazine editor Maggie Prescott. Ms. Thompson makes an excellent contribution to the film as the no nonsense woman who ruled what the fashions of the day should be as shown in the pages of the magazine.



The songs of George Gershwin are complimented by the original music composed for the musical by Roger Edens, Adolph Deutsch and Leonard Gershe. The great cinematography of Ray June shows Paris at its best. Thanks to Stanley Donen all the elements feel into place and we were left with this musical that will delight audiences forever.



* Fred Astaire's character is based on photographer Richard Avedon. In fact, it is Avedon who set up most of the photography for this film, including the famous face portrait of Audrey Hepburn unveiled during the dark room sequence.



* Cameo: [Baroness Ella Van Heemstra] Audrey Hepburn's mother as a sidewalk cafe patron.



* Audrey Hepburn filmed this back-to-back with Love in the Afternoon (1957).



* The soggy weather played havoc with the shooting of the wedding dress dance scene. Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn were continually slipping in the muddy and slippery grass. Hepburn sings several songs. Her next full musical, My Fair Lady (1964), would see her voice overdubbed, much to her disappointment.



* Audrey Hepburn did not want to be separated from her husband Mel Ferrer, so filming of the Paris scenes was timed to coincide with Ferrer's filming of Elena et les hommes (1956) with Ingrid Bergman. Paris' unseasonably rainy weather had to be worked into the script, particularly during the balloons photo shoot scene. During filming of the Paris scenes, much of the crew and cast were on edge because of riots and political violence that were gripping the city.



* Ditzy model Marion is played by Dovima, who was one of the top fashion models of the day and often worked with Richard Avedon.



* Fred Astaire also starred in the original 1927 Broadway version of George Gershwin's and Ira Gershwin's "Funny Face". Although he was the male lead in the show, he did not play the same character he does in the film, and the storyline of the original stage musical was entirely different from the one in the film. Both play and film used many of the same songs.



* Audrey Hepburn's terrier appears as the dog in the basket during the "Anna Karenia" train shot.



* Ditzy model Marion's interest in comic books was inserted into the film to reflect actress-model Dovima's real life passion for them.



* Audrey Hepburn was offered the lead role in Gigi (1958) but turned it down to make this movie.



* Cyd Charisse was offered the lead role, but declined. Audrey Hepburn's agent initially rejected the film, but Hepburn overrode the decision after reading the script.



* The plot of this movie is actually that of Leonard Gershe's unsuccessful Broadway musical "Wedding Bells" - apparently the studio bought the rights to the title just so they could use the song. The original plot of the musical was scrapped, and Gershwin songs from other musicals replaced several numbers originally written by Gershe himself for "Wedding Bells". These numbers were tweaked so that they could fit into the main storyline, and one of them - of course - was "Funny Face". The studio may have felt that the original plot of "Funny Face" could not be properly adapted into a movie as it was an "ensemble" musical with people dropping out and parts changing all the time.



* Much has been written about the crew having to contend with rainy weather in Paris during production. For a comparison of how the film might have looked if the sun hadn't appeared from time to time, compare the Bonjour Paris number from the film - mostly shot in brilliant sunshine - with alternate footage shot on a rainy day that is featured in the trailer.



* Many of the production staff usually associated with MGM musicals went to Paramount especially to work on this film, so it is, essentially, an MGM musical made at Paramount.



* The little white car that Dick and Maggie drive to the beatnik club is called a VELAM Isetta. They were made between 1955 and 1958. VELAM (Vehicular Leger a Moteur [light vehicle with motor]) was a French company. The French nicknamed the car the "yoghurt pot" because of its looks. It was also known as a "bubblecar."



* The Audrey Hepburn character was inspired by Suzy Parker, who made a fashionable cameo appearance in the film (her first film) in the "Think Pink" sequence.



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