I heard rumors that there was friction on the set between Barbra and Anne Francis. Part of the problem may have been due to the fact that Ms. Francis had been in films for years while this was Ms. Streisands' first film. Any truth to these rumors?
shareI wouldn't doubt it. Rumor has it that Barbra rarely gets along with co-stars, especially the male lead.
Of course I'm an egomaniac! I have America's Sweetheart climbing up my drainpipe!
Anne Francis's role was reduced in size because her character was considered superfluous (a similar role in the Broadway production was eliminated entirely). Francis's publicist made a big deal about it in the press, saying that Streisand was behind it all. It wasn't true, because Streisand hadn't attained that kind of power yet; she didn't have provisions for "final cut" in her Funny Girl contract. A lot of footage wound up on the cutting room floor, including most of Streisand's "Swan Lake" number. The film was just too long.
Robert Swink, Funny Girl's supervising film editor, spoke on record regarding the cuts -
"I know the Anne Francis role was cut down terribly," Swink said. "But Willie [Wyler] only did it for the sake of the picture. He had final cut. Streisand didn't."
Francis later said she understood why the cuts had been made and issued an apology to Streisand on her website.
http://www.annefrancis.net/02_news/0202_ltr.html
Swink said. "But Willie [Wyler] only did it for the sake of the picture. He had final cut. Streisand didn't."Didn't Wyler himself jokingly express admiration for Streisand's work on Funny Girl "considering it was the first film she ever directed"?
Didn't Wyler himself jokingly express admiration for Streisand's work on Funny Girl "considering it was the first film she ever directed"?
I'm intrigued...I did once see the "cut" version of SWAN LAKE in a print of FG that I saw at a revival theater in NYC in 1982. But every single other print I've ever seen - TV, home video (both dvd and videotape) - has the long version.
So when FG was having its roadshow first run engagements, the cut version of SWAN LAKE was seen? That's interesting because usually, in those big 60s films, cuts are made *after* the first runs showings when the films move into the neighborhood theaters. In this case, more was added!
"Samantha! You picked a lemon in the garden of love!"
The number that attracted the most attention during the shooting of Funny Girl was "The Swan," a spoof of Swan Lake. The big national magazines ran stories on the number's shooting, complete with numerous production stills featuring Barbra Streisand being menaced by Von Rothbart and getting shot with an arrow. Dance Magazine reported the number would last seven minutes onscreen. But when Funny Girl was released in 1968, the number only lasted about two minutes onscreen and was greeted with disappointment (if reviewers noticed it at all). "How could such a promising spoof of Swan Lake have been so severely truncated?" asked the critic for Newsweek magazine. The number was incoherent and, even worse, difficult to follow thanks to Wyler's decision to superimpose images of Nick Arnstein playing poker over the ballet footage.
In 1969, syndicated columnist Liz Smith reported that Streisand had spearheaded a drive to get an improved version of "The Swan" into the film, and by the middle of the year she'd succeeded. The new version lasted three-and-a-half minutes and wasn't intercut with images of Nick Arnstein gambling. It was an improvement, though still not a particularly memorable (or funny) number. Footage featuring Von Rothbart, and much more of Streisand and Tommy Rall, remained missing in action.
It wasn't until 1994 that New York film aficianados saw the uncut "Swan Lake" number that Ross intended for Funny Girl, and it was well received in the NY Times -
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/06/movies/review-dance-from-perfectioni sm-to-pastiche-in-the-films-of-herbert-ross.html
However, a version that popped up on YouTube (which is now unavailable) pinpointed the uncut number's problem; it was simply too long and not funny enough - especially for the film's second half, which many viewers found slow and cumbersome. The Broadway version livened things up with "Rat Tat Tat Tat," a World War I number that was rousing and funny. "The Swan" (which replaced it) was neither of those things, although Streisand looked nice in a tutu.
Thanks so much, Murph! I love your posts, you have so much “inside info”!
I too saw the uncut SWAN LAKE on You Tube, and I didn’t think it was particularly fantastic either. Now that I’ve seen the long and short versions, I’m sorry that they just didn’t use RAT-A-TAT-TAT. I directed the show once, and we had a lot of fun with that number.
Which brings up another point – the movie is excellent and is one of my favorites, but I truly wish that they’d stuck closer to the stage script. They cut songs, added songs of the period, and eliminated scenes featuring most of the supporting characters. I understand that they probably wanted to zero in on Streisand, but a lot of good stuff got lost. In speaking about friction during filming, I wonder if the supporting cast that appeared on stage (Lee Allen, Kaye Medford) felt slighted at losing their big moments….although I imagine that they went into the film knowing that these changes were made. Lee Allen and Babs seemed to be very friendly off stage, as he was featured in her 1967 TV special.
"Samantha! You picked a lemon in the garden of love!"
Kay Medford and Lee Allen probably regretted seeing some of their material wind up on the cutting room floor; their "Who Taught Her Everything?" duet, for example, was shot but never used in the final film. But I'm sure their experience with Funny Girl on stage made them realists; they always knew the show's big selling point was Barbra Streisand (and not them). And as well received as their material was on stage, they also knew their numbers served another function - to give Barbra Streisand a breather ("Baby Dream Your Dream" did the same thing for Gwen Verdon in Sweet Charity]). But the star doesn't need a breather on film, so the necessity for numbers like these disappears. Even with the cuts, Medford managed to make an impact and pick up an Oscar nomination. But retaining "Rat Tat Tat Tat" would have not only served Streisand and the film better, it also would have utilized Lee Allen's song-and-dance skills. Allen had an appealing screen presence and Funny Girl's second half could have used more of him.
I agree 100% about Mr. Allen. You'd never know what a talented song and dance man he was from the film of FG. He was almost gone from the second half of the film.
Oh boy - WHO TAUGHT HER EVERYTHING was indeed filmed? Wow, I'd *love* to see that footage! I wonder if it's floating around somewhere, like SWAN LAKE was?
Thanks again!!! :)
"Samantha! You picked a lemon in the garden of love!"