It was released when I was 6, so I didn't have the ability to go to NYC by myself to see it at the Rivoli, where it played its Roadshow NY premiere (LOL). I first saw it when it came on television in '74.
Does anyone here recall seeing it in the movies? It must have been beautiful!
"Samantha! You picked a lemon in the garden of love!"
I did. I was 12. My older brother worked as an usher at a local theatre with a huge screen (long gone now, of course -replaced by a multiplex). On Fridays and/or Saturday evenings I'd ride to work with him and just sit and watch whatever happened to be playing (occasionally even R Rated features). I was a young amateur movie-maker & thought I was eventually going to film school after I graduated from high school, so I would really study the flicks as I watched them over & over (never did go to film school, of course). I don't remember how long "Hello Dolly" ran, but I saw it at least a half-dozen times, possibly more -we're talkin' 40 years ago, so it's a little hazy!:)
I pretty much enjoyed it -I was an open minded kid who couldn't tell a good musical from a bad one, and I appreciated the production value of it, but I don't believe the critics were very kind to it. Years later, my high school drama teacher remarked that she thought it was awful, and that kind of opened my eyes a little. Not one of Gene Kelly's better efforts, I suppose.
Those old big screen theatres couldn't be beat, though. Those days are a fond memory.
I also got to see "Dirty Harry", the original "Andromeda Strain" and a few other cool fims that escape my memory right now at that theatre, as well as some great shorts. Most young people today are probably unaware that back then many theatres would play 20-or-so minute long shorts between features -almost all indie produced (I think). Some were very cool.
I did it was my first summer out of the army, I went to see it more then once.
It started as reserved seating but since it wasn't doing that well they went over to a regular four or five times a day.
"They bought the rights of Hello Dolly from producer David Merrick with the proviso that the film not be shown until the Broadway run concluded."
That is not true as the play/musical with Ethel Merman was still running when the film came out, trust me I was there. I also saw the play first (twice)
Funny how a documently that sometimes plays on TCM says the same thing.
Matter of fact Danny Lockin played Barnaby Tucker in this show as well, under his bio in the Playbill it said that he also in the recently released movie.
Thanks!!!
"Everytime I want to have a little fun-SHE turns out!" (Baron Bomburst)
While on the subject I also saw "Fiddler on the Roof" at the same house in Manhattan, three times.
It was reserved seats the entire run.
BTW its not true what some say that the movie only started playing after the Broadway Theatre one closed, it still ran for a while with Ethel Merriman
in the title role. Matter of fact Danny Locken played the same role in both.
How sad how he died
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Dear Vpilutis: That was the Rivoli Theater then! What a beautiful, classic movie showcase that was. So many of the biggies played there....OKLAHOMA!, SOUND OF MUSIC, STAR!, DOLLY, FIDDLER. I remember seeing FIDDLER there in the summer of 1972 and my mom had to buy reserved seats in advance for the matinee that we attended. What a day that was!!
And yep, Fox resolved the dispute with Merrick and DOLLY was able to open while the show was still running. Makes you wonder if the movie had opened earlier, instead of sitting there while legal battles raged, if it would have done better?
"Everytime I want to have a little fun-SHE turns out!" (Baron Bomburst)
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Fox resolved the dispute with Merrick and DOLLY was able to open while the show was still running. Makes you wonder if the movie had opened earlier, instead of sitting there while legal battles raged, if it would have done better?
Thank you murph!..you know, I did think of that as a matter of fact. It would seem to me that if the film finished the actual photographty in the summer of 1968, it would have to be RUSHED in post production to get out by the end of 1968...and I get the impression that this wasn't the plan anyway.
It would indeed make sense to have the film open in December, as a big "holiday family movie event" sort of thing. LIFE Magazine did a big cover story sometime in 1969, with a headline - "THE MOVIE THAT CAN'T BE RELEASED", and over the years the various literature that I've read made it sound like it was sitting for more than a year gathering dust - which as you say, probably wasn't all that long anyway.
Would a few months (say, Easter of 1969) made a difference? Probably not.
"Everytime I want to have a little fun-SHE turns out!" (Baron Bomburst)
I don't think so, I was only seven myself.
shareI saw "Hello, Dolly" on a movie screen, that is, at my neighborhood theatre. I wish I had seen it as a road show presentation as I am not sure to this day whether I saw the whole film or whether it was trimmed. My parents and I saw "Star!" road show style, and a good thing, too, as the film disappeared for quite a few years after very indifferent reviews. I think that "Star!" was the last road-show film that I saw and the genre eventually expired.
Upon seeing the film I remember my reaction being that it was kind of a long film and a little too formalized and elaborate. It was not until I saw a local theatre group take on the show that I saw the playfulness and fun of the piece. The film version of "Hello, Dolly" was neither playful nor, arguably, fun (except for Louis Armstrong's appearance).
My Mom was very fond of movie magazines, the ancestor of the National Enquirer. There was much gleeful reporting about the lack of rapport between Mr. Matthau and Ms. Streisand, not to mention the budgetary overruns of the film. Perhaps the pre-publicity affected the critic's reception of the film.
Good to see the film some years later. Though she felt she was too young for the part - and she was correct - Ms. Streisand does a great job, the costumes of Irene Sharaff are beautiful, the music is terrific, and the photography of Harry Stradling is wonderful.
I saw it on the big screen in 1969 but I'm not a musical fan and I thought it was extremely long. I took my grandmother to a matinee and we were the only two people in the theater. Its possible the movie had ran its course or people don't or didn't go to matinees anymore but we had a private screening.
I recently watched it on The Turner Network and I enjoyed it more this time especially with the IMDB to give some background on the movie and actors. Turner "enveloped" it so I got to see it like I did years ago but on a 17" flat screen--not quite the same but adequate.
"You may as well go to perdition in ermine; you're sure to come back in rags." Katharine Hepburn
I was just 18 when it opened in New York, and I think I was the second on line to get tickets. :) I'd also seen Dolly at the St. James with Carol Channing in '64, and, of the two, the movie was better.
Even though, for me, the stage experience always moved me to tears on the curtain opening, Carol Channing was awful, IMO. I never liked her delivery or her mugging... to me, she was always a caricature of Carol Channing. I've no idea why she developed that style, but that, and her weak singing voice, ruined HD! for me.
Barbra Streisand, who was by 1969 my favorite female singer, was a revelation as Dolly Levi. The movie was gloriously colorful, so song-and-dance-filled, with gorgeous, GORGEOUS costumes. It remains one of my top movies of all time. I thought the production design's color palette was joyous and explosively happy, very much in the vein "My Fair Lady's" Cecil Beaton.
Heathentart, you are SO right on!!
I was 6 years old (over on Staten Island)on the day that HD opened at the Rivoli in NYC, so I obviously wasn't in a position to run into the city and see it. But oh, how I would love to time travel back and see what it looked like on that huge screen in its premiere engagement! I saw it for the first time when CBS showed it in 1974 and have gone through several versions of the home video / dvd.
It wasn't fair that it was lambasted the way it was by the critics. It was an incredibly beautiful film, the choreography was dazzling, and I sincerely think that Streisand did a wonderful job with the role – she was so lively and endearing.
I have a feeling that critics had their guns out for big musicals about this time – critics trashed SOUND OF MUSIC and it went on to be a blockbuster. So just about every big musical that appeared post SOM came under fire.
"Everytime I want to have a little fun-SHE turns out!" (Baron Bomburst)
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I saw "Hello Dolly" on the big screen in its initial release in Toronto in December 1969. I was a Streisand freak then, and though she was wildly miscast, I enjoyed the movie. The opening sequence was great on the big screen (when the train chugs into the frame), but the disadvantage was that the huge images highlighted the DREADFUL lip-synching. In the first number, it seemed like Barbra was mouthing another language it was so out of synch. That's a long time ago!
shareI think I was very lucky to have seen it at 17. I already was in love with those glorious old musicals, and this reminded me of them. I never understood the hatred/dislike. It was such a wonderful experience that I must have gone back at least four more times. What I enjoyed most was (and still is) Michael Kidd's choreography. He's long been one of my favorites.
I'm watching it again right now, and I still love it just as much as that first time I saw it. No. I have to change that. I love it so much more because I've seen the demise of the truly glorious musical. We'll probably never see anything like those again. Now, I love "Chicago", but it's not that much like those old-style ones.
Another thing: This movie still can make me cry from the lovely songs and the amazing dancing, the same way I cry sometimes when watching Gene Kelly singing and dancing to "Singin' in the Rain" (one of my favorite movie moments of all time).
~~MystMoonstruck~~
I was fortunate to have seen this in its roadshow engagement at the Rivoli on broadway. I still have the program they sold in my collection. I also saw the film in the summer of 1970 at the Century's Route 110 Drive-In on Long Island.
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I worked for Cineplex Odeon Theaters in the 1990's. We showed this at our Fairfax Theater as part of a revival series. The print wasn't great but it still looked amazing. You really got a feeling for the time period, the costumes and the choreography. Barbra looked and sounded amazing! I do know people that actually prefer the film to the stage version.
shareI saw the movie opening night at the Ridge theater in Vancouver BC. There was a live band playing before the movie and a sold out audience who seemed to enjoy it. It was a roadshow engagement but may not have played in 70MM Todd-AO
shareYes, I did. Easter Sunday, 1970, I saw it at the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC. (The theater is now fully renovated and only runs stage shows, but used to show movies back in the day.) I was eight at the time, and went with the family- my mom and 3 kids. (Dad skipped the film after service, LOL.) We sat in the front row of the balcony (called the "loge"), and I felt like we were floating over the theater. What I remember the most was the beginning of the film (Todd-AO wide) in that static sepia still that let you know it's New York, circa 1890. Then it slowly turns to color, and unfreezes just as the Yonkers train whistle blows, signaling the start of morning. It looked like a spectacle on the big screen, and it was.
Haven't thought about this in 41 years. What a great question.