Horace says, "My age, my age, you're always going on about my age."
To which Dolly replies, "I don't even know what your age is, but . . ."
What's the rest of this line? Streisand delivers it too quickly and the subtitles on the dvd are worthless.
Uncle C
[deleted]
[deleted]
That short exchange is much better in the original script for the stage play, because it didn't feel the need to spell it out for the audience. Dolly simply says "Here Horace, let me cut your wings," and nothing more is made of it.
shareI played in the pit orchestra when our community theater did "Hello, Dolly". I remember one night Dolly and Horace got off track during the dinner table scene and kept ad libbing until they got back on track again. It seemed like forever. I think some of us tried to help and mouth their lines to them because we had heard them 20 or 30 times by then.
share[deleted]
I guess I have to answer my own question:
"I don't even know what your age is, but I do know that up in Yonkers with bad food and bad temper, you'll double it in six months, now sit down, Horace, and let's talk of something else."
It's the "up in Yonkers" part that I had trouble with -- Streisand flubs the line, and it comes out something like "up at Yonkers" but even "Yonkers" isn't really clear. She's just talking too fast, and I repeat, the dvd subtitles don't count for beans.
Uncle C
[deleted]
I know what you mean and it really pisses me off that babs never discusses it much sufficed to say that she felt she was wrong for the role. This movie was great and if she didn't give it her all she was trippin. Maybe that's why Walter Matthau treated her like sh*t if she was carrying on like a prima donna.
You got me straight trippin, Boo.
[deleted]
yeah, I've never quite understood what she's saying in the "up in Yonkers" part either. I always thought she was saying something about jaundice, LOL. I still don't know what she says...
share[deleted]
Definitely. It could have pushed her into popular film and changed the end of her career. Not that it ever sloughed off at any point.
AND GODDAMM*T THE SUN DOES NOT SPIT!
[deleted]
I'm coming in late to this discussion, but I have to say that Lucille Ball never crossed my mind as a potential candidate for Dolly. Gosh, look at the shambles that was "Mame" due to the fact that she was miscast in it! I guess the biggest problem is that Lucy can't sing at ALL, and both Mame and Dolly require actors who can sing at least a bit. Now, could Lucy have been dubbed for the musical numbers? Certainly, but the question is whether audiences would have accepted her with someone else's voice coming out of her mouth. Still, I have to say that I don't see her as Dolly at all. Barbra might have been miscast, but on the other hand she performs all the songs so very beautifully, and does look splendid in the part...
share[deleted]
Oh God no. I love Lucy (ha) but she would have been a disaster here. Just look at Mame. As Pauline Kael wrote (about Mame): "Too terrible to be boring; you get fixated staring at it and wondering what exactly Lucille Ball thinks she's doing. When that sound comes out--it's somewhere between a bark, a croak, and a quaver--does she think she's singing?"
Barbra's too young here, obviously, but man, can she sing.
Lucy should have portrayed Dolly and Barbra should have played Mame. Barbra could still do Mame and be effective. Barbra was an interesting choice for Dolly, no doubt, and I don't begrudge her casting, even if it wasn't optimal. Lucy would have been so much fun, though!
share"Dolly" has to be played by someone who can carry a tune, just a little. Lucille Ball did not qualify, unless she was dubbed.
shareI think the person who said that the line is most likely "I don't even know what your age is, but ________________________ you'll double it in six months" is right ("but with your temper and __________" I think is actually what she says will make it double in six months)
While it's true that a lot of what Dolly says can't be understood, that's kind of the point. The way she talks gets people so flustered and confused (and, in Horace Vanderguilder's case, angry) that they go along with any crazy scheme she tries to do, because it's long after they actually agree that they realize what they've agreed to. :-) That's what is so funny about her, and that's why so many people she comes in contact with end up having these wild adventures even if they don't want them.
"I don't even know what your age is, but I do know that up at Yonkers with bad food and bad temper you'll double it in six months, now sit down, Horace, and let's talk of something else."
shareI guess the biggest problem is that Lucy can't sing at ALL, and both Mame and Dolly require actors who can sing at least a bit
Lucy may not have been a great singer, but she could carry a tune. They did episodes of I Love Lucy about how she was supposedly so terrible, but in other instances, she was a decent singer (I Love Lucy was a great show, but not a sterling example of continuity). Even in Mame, for which she was greatly criticized, she didn't sing that badly. Her voice was far from a "Broadway Belter," but she hit all the notes. The source of complaint was that she paled next to so many greats who could've played the role.
share