Hello Dolly! (film)
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| Hello, Dolly! | |
|---|---|
 DVD release of Hello, Dolly! |
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| Directed by | Gene Kelly |
| Produced by | Ernest Lehman |
| Written by | Ernest Lehman |
| Starring | Barbra Streisand Walter Matthau Michael Crawford Louis Armstrong |
| Music by | Jerry Herman |
| Cinematography | Harry Stradling Sr. |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | 1969 |
| Running time | 145 min. |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Hello, Dolly! is a 1969 American musical film, based on the Broadway production of the same name. Gene Kelly directed producer Ernest Lehman's screenplay. The cast included Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Tommy Tune, Fritz Feld, and Louis Armstrong, whose recording of the title tune was a #1 hit in the mid-1960s. It was photographed in 70 mm Todd-AO by Harry Stradling Sr..
Streisand got her revenge for losing the Tony Award to Carol Channing, who originated the role, when she was cast as Dolly in the film.
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[edit] Synopsis
Set in 1890, the film tells the story of widowed matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi, who travels from New York City to the suburb of Yonkers, New York to visit grumpy Horace Vandergelder, a prominent, wealthy bachelor and merchant who has decided he needs a wife to tend to himself and his home. While there, she convinces him - and his two stock clerks, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, his niece Ermengarde, and her beau Ambrose Kemper - to go to New York City. Dolly, who has decided to nab Vandergelder for herself, arranges a match between the two clerks and the woman Vandergelder had been courting, a milliner named Irene Molloy, and her shop assistant Minnie Fay. A web of complicated romantic entanglements ensues, culminating in a free-for-all at the elegant Harmonia Gardens restaurant. In the elaborate title number, as Dolly enters the restaurant, Louis Armstrong makes an appearance as a bandleader and sings along with Streisand. As the film ends, each character is matched with his or her ideal partner.
[edit] Musical numbers
- "Just Leave Everything to Me"
- "It Takes a Woman"
- "It Takes a Woman Reprise"
- "Put on Your Sunday Clothes"
- "Ribbons Down My Back"
- "Dancing"
- "Before the Parade Passes By,"
- "Elegance"
- "Love Is Only Love"
- "Hello, Dolly"
- "It Only Takes a Moment"
- "So Long, Dearie"
- Finale
[edit] Principal cast
- Barbra Streisand .... Dolly Levi
- Walter Matthau .... Horace Vandergelder
- Michael Crawford .... Cornelius Hackl
- Marianne McAndrew .... Irene Molloy
- Danny Lockin .... Barnaby Tucker
- E.J. Peaker .... Minnie Fay
- Joyce Ames .... Ermengarde Vandergelder
- Tommy Tune .... Ambrose Kemper
- Judy Knaiz .... Gussie Granger/Ernestina Simple
- David Hurst .... Rudolph Reisenweber
- Fritz Feld .... Fritz, German waiter
- Richard Collier .... Joe, Vandergelder's barber
- J. Pat O'Malley .... Policeman in Park
- Louis Armstrong .... Louis, Orchestra Leader
[edit] Awards and nominations
Hello, Dolly! won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction, Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation), and Best Sound. It also was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, and Best Picture. (Neither of the new songs Herman wrote for the movie, "Just Leave Everything to Me" and "Love is Only Love", which had been written for the stage version of Mame but cut before it opened, was cited.)
The film received BAFTA nominations for Streisand and Matthau, art direction, and cinematography. It also received five Golden Globe nominations, as Best Picture (Musical or Comedy), and for Streisand, Kelly, and two for McAndrew, as Best Supporting Actress and Most Promising Newcomer.
[edit] Critical reception
Although it was one of the top-grossing films of the year, it failed to recoup its $24 million cost. Critics lambasted Kelly's overblown and overlong production and his failure to control Streisand's performance, a combination of Mae West and everyone's Jewish grandmother, an odd choice because the character, born Gallagher, was a Levi by marriage only. Most noted that Streisand was far too young for the role, and the obvious age difference between her and Matthau was jarring. The film proved to be far more successful on videotape, earning more than $1 million upon its release in that format.
