Hello, Dolly! (1969)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Gene Kelly

Writers:

Michael Stewart (based on a stage play by)
Thornton Wilder (based on the book "The Matchmaker" by)

Release Date:

16 December 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Comedy | Musical | Family

Plot:

A matchmaker named Dolly Levi takes a trip to Yonkers, New York to see the "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire," Horace Vandergelder...

Plot Keywords:

Matchmaker | Broadway Musical | New York City | Widow | Niece

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 13 nominations

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
Tommy Tune	...	Ambrose Kemper
Joyce Ames	...	Ermengarde Vandergelder
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 Armstrong

Runtime:

146 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (35 mm prints) | DTS 70 mm (70mm re-release)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Norway:7 | New Zealand:G | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Chenault Productions

Trivia:

During filming, Barbra Streisand and Walter Matthau fought bitterly. He disliked her so intensely that he refused to be around her except when required to do so by the script. He is famously quoted as telling Barbra that she "had no more talent than a butterfly's fart". Interestingly, he is clearly seen in the audience at Barbra's One Voice (1986) (TV) concert at her Malibu ranch, where invitation-only guests paid $5,000 per couple to help establish the Streisand Foundation, which supports numerous charitable organizations. Apparently, Walter Matthau did not hold grudges.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Several times during the movie, Barnaby mentions seeing the whale at Barnum's American Museum. However, in the fourteenth street parade, there is a banner for Barnum and Bailey's Circus. The American Museum burned down in 1865 and Barnum & Bailey didn't become partners until 1881.

Quotes:

Horace: It takes a woman all powdered and pink to joyously clean out the drain in the sink!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1970)

Soundtrack:

Just Leave Everything To Me

Still sadly underrated; a GREAT musical

It was fashionable to bash this film when it came out in 1969, and reviews remain - at best - mediocre. I've always found the hostility baffling. I loved the film the first time I saw it, and my appreciation remains undimmed after several viewings. The production is gorgeous (what awesome set design is displayed in the Harmonia Gardens and Central Park set pieces!); and the musical arrangements and choreography are first-rate. Note when Dolly tells Cornelius Hackl in the hat shop "Just give me five minutes, Mr. Hackl, and I'll have you dancing in the streets." She's as good as her word, and the ensuing sequence - with dancers leap-frogging over one another and throwing themselves off park benches into their beaus' arms - leaves you staring at the screen with an open mouth. Few of the principal actors could dance, but the hyper-kinetic Danny Lockin (playing Barnaby Tucker) is a joy to watch. I love it when he hops repeatedly over a bicycle before catching Minnie in his arms and riding off with her! Streisand and Matthau - personal animosity aside - make a wonderful couple. Their dialogue has a quality of one-upmanship that really tickles the viewer. One drawback to the film is that it typically plays on television shorn of its wide-screen format - a decision that ruins many of the compositions, especially in musical numbers. When I was a boy, I couldn't understand how the cinematographer got an Oscar nomination when he kept chopping actors on the end of a row out of the frame! Streisand's singing is to die for. It's amazing how she handles the first bars (repeating the single word "Good-bye") as she bids "So long, dearie," to Vandergelder. On the other hand, it's disorienting to hear Michael Crawford, now a superstar for his performance in "Phantom of the Opera," open his mouth and produce that grating, timorous little voice. I've always wondered, does he sing like that on purpose as part of the role. (It's probably just how Cornelius would sound in real life.)

All in all, the film's a true "10." One of the all-time great Hollywood musicals. Great score, marvellous cast, crackerjack production.