It’s strange to hear Audrey Hepburn being referred to as a “funny face” as her beauty continues to enchant all these years after her death. She shines, Fred dances, but they’re all upstaged by the exuberant Kay Thompson in this humorous look at the fashion industry.
Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) is the owner of the fashion magazine Quality. She’s come up with a new idea to sell the magazine that they’ll get an exclusive on a Parisian fashion designer’s latest line. Photographer Dick Avery (Fred Astaire) is currently shooting some pictures for a spread in the magazine to make fashion intellectual.
He’s unhappy with the setup in the studio so Maggie and their caravan go to Greenwich Village to find a bookstore “sinister” enough to be the hangout of intellectuals and bohemians. They storm into the bookstore Embryo Concepts and into the life of book clerk Jo Stockton (Audrey Hepburn).
Maggie dismisses her from the store after having her pose with handing books to one of the models, but Dick sees something in the mousey clerk. He convinces Maggie that she’s the one to inaugurate the Parisian clothing line and Jo is reluctant to go along with the plan until she learns that she’ll be getting a trip to Paris.
She’s been reading Emile Flostre’s (Michel Auclair) works and wants to meet the philosopher who happens to live in Paris. Along the way she and Dick fall in love but his jealousy of the young Flostre threatens to destroy both their budding relationship and the fashion show.
I’ll have to admit that I’ve not seen Funny Face before, terrible I know. I love Hepburn and I enjoy Astaire, but it was discovering the exuberant Kay Thompson that made the film for me. For those that didn’t know, Thompson wrote the Eloise books as well as being a vocal arranger for MGM for many years. She’s Liza Minelli’s godmother and was very good friends with Judy Garland.
She spent most of her time doing her nightclub show, on radio, or behind the scenes and only made three starring appearances in front of the camera. Funny Face is the middle one (she would make her final one with Tell Me that You Love Me, Junie Moon with Minelli) and she certainly shines.
I’d say that she even eclipses Astaire in the dance number that they have together, though Fred was such a gentlemen that he stepped out of the way or so it’s speculated. Though the film is a delight and looks delightful being shot in Vistavision, director Stanley Donen does use some filters in several shots of Astaire and Hepburn and I wished that he did not – but what do I know?
After watching the wonderful documentary about Vistavision on disc two I only salivated at hoping that it might be coming on Blu-ray one day. The DVD still looks fantastic (and that made me lust after a Blu-ray even more). The film was nominated for four Academy Awards. It also features photos from legendary photographer Richard Avedon, who was not unknown to the fashion industry which the film lampoons.
If I did have a slight problem it would be that I really don’t see Hepburn and Astaire in the romantic way that the film paints them. He seems much too older and could be more of a father figure to her. However, it was just a slight problem as I was just caught up in the fun that is Funny Face.
Funny Face reappears on DVD as part of Paramount’s Centennial Collection and they’ve added some more special features to celebrate. Funny Face is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.
Special features are spread over two discs, but only the film is on disc one. Disc two starts off with the 26 minute “Kay Thompson: Think Pink” that profiles the star. It’s sad that such an innovator and trend setter is largely forgotten today. Next is the equally fascinating 24 minute “This is Vistavision” which looks at the cinematic process Paramount invented. It’s still in use today as some of the effects sequences of The Dark Knight used it.
The 17 minute “Fashion Photographer Exposed” looks at fashion photography as compared to how it was shown in the film. The rest of the special features were also on the previous release of Funny Face. The 8 minute “The Fashion Designer and his Muse” looks at the relationship between Hepburn and designer Herbert de Givenchy.
The 7 minute “Parisian Dreams” looks at how the City of Lights is portrayed in the film. The 9 minute “Paramount in the 50s” looks at the studios output during this decade. There’s also the 2 minute theatrical trailer, three photo galleries, and an 8 page booklet with behind-the-scenes information.
Funny Face is a delight. It’s a bit of an anomaly as it was made with mostly MGM personnel but since Audrey Hepburn was a Paramount player the studio got to put their title on it. It matters not who made it; it’s just a wonderful picture. Now where’s the Blu-ray?
Funny Face - Paramount Centennial Collection is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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