In early-20th-century Yonkers, a wealthy local merchant (Horace Vandergelder, played by Walter Matthau) hires matchmaker Dolly Levi (Barbra Streisand) to find a mate for him--but instead she decides to win him over for herself. His life is further complicated by his young niece, Ermengarde, who is determined to wed an artist .. Read more
| Starring | Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Louis Armstrong |
|---|---|
| Director | Gene Kelly |
| Genres | Music/Musical |
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In early-20th-century Yonkers, a wealthy local merchant (Horace Vandergelder, played by Walter Matthau) hires matchmaker Dolly Levi (Barbra Streisand) to find a mate for him--but instead she decides to win him over for herself. His life is further complicated by his young niece, Ermengarde, who is determined to wed an artist Horace finds entirely unsuitable, and by his two hapless employees, who against Horace's wishes leave work to venture into New York so each can kiss a girl. Miserly, curmudgeonly, irascible Horace finds that matters have gotten completely out of his control--and the only person who seems to know exactly what is going on is the widowed Dolly Levi. The film is based on a succession of source material, beginning with the 1835 British play A DAY WELL SPENT by John Oxenford, Thornton Wilder's 1938 play THE MERCHANT OF YONKERS, and Wilder's successful 1954 adaptation of his own play, renamed THE MATCHMAKER, rewritten for Ruth Gordon and then made into a film by the same name in 1958 starring Shirley Booth. In 1964, Carol Channing starred in the story's next incarnation on Broadway: Michael Stewart's play HELLO, DOLLY! on which this film's screenplay is directly based.
| Starring | Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Louis Armstrong, David Hurst, Marianne McAndrew, E. J. Peaker, Tommy Tune |
|---|---|
| Director | Gene Kelly |
| Studio | 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 19 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Music/Musical |
| Language | English |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | Croatian, Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish |
| Released | DVD: 20 May 2002 Production year: 1969 |
| Format | DVD |
Despite Barbra Streisand's underaged Dolly Levi, this lavish 20th Century-Fox movie version of the long-running Broadway hit is a wondrous treat under Gene Kelly's expert direction. Indeed, it now looks like the virtual last gasp of the great era of costly Hollywood musicals. Among the twinkling, shining stars are Britain's own Michael Crawford and the man who had taken the title song to number one in the US charts five years earlier, Louis Satchmo Armstrong. The design, use of colour and, particularly, the marvellous score are quite breathtaking, and the film won three Oscars.
Generally agreeable but overblown musical based on a slight but much worked-over farce, fatally compromised by the miscasting of a too-young star. Some exhilarating moments.
A real feel good movie and an old favourite. I sang along with all the songs. I'd recommend it to anyone who looks a good old fashioned musical.
CLASSIC !!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!
We sat down with the creators of what is already one of our films of the year, the charming and highly original animation; WALL-E. Director Andrew Stanton and producer Jim Morris explain how the seed of the idea blossomed into fruition, the voice of the ships computer, Sigourney Weaver, tells of her delight at high-jacking the film at the last minute whilst Ben Bertt, the legendary sound designer, explains just how he got a pile of tin to sound like a baby calf… LOVEFiLM: Andrew, as the... Read more