Funny Face (1957)
A shy Greenwich Village book clerk is discovered by a fashion photographer and whisked off to Paris where she becomes a reluctant model.
- Stanley Donen
- William McGarry
- Ira Gershwin
- Leonard Gershe
Rating: 7/10 by 677 users
Alternative Title:
Das rosarote Mannequin - DE
Una cara con angel - ES
파리의 연인 - KR
Amo París - MX
巴里의 戀人 - KR
화니 페이스 - KR
Usměvavá tvář - CZ
Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 43 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0
Plot Keyword: dance, paris, france, photographer, intellectual, musical, beatnik, man woman relationship, fashion photographer, book store, eiffel tower, paris, fashion show, fashion magazine, high fashion, fashion model, women's fashion
Despite the presence of Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire, I think this film actually belongs to Kay Thompson. She plays really well as the 1950s version of Dame Anna Wintour in this amiable, if a little thinly spread, musical comedy. Infuriated by the rather drab quality of her latest "Quality" magazine, she determines to revamp the whole thing. In pink! A bookshop being used for a photo shoot by "Avery" (Astaire) provides the unlikely source for her new model - "Jo" (Hepburn) who is to the fashion industry what Herod was to babies. "Avery" is clever, though, and he offers a trade off that sees her do a shoot in Paris in return for a meeting with "Prof. Flostre" (Michel Auclair). What now ensues is all fairly predictable, a love triangle with "Jo" in the middle vacillating. George & Ira Gerschwin provided the musical numbers, and though they are very well staged, the film lacks a killer song. That said, Thompson is on super form as the no-nonsense boss, the dance numbers are colourful and energetic and finally, Hepburn has a lovely vivacity and enthusiasm to her performance - she takes to the musical numbers very much like a duck to water. Astaire isn't at his best, and Robert Flemyng's accent isn't the best either - but at the end, the whole thing falls into place with an enjoyable certainty.