[Continued...] Opened March 9, 1975
BARBRA ARCHIVES “FUNNY LADY” PAGES:
OVERVIEW, WRITING THE SCRIPT, CAST, MUSIC, FILMING
PRESS, PREMIERES, PRODUCTION SHORTS
After Funny Lady previewed in Denver in February 1975, Ray Stark and Herbert Ross knew some changes must be made. The film was overly long, with a downbeat ending.
Funny Lady, next to On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, is one of Streisand’s most altered films in the editing room. The information on this page is based on the March 7, 1974 Fourth Draft script by Jay Presson Allen, as well as recordings, footage, and stills collected by Barbra Archives.
It’s been said that “the film is made in the editing room,” and this is true regarding Funny Lady. When making a film, the director’s job is to get shots and performances based on the script as written; but when problems arise on the set, he or she has to improvise, change, and sometimes rewrite. Then, once filming is complete, the director and editor sit down in the editing room and discover some of the things that were shot work; some don’t; and other story points need clarifying. And that is where Funny Lady’s editor Marion Rothman and director Herb Ross went to work. In order to tame the long and poignant film, they streamlined and restructured the picture by cutting subplots and musical numbers.
Before editing began, the screenplay unspooled the film like this:
In essence, the Funny Lady screenplay is structured like the original Funny Girl movie: an older character remembers her past at the beginning of the film; then after the story unfolds, the movie returns to the older character and resolves the plot and relationships.
In the editing room, though, Ross and Rothman restructured Funny Lady. Before the film was previewed in Denver, they decided to end the movie with Billy leaving Fanny at the train station. But after the preview audiences balked, they decided to open the movie with a huge closeup of Fanny’s eyes and the glare of stage lights in the camera, followed by the opening credits and some scenes from Funny Girl to remind the audience about Fanny’s beginnings. The movie ends with the same closeup of Fanny’s eyes. (The closeup, by the way, was taken from “Am I Blue.”)
Funny Lady then begins with “Blind Date” under the credits – they have abandoned the flashback motif. Instead, we’re in 1930 and it’s Fanny’s closing night. This version of the movie will be told in chronological order.
The rest of the movie was cut and trimmed. Scenes featuring Bobby (Roddy McDowall) and Fanny's daughter, Fran, were lost; “So Long Honey Lamb” was shortened; The introduction to “Let’s Hear It For Me” (also known as “All My Life on a Stage”) was completely excised except for its opening lines; and even though Billy’s fully orchestrated version of “Me and My Shadow” appears on the soundtrack album, it is nowhere in the film except for a few bars he plays on the piano in the last scene. Caan’s other Billy Rose solo (“Does The Spearmint Lose Its Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight”) was cut out too.
Besides the theatrical version of Funny Lady, released to movie theaters in March 1975, there is different version of the movie, edited for the airlines. Yes, in the days before every seat had a video screen, the airlines used to project a movie during long flights. The airlines required edited versions of films — minus any offensive language or violence so that a general audience could enjoy the film. A Streisand fan magazine reported that Funny Lady’s airplane edit removed “Isn’t It Better” and “I Got A Code in My Doze,” and retained the downbeat ending at the train station. Included in the airplane edit were “Am I Blue” and the Bobby and Fran scenes.
There was a “European cut” of the film as well. That cut has the downbeat ending, an almost complete “Am I Blue” (the lamp post joke at the end is missing), as well as a longer version of Barbra as Little Eva in “So Long Honey Lamb.”
Here’s a look at some of the lost scenes from Funny Lady in the order they would have appeared in the movie.
“Am I Blue” was both shortened and moved from its original placement in the movie. As shot (and in the screenplay), the song came second in the movie, following Fanny receiving her divorce papers from Nick Arnstein. With Bobby and Adele watching her from the wings of the theater, the camera panned to a huge close up of Fanny’s eyes (this shot was utilized in the opening and closing credits of the final film; it also appears in the film’s trailer). As she sang the song, the camera pulled back slowly to reveal Fanny standing against a lamp post.
The way this song was staged for Funny Lady was based on the real Fanny Brice, who always sang her signature song, “My Man,” leaning against a lamppost. Later, in The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936, Brice spoofed the original staging by having the lamppost walk off the stage, then later take a bow with her.
As filmed for Funny Lady, “Am I Blue” ended with a similar visual punchline: Fanny finished the song and as she walked away, the lamppost she’d been standing against was attached to her back! The reason why Barbra says “Oy! Is this thing heavy!” at the end of the song is because she’s got a lamppost on her back. Also, cut from the soundtrack (but sung at the end of the original recording), Barbra ends the song with a short phrase of Cole Porter's “Love For Sale.” Perhaps Arista didn’t want to pay for the rights to quote the song for only a few seconds?
Cut from the middle of Barbra’s “Am I Blue” was a funny Vaudevillian monologue.
“Oh, ah, Eric. I must say he was a man you’d look at twice. Because the first time, the first time you couldn’t believe it. But there was beauty in his face. If you could read between the lines. He was a man of about 55. (Marked down to 49). And his body, oh, his body, you should have seen that body. He could have been a model in a pretzel factory. In fact, he was so bow-legged that if he stood next to someone who was knock-kneed, they'd spell out ‘Ox’. Ha, ha, ha. Oh, that was funny. Oh, ah, Eric. I’m so sad and blue. Hope you are too. You’ve heard of nose-drops? Well, his did.”
Finally, “Am I Blue” ended up in another part of the movie! Several seconds of the song were included in the montage of Billy and Fanny fixing Crazy Quilt on the road. We see Fanny singing “Now he’s gone and I’m blue,” then breaking the lamp with her voice. You can spy Bobby and Adele in the wings and recognize that this is actually from the beginning of the movie.
After Fanny and Bobby agree to work and live together, there was a scene in which the two return to Fanny’s home. Bobby went into the living room, turned on the lights, and discovered that Fanny had fallen on hard times, too — all of her furniture was gone. “What’d they give you for everything? All together?” Bobby asked. Fanny replied, “To the dollar what I paid for that one Chinoiserie desk six years ago.”
Fanny then went upstairs to check on her daughter, Fran, who was asleep. A photo of Nick overlooked Fran’s bed. Fanny, still holding the yellow rose from the theater, placed it next to Nick’s photo.
One small scene which was cut from the overly long Crazy Quilt out-of-town tryout sequence was Fanny in her Indian costume. The real Fanny Brice had a hit with the song “I’m An Indian” and it’s unclear if Streisand even sang in the costume. The screenplay says: “As curtain falls on Fanny’s number, the audience is polite but not wildly enthusiastic.”
The following scene had Bert Williams (Ben Vereen), still in his “Clap Hands” costume, speaking to Fanny. “How’s they holdin’, honey?” he asks. Fanny says, in a western drawl, “Tamin’ down a mite, partner. They’re a-squirmin’ and a-spittin-, but they ain’t a-shootin’!”
Fanny then turns to Billy and states: “I’ll have to have a new number. By Pittsburgh.”
Another scene which was lost in the Crazy Quilt section (and, again, hard to pinpoint) was some sort of dance featuring showgirl Carole Wells and Ben Vereen.
Bert Robbins and Fanny Brice duet together on this comedic version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Only about 20 seconds of this number made it to the final film (as discussed here, the filmmakers may have realized how racist the number was and limited its inclusion in the film).
The entire number has Ben Vereen dancing with Streisand, who, as Little Eva, dies and ascends to heaven in her bed.
“So Long Honey Lamb” can be heard in full on the Funny Lady soundtrack album. The dialogue here was cut out, though. This introduced the song:
Tom: Well, Little Eva, looks like you’re about to die, hon. Well, look at it this way — You done lived a rich, full life.
Eva: What are you talking about, Uncle Tom? I’m only eight!
Tom: Well, look at it this way, hon — better than seven.
Eva: Well, look at it this way, Tom, it’s worse than nine!
Tom: Well, honey, we’s got nothing to say in these matters.
Eva: What’re you gonna do?
Tom: I’s gonna sing.
Eva: Oh, you’re gonna sing and I’m gonna croak.
(Tom starts singing “So Long Honey Lamb” ...)
In the final film, Fran and Fanny walk down the staircase and a friend asks why Fanny married Billy Rose. “I fell in like with him,” she replies.
Cut from the film is the scene which preceded this.
Fran, upset by the marriage, has locked herself in the bathroom upstairs and Fanny knocks on the door, trying to get her to open it.
Fran: (from inside bathroom) I’m not going to the party and you can’t make me!
Fanny: It’s so silly, sweetheart. I mean, me marrying Billy is …
Fran: He’s not my father.
Fanny: Of course, he’s not your father, darling. Nobody expects you to treat him like your father or even to love him, honey.
(Fran unlocks bathroom door, Fanny enters.)
Fran: Do you love him?
Fanny: In a way. But in a very different way from the way I loved your father. I loved Nick, but I couldn’t live with him. You blame me for losing your father, don’t you? For making him leave …
Fran: Well, I didn’t make him leave.
Fanny: No, honey, you sure didn’t. He loved … He loves you very much. And nobody can take your place with him or his with you.
Fran: Well then why do you have to marry him? Mr. Rose?
Fanny: Because I needed to. I really didn’t need to. And I like him, Fran. Come on, let’s go downstairs and have some fun, okay?
Fran: Okay.
In this scene, completely edited from the film, Billy bonds with Fran by playing his song, “Does The Spearmint Lose Its Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight” while typing the lyrics in rhythm on the typewriter. They sing a verse together and Fran learns how to type “B-I-L-L-Y.”
This part of the movie seems to have been cut freely in order to move the film along. After Billy and Fran sing the song, there were two short scenes cut which focused on Billy’s producing efforts.
In the first scene, Billy and his assistant Ned come around the corner and spot two theaters across the street from each other, both playing Billy Rose shows (“Jumbo” starring Jimmy Durante and “Crazy Daze” with Eddie Cantor).
The second scene shows a sign going up on Broadway for another show — “Billy Rose’s Diamond Horseshoe” — and his name is gargantuan on the sign. But Billy is deflated when a couple stops and asks, “Who the hell is Billy Rose?” The wife says, “He’s the one who married Fanny Brice.”
Then the film returned to the flashback motif. “Older Fanny” is seen in the living room, waiting for Billy to arrive. (In the final film, this scene was moved to the last position). As the scene was originally filmed, Fanny (talking to herself) rehearses how she will say hello to Billy after all these years. He enters and surprises her. As the scene is edited, the bit of her talking to herself is gone, but her surprised reaction to his entrance is still there (see still, above). The scene plays out until they get to the piano and Billy plays “Me and My Shadow” and confesses “Being married to you was like being married to a parade.” Then, when Fanny remembers that he used that song in Cleveland, the film flashes back to the Aquacade where Fanny sabotages Eleanor Holm’s water performance.
A few scenes that appeared before Fanny’s big scene at the hotel with Nick were shortened or cut out altogether.
First, right before Fanny sings “If I Love Again,” there was a scene cut which took place at the radio studio. Bobby watches Fanny rehearse a Baby Snooks routine, and Norma knocks on the recording studio glass to get Fanny's attention. Fanny comes out, and Norma reminds her that it is Friday and asks if she'd like to attend a polo match. Fanny agrees to go, and it’s implied she and Norma are plotting together for Fanny to see Nick at the game.
In the theatrically released film, a short scene of Fanny and Nick walking together at the horse stables is shown while Fanny sings “If I Love Again.” A dialogue scene was shot, however.
NICK
Let me come this afternoon, Fanny …
FANNY
Look, Nick, I’ve got something to do before you can come.
Then Fanny confides her secret to Bobby. “You sure I’m doing the right thing?” she asks him. “What’s right got to do with it? You’re doing what you want to do,” he replies.
Following this, Fanny is on the phone to Billy. As shot, the scene was a bit longer, with Fanny explaining that she ran into Nick. As shown in the film, she tells Billy “I want to see him … talk to him.” Billy and Fanny argue a bit more, which was cut. Only Billy’s angry response survives: “Just do what you want!”
Following the scene in which Fanny leaves Nick, Streisand recorded and filmed an extended introduction to the last musical number, “Let's Hear it for Me.” The footage has never been seen, except for a brief snippet of Streisand on the hotel lobby phone.
The movie uses the opening part of the number, as Fanny walks down the hallway in the hotel. “Well, I’ll be damned …. I walked out; he didn’t walk out,” she sings. This vocal was included on the Arista CD of Funny Lady.
But the rest of the song, referred to “All My Life on the Stage,” was cut. The movie cuts quickly to Fanny driving her Rolls-Royce and singing “Let’s Hear It For Me.”
What was filmed, though, was a longer musical monologue, written by Kander and Ebb. In “All My Life on the Stage,” Fanny sang about Billy versus Nick, and observed that her life off the stage was not as successful as her life on the stage. “I’m gonna take what I do up there and I’m gonna do it down here,” she sings.
The song was filmed in the Beverly Hills Hotel hallway and lobby. After she exits the hotel, there are film stills that show Fanny walking through a park singing the song. Those scenes were filmed outside on the studio backlot. Somehow, Fanny ends up inside a theater and sings from the seats, as if she was an audience member. After the song reaches its climax, Fanny has hopped in her car to go catch a plane as she sings “Let’s Hear It For Me” — which appears in the final film.
There was one version of the movie which ended with Billy and Fanny at the train station when he confesses he loves Eleanor Holms. “See you in court, kid,” she says as he leaves. The credits rolled over Fanny sitting on the bench alone, and Streisand’s vocal of “More Than You Know.”
After the train station, there was another scene in which Bobby and Fanny exit the courthouse. It's too bad this sweet scene was lost — it wraps up their relationship, which began at the top of the film when they decided to move in together.
Here, Fanny has filed for divorce. “You never loved him,” Bobby said. “I never gave myself a chance to find out,” she replied. Then, Fanny says, “I’m gonna have to divorce you too … No hard feelings, kid, we’ve taken a lot of lumps together … but my lumps shouldn’t be your lumps.” Fanny decides to go forward in life alone and tells Bobby: “Tell you what I’ll do. I’ll set you up in a whole shop full of antiques … instead of just this one,” (meaning herself).
Barbra Streisand performed a short bit of Fanny Brice’s Baby Snooks radio show … and it was cut from the film! In 1974, Brice was still in people’s memory as playing Snooks on the radio, which she performed until 1951.
And, if you recall that the film’s structure was changed in the editing room, you should know that this scene actually appeared first in the movie. Writer Jay Presson Allen wrote a film that played as a flashback that began in 1948.
Just a few seconds of Streisand as Brice playing Snooks is shown in the film; then she rushes out of the studio to her car in order to prepare for Billy’s arrival.
Maxwell House Coffee was the sponsor of Fanny Brice’s radio show in the 1940s, but not her NBC radio show that is shown in the movie. Still, the coffee company created a newspaper campaign with Columbia Pictures and ran an ad that featured a photo of Streisand (as Brice) standing in front of Maxwell House Coffee cans.
As Funny Lady was being tightened up in the editing room, Ray Stark and Herbert Ross brought in Marvin Hamlisch to add a few extra musical cues to the film’s score. The press reported that Peter Matz’s underscore was being replaced, which was not true. Ross talked to columnist Earl Wilson: “We’re putting in four new cues. It’s really minor. We’re using thematic material—a lot of those Billy Rose songs and John Kander and Fred Ebb songs. [Peter Matz] is very good, but he’s never done a major film. We wanted more adroit scoring, more mood. Not one of Barbra’s vocals has been changed. Peter [Matz] did a wonderful job on those. The whole thing’s amicable. I’ve been talking to Hamlisch for 10 days on the phone; he’s been composing.”
What Hamlisch probably did, too, was incorporate “People” and the “Nicky Arnstein” theme into the underscore, which musically linked Funny Girl to Funny Lady. Columbia Pictures and Rastar actually took out an ad in the trades apologizing to Jule Styne and Bob Merrill for using their music in the movie without crediting them.
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