The sequel to “Funny girl,” is a lively, lavish musical that opens up a new chapter in Fanny Brice’s career and love life.When Barbra Streisand played Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, she brought to life a sympathetic yet strong-headed performer of stage and radio. In the sequel, Funny Lady, Brice comes off as a harsher woman, slightly bitchy, without the tremendous charm she possessed in the first film. Herbert Ross takes over as director (William Wyler oversaw Funny Girl), and the film just seems to get away from him. This sequel picks up during the Great Depression, when even the great star Fanny Brice is suffering. Along comes Billy Rose (James Caan), a small-time hustler who’s out to make it big in show biz. The two pair up, both professionally and romantically, although things are uncertain when her first husband, Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif), reappears on the scene. Much to the movie’s detriment, Funny Lady concentrates more on Brice’s professional life than on her personal life, as the first film does. The songs are elaborately staged numbers that Brice performs in the theaters, and while they are visually lush and spectacular, they lack conviction. Caan is solid in his role as the bumbling producer, but overall, the film is a disappointment. If you want more Barbra and Brice, rewatch Funny Girl. –Jenny Brown
Funny Lady [VHS]
Pinned on May 3, 2013 at 1:52 am by Diane Petty
![Funny Lady [VHS]](http://joys.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/83e3d13104_21EFF86YEKL.jpg "Funny Lady [VHS]")
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How Lucky? Barbra Streisand doesn’t talk about FUNNY LADY that much. She did not include any songs or references to it in her 1992 CD collection “Just For The Record”. (The FUNNY LADY soundtrack was not recorded for her record label – another possible reason why it was not included).
“See, Billy, in a tutu, I can be funny.” The 1968 film version of FUNNY GIRL was an absolute masterpiece, and as perfect as a musical-comedy film can be. A sequel to this classic was not something that was ever needed to be made, but since the original was so successful (FUNNY GIRL was the highest-grossing film of 1968) and well-loved, it was pretty obvious why producer Ray Stark wanted to make this follow-up so badly. It took awhile, but he eventually convinced Streisand to sign on and reprise her role as Fanny Brice, with Herbert Ross (who had staged the musical numbers in the original film and had directed Streisand in the box office hit THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT) set to direct. Although the film was generally well-received by most critics and proved to be another big box office hit, many fans of the sweet-natured original did not care for the slightly more harsh and cynical tone of this follow-up, and it has since fallen out of favor with many Streisand fans.