Michael wrote:I will be viewing Funny Face[/b] for the first time this week.
What?! A gay man that hasn't succumbed to the perenial charms and talents of Audrey Hepburn yet? Where have you been all your life, Michael?
Jokes apart, I started enjoying musicals because of my everlasting love for Audrey. And it's been more than 20 odd years now. That is one special lady. And Funny Face is a delight.
What?! A gay man that hasn't succumbed to the perenial charms and talents of Audrey Hepburn yet? Where have you been all your life, Michael?
I hate to say I never understood the appeal of Audrey Hepburn other than she's very photogenic and gorgeous. I've seen only three of her movies - Breakfast at Tiffany's (way overrated!), Charade (lovely but forgettable), and Always (dull). But is she popular among gay men? If so, I never knew and I should go out more.
Michael, watch Two for the Road and Sabrina. If that doesn't work for you, then you probably will never get her. Breakfast at Tiffany's is far from my favorite work of hers. And how you managed to not watch My Fair Lady yet is beyond me. This particular movie was instrumental in my deeper appreciation of both Audrey's talents and the beauty of the English language.
What?! A gay man that hasn't succumbed to the perenial charms and talents of Audrey Hepburn yet? Where have you been all your life, Michael?
I hate to say I never understood the appeal of Audrey Hepburn other than she's very photogenic and gorgeous. But is she popular among gay men? If so, I never knew and I should go out more.
Ditto. I always thought she was more popular among young women than among men of any stripe. I usually remain unmoved by all gamines: Hepburn, Leslie Caron, Jean Seberg, et al.
Last edited by Matt on Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I find Audrey Hepburn too prissy by half. If you had an argument with her, she'd probably just break down and cry as soon as voices got raised. I just can't see her defending her own corner or being remotely exciting in any circumstance - in every movie she seems to be led everywhere by the male lead and if no-one's doing that for her, she's moping. Boooooring.
But I agree! While I like many of Hepburn's films it is hard to get past the way many of her characters are superficially assertive in the way that they inspire the male characters in the films to idealise, want to remake (My Fair Lady) or do the dirty work of fist fights and sleuthing for (Charade), while she simpers femininely and offers the promise of a reward for their services! Perhaps though it could be seen to reflect worse on the men in these films who basically only get involved with Hepburn's characters because they are thinking with other organs than their brains!
After all most of her characters and the way Hepburn plays them isn't with a particular sense of entitlement or expectation that she is wanting a man to save her, which is the thing that I think would have really turned me off her characters if she had acted that way.
She holds her own pretty well in Two For the Road, and in a few of the films there isn't a prominent male lead at all. In The Children's Hour (which I've seen only once but recall it being pretty powerful stuff) her boyfriend played by James Garner is pretty much a non-entity. In Roman Holiday, my personal favorite of her career, I don't see that anyone is in much of a dominant position, except her royal family members taken as a whole. She is a symbol of personal will and the modern spirit against these forces.
As for the others, it's important to note that it's rather hard to imagine just how different the genders were in the era in which these films were made. There were plenty of strong-willed, rebellious female characters in films (disproportionately many compared to the number of such women in real life, I would guess) but they were still exceptional, and were certainly not themselves free of limits. Hepburn didn't invent the "weak female" roles and mannerisms of many of these films, they reflected the reality.
I don't mean to come across as a staunch defender of Audrey Hepburn's roles or performances, as I only love or strongly favor a few of her films out of the dozen or so I've seen.
Audrey Hepburn is my favorite female movie star. I think she's magical on screen.
Judging by my screen name, Charade clearly holds a place near to my heart, but for this bunch, I second the recommendation of Two For the Road. It's one of the great, under-heralded films of the 1960s. Just make sure you see it in wide screen. The storytelling makes no sense otherwise. (Which is probably why it isn't better known. Anybody who saw it on TV in the 60's or 70's wouldn't have known what to make of it.)
Audrey Hepburn doesn't do much for me but I'm not going to keep stressing on that. However that didn't keep me from watching Funny Face last night. It had to do more with the film being one of my friend davidhare's favorites. I loved the film - ridiculously charming and quaint. And also so hilarious. Astaire and Hepburn smooshing together was kind of weird at first but I got over it after their magical modeling/photography venture throughout Paris. But it's Kay Thompson who stole the whole show for me. Oh my god. After the film ended, I looked up her name on IMDB immediately and was disappointed that she was involved with too few films. I'd love to see a film with her in every single scene. That would be AMAZING. I also loved that part when Hepburn danced with the two hot studs in the smoky red glow. The Think Pink and Basal Metabolism sequences, I could watch them every day without ever becoming tired. Tell me if there is a film gayer than this? Now I can see where my drag-queen friends got their "flavors" from.
Funny Face left me feeling completely delighted, my smile never left my face once. Very entertaining and well made, millions times better than its great-granddaugher The Devil Wears Prada.
Call me a fan, but Ms. Audrey Hepburn was not only the last great movie star we will ever know - the last dream-maker - but a case can be made that she was the finest human being to ever grace the lands.
There's no real point going through her film work - it's all there to see. As Orson said, you only need one. Audrey had around half-a-dozen, across many genres - Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Funny Face, Love in the Afternoon, My Fair Lady, Two for the Road, They All Laughed. Plus Charade, The Unforgiven, The Nun's Story, Wait Until Dark, War & Peace. Plus the ability to turn the deplorable Breakfast at Tiffany's into sprinkled stardust. Yes, the movie should have starred Monroe opposite Clift and Bankhead with Cukor as director. But then we would have been without Audrey sitting on that window ledge, guitar in hand, giving us hope as we all wait around the bend....
Off-screen however was her major role - surviving starvation during Nazi occupation while working for the underground as a child, then working her way to the top of her artistic field while also playing muse to the finest directors, composers and designers of the 20th century, walking away from it all to raise her kids, her continued, tireless work for Unicef while dying of cancer when only in her early sixties.
Very few of us make a difference, but just imagine what life would have been like without her.
Kay Thmpson made me the Fabulous Queen I am today.
I shall never forget her Playhouse 90 version of Eloise. Wish it was available on video today.
Back in 1976 my boyfriend and I decided we were through with New York and were moving to Los Angeles. I knew it was something I had to do, as I was fed up with the palce. But as Audrey sang in Funny Face "There's something missing, somthing missing I know."
Then one Sunday afternoon I went to the movies at the Sutton. If you know the area (is the Sutton still there?) You know it's an the bottom of a small hill. So I was standing in line (forget the film) and right behind me were Ara Gallant (hairdresser to the stars) and Asha Puthli -- Indian actress (Ivory's Savages) singer (with Ornett Coleman) and Supermodel avant la lettre. She was pregnant and look radiant as usual. Suddenly at the top of the hill -- like the famous shot in Lawrence of Arabia -- a strange figure appeared. Wraith-like and pencul thin, wrapped in several schmattas I thought "Is Isak Dinnesen in town?"
The Asha looked up and said "Kay?"
The figure threw back the schmattas pushed her arms striaght up into the air and cried out "ASHAH DAAAARLING!"
And I said to myself "Miss Self. Now we can leave New York."
Kay Thmpson made me the Fabulous Queen I am today.
My boyfriend and I can't stop talking about her since we saw Funny Face last night and we still want more of her. She's really an experience. Amazing what she could do - clicking with every gay guy of every generation. I wouldn't be surprised if Lypsinka uses her as a model.
Last edited by Michael on Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Lypsinka (aka. John Epperson) does indeed use her as a role model along with Dolores Gray, Kay Stevens and a host of others that (s)he channels.
Kay Thompson changed the entire nature of vocal arranging in popular song. She and Roger Edens were the King and Queen (respectively) of the Freed unit at MGM. All the interpolations and "special material" (like "Dear Mr. Gable" from The Broadway Melody of 1938) was theirs. They had complete control over the songs and the arrangements -- and thus had an enormous impact on the films as a whole.
Next to Funny Face (which Edens produced; Stanely Donen directing from a script by Roger's boyfriend Leonard Gershe), "The Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe" number in The Harvey Girls is their little masterpiece.
After MGM Kay created a night club act with the Williams Brothers that they're still talking about today.
Sondheim's first solo msuical, the legendry flop Anyone Can Whistle opened with "Me and My Town" a loving hommage to Kay and the Boys. When they cast her in it Sonheim, librettist Arthur Laurents ans director Herbert Ross sat Angela Lansbury down and explained to her in great detail how she was supposed to do the number. She listened calmly like the great pro that she was and then got up and proceeded to do it as if she'd known it all her life. They were amazed.
What they had forgotten was that Lansbury had been in The Harvey Girls and knew EVERYTHING about Kay Thompson.
It is all too easy to criticise BREAKFAST at TIFFANY's - a romantic spin found nowhere in Capote's novella and a cringeworthy bit from Mickey Rooney, but still ...
I thought we were talking glamour and screen magic here, and this is the huge hit and very daring for its time showcase for Audrey that still does it for me.
The virtues overcome the flaws. Who doesn't love Patricia Neal and Martin Balsam, and, yes, George Peppard is just right as the "kept" man who falls for Audrey. Capote never envisioned that they would become "two drifters off to see the world", but I found the portrayal of Holly in the novella to be slightly glum. The movie, on the other hand, and after all these years, retains enough of its magic to require this rebuttal, and a mere glance at Audrey on the cover of the DVD is all the evidence you really need.
I can see how a gay (especially american) man can relate to Kay Thompson. Honey, they're all over the place, pun intended.
But for my money, there was no one like Audrey ever since she decided to leave this particular kind of terrestrial life we all live in. I guess it all comes down to having natural class and charm, which she simply breathed. Beautiful human being, all around. Yeah, that's right - that's how I see her. Not as an actor, or model, or whatever she decided to do for a living. She's a friend of mine in my dark hours. And that radiant smile is always able to lift me up instantly.
Audrey's debut was in the 1950's -- which was wildly breast-mad. Audrey had no balcony whatsoever -- thereby giving hope to zillions of women whose mammaries weren't Cinerama-sized. What she had instead was grace, good manners, high style and voice whose sound can break your heart. I especially love her in Funny Face, Love in the Afternoon, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Two for the Road.
Back in the mid-90's I wrote a piece for Los Angeles magazine about a new generation of high school girls who were crazy about Audrey. They had no interest in madonna or any of the pop tarts. They wanted to look lovely, wear fabulous clothes and go out on the town in style. In short, Audrey Lives!
Paramount in Australia have listed a special edition of Funny Face for this October. No further details, but if the recent To Catch a Thief is any guide, I'd suggest stocking up on the smelling salts and sweet sherry.
No sign of HD - heck, no sign of the R1. The announcement must be soon. I'm hoping Paramount use their smarts and go with the iconic Avedon photo that graces the original long playing 33 1/3.
Well the region-1 DVD of Funny Face is out already. I take it from you guys that the transfer isn't in the best shape, right? I thought it looked decent enough. I revisited Funny Face and loved it even more. It has to be the most entertaining musical movie around. My friend who watched it with me found Astaire weirdly perverty and I wonder if anyone had the same impression.
I can see how a gay (especially american) man can relate to Kay Thompson.
While I like many of Hepburn's films it is hard to get past the way many of her characters are superficially assertive in the way that they inspire the male characters in the films to idealise, want to remake (My Fair Lady) or do the dirty work of fist fights and sleuthing for (Charade), while she simpers femininely and offers the promise of a reward for their services! Perhaps though it could be seen to reflect worse on the men in these films who basically only get involved with Hepburn's characters because they are thinking with other organs than their brains!
