IMDb RATING
7.0/10
6.6K
YOUR RATING
Based on the Broadway hit about the life and times of burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee and her aggressive stage mother, Mama Rose.Based on the Broadway hit about the life and times of burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee and her aggressive stage mother, Mama Rose.Based on the Broadway hit about the life and times of burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee and her aggressive stage mother, Mama Rose.
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
6.6K
YOUR RATING
- Arthur Laurents(based upon the stage play: book by)
- Gypsy Rose Lee(from the memoirs of)
- Leonard Spigelgass(screenplay)
- Stars
- Arthur Laurents(based upon the stage play: book by)
- Gypsy Rose Lee(from the memoirs of)
- Leonard Spigelgass(screenplay)
- Stars
Morgan Brittany
- 'Baby' June
- (as Suzanne Cupito)
Ann Jillian
- 'Dainty' June
- (as Ann Jilliann)
Trudi Ames
- Scottish Girl in Uncle Jocko Scene
- (uncredited)
- Arthur Laurents(based upon the stage play: book by)
- Gypsy Rose Lee(from the memoirs of)
- Leonard Spigelgass(screenplay)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBefore the decision was made to dub most of her vocals, Rosalind Russell attempted to do her own singing. The results are an extra feature on the soundtrack CD. After Ethel Merman died, a tape of the Russell recordings was found in a box in Merman's closet. Merman, furious that she had not been cast in the film, evidently kept a copy of the Russell vocals as a strange, somewhat vengeful consolation prize.
- GoofsDuring the birthday party scene, when the landlord comes in the shadow of a boom mike is visible on the wall.
- Quotes
Louise "Gypsy Rose Lee" Hovick: I said, turn it off! Nobody laughs at me! Because I laugh first. At me! Me, from Seattle! Me, with no education. Me, with no talent, as you kept reminding me my whole life! Well, Mama look at me now. I'm a star! Look! Look how I live! Look at my friends! Look where I'm going! I'm not staying in burlesque! I'm moving, mabye up, maybe down! But wherever it is, I'm enjoying it. I'm having the time of my life! Because for the first time, it is my life! And I love it. I love every second of it! And I'll be damned if you're gonna take it away from me! I am Gypsy Rose Lee! And I love her! And if you don't, you can just clear out now!
- Crazy creditsOpening credits are superimposed on a closed stage curtain, below which is an orchestra and conductor, performing the film's overture. The overture has been truncated from the stage version's original overture, but is otherwise quite faithful to it.
- Alternate versionsThe song "Together, Wherever We Go", along with the second duet part of "You'll Never Get Away from Me" was cut after the film was first released and was, for the most part, forgotten (both songs feature Karl Malden). it was supposed that all prints of these songs had disinigrated (the video version even says that they are no longer available). Recently, a film collector was found who had an old print of Gypsy with these songs intact but in very poor condition. They are included on the dvd in the "bonus" section.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Superstar (1999)
- SoundtracksLet Me Entertain You
(1959) (uncredited)
Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Ann Jillian and Morgan Brittany
Review
Featured review
Interesting, Lively Fictionalized Biography; Fascinating...
"Gypsy" is a very difficult movie to have achieved from a writer's standpoint. As is true of "Dr. Zhivago" and "The Searchers", much of the film is told from the point of view of a younger person, who serves as the viewer's alter ego within scenes while the central character does little. This book, play and film was the result of Rose Louise Hovick's biography of herself and her mother before and at the beginning of her celebrity as "Gypsy Rose Lee", burlesque icon. The film is filled with famous songs and comedy scenes, alternating with moving confrontations that for once gain by having been real ones. Among the songs are "Some People", "Everything's Coming Up Roses", "All I Need is the Girl" and "You Gotta Have a Gimmick", "Small World" and more. The memorable comedic scenes involve the repetition of Dainty June and her boys coming onstage in various guises, with a two-person cow dancing behind her; the three strippers who try to teach Louise how to succeed; the children singing, "Momma Get Married"; and "Please Mr. Goldstone" in gratitude to the producer who inexplicably likes their corny act. The moving scenes are Herbie, Mama's boyfriend, trying to convince her to give up her hard-minded pursuit of show business fame, Louise realizing the girl a young boy dancer says he needs is not she; her realization just before she goes onstage at a burlesque theater at her mother's insistence that she has one talent--she is a pretty girl, etc. the songs by Jule Styne all work, but only some are classics. the direction of the film by Mervyn LeRoy is very good, economical, and only occasionally look staged the device of theatrically closing out a scene by artificially dimming the lights for me works in this fictionalized biography; we get as viewers the feeling we are seeing glimpses of an interesting life, partly because of this device. Costumes by Orry-Kelly, Howard Shoup and others, the cinematography of Harry Stradling, Sr., excellent period sets, art direction and more are major assets to this colorful but never-splashy musical success. not the last of director LeRoy's here is that we see theatrical scenes and scenes in a theater as well or better handled than in any other film I know. The actors including the three strippers, Faith Dane, Betty Bruce and Roxanne Arlen are wonderfully funny; Benny Lessy as Mr. Goldstone, Louis Quinn, Guy Raymond and Harry Shannon get all they can out of their small parts. the children who play Rose's girls are all good, particularly Ann Jillian as June. As Herbie, Karl Malden is energetic and first-rate at conveying his love and his desire for a normal life, for the children and himself. Natalie Wood is too thin-voiced to be great but she is a seasoned performer and underplays Louise intelligently. As Rose, Rosalind Russell occupies the active center of almost every scene. There is another way to play Rose other than as someone coldly obsessed with fame; I saw Giselle Mackenzie do the role onstage as a caring obsessive, one who would not be denied justice for her children as she was for herself. But Rosalind Russell is alternately brassy and wheedling, working everyone for exactly what she needs while pretending to be pushing for the sake of her daughters. She is intelligent, always interesting and frequently epic in her hunger for what has eluded her in her own performing career. And in "Rose's Turn" we see that her extraordinary charisma and courage were indeed something special. This is a show business biography of unusual believability and intelligence for all its laughter. And a memorable musical biography that works differently on film, but does work very effectively.
helpful•247
- silverscreen888
- Jul 15, 2005
Details
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- 2 hours 23 minutes
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