Matchmaker Dolly Levi travels to Yonkers to find a partner for "half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder, convincing his niece, his niece's intended, and his two clerks to travel to New York City along the way.
The life of Fanny Brice, famed comedienne and entertainer of the early 1900s. We see her rise to fame as a Ziegfeld girl, subsequent career, and her personal life, particularly her relationship with Nick Arnstein.
A bankrupt entrepreneur attempts to recoup some of her losses by getting a washed-out boxer she picked up as a tax loss back into the ring - an idea her protégé isn't fond of.
A troubled young woman who visits a psychotherapist to help her quit smoking undergoes hypnosis and finds herself reliving a tragic Victorian romance from a past life.
Director:
Vincente Minnelli
Stars:
Barbra Streisand,
Yves Montand,
Bob Newhart
A matchmaker named Dolly Levi takes a trip to Yonkers, New York to see the "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire," Horace Vandergelder. While there, she convinces him, his two stock clerks and his niece and her beau to go to New York City. In New York, she fixes Vandergelder's clerks up with the woman Vandergelder had been courting, and her shop assistant (Dolly has designs of her own on Mr. Vandergelder, you see).Written by
Randy Goldberg <goldberg@nymc.edu>
The original stage production of "Hello, Dolly!" was adapted from "The Matchmaker", a non-musical play by Thornton Wilder, which premiered on Broadway in 1955. "The Matchmaker" was a revised version of Wilder's 1938 play, "The Merchant of Yonkers," which Wilder based on "Einen Jux will er sich machen" ("He'll Have Himself a Good Time"), an 1842 three-act Austrian play by Johann Nestroy, with music by Adolf Müller. Nestroy's play was adapted from "A Day Well Spent", an 1835 one-act farce by English playwright John Oxenford. It also has similarities to "L'Avare" ("The Miser"), a 1668 play by Molière, derived from the ancient Roman play "Aulularia" ("Pot of Gold") by Titus Maccius Plautus. Plautus' play was partially based on an earlier Greek play by Menander called "Dyskolos" ("The Grouch"), first performed around 317 BCE. "Einen Jux will er sich machen" was the basis for the 1981 play "On the Razzle" by Tom Stoppard. The plot of "Hello, Dolly" is also similar to "A Trip to Chinatown," an 1891 3-act musical comedy by Charles Hale Hoyt, with music by Percy Gaunt and lyrics by Hoyt. That play was revised as "A Winsome Widow," a 1912 musical produced by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., featuring music by Raymond Hubbell. See more »
Goofs
When Horace joins Dolly at her table, she spoons a great deal of food onto his plate, including lots of beets, but when the camera angle changes to behind Horace, there is very little food on his plate and no beets are there. See more »
Quotes
Dolly Levi:
Mr. Kemper, do you mind if we go inside? I'm feeling an updraft in my underpants!
See more »
Alternate Versions
There are two alternate takes during the number Before The Parade Passes By. They occur as Dolly Levi (played by Barbra Streisand) is running down the garden path to see the parade and is singing the line "Before the Parade Passes by".In the 35mm prints which were sent to movie theaters after the roadshow engagements, Dolly almost loses her hat while running. This was used for the home video version. The 70mm prints have a different take, in which Dolly did not have any hat problems. This was used for the DVD version. See more »
The miscasting of Barbra Streisand is an interesting topic of discussion regarding this movie. She's way too young, as everyone else has said; despite slight changes to the script and giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, it's silly to think that a woman in her mid twenties would have built up both the social contacts and worldly sangfroid that the character possesses. That said, however, she does about as well as anyone could ask playing a role she was 3 decades too young for. The animosity between Barbra and Walter Matthau is another problem--they have no chemistry together whatsoever. While his annoyance with her at the beginning is believable, the turnabout at the end comes across completely false. Fortunately, the movie has many other charms to make up for that central problem.
My favorite part of the movie, and the heart of the film, is the "courtship" of Cornelius & Irene and Barnaby & Minnie Fay. Michael Crawford and the late Danny Lockin are absolutely adorable as Cornelius and Barnaby. The "Dancing" and "Elegance" numbers and the dinner scene at the Harmonia Gardens are worth the price of admission alone. Barbra plays better with the rest of the cast too; she's more believable as a "woman of the world" when she's with the younger cast members. The production design is wonderful as well. While the movie was outrageously expensive for its time, just about every dollar is visible on screen. The claustrophobic musicals they've made since the Seventies really look deficient when compared to the wide-open dance scenes and crowd shots in classic musicals like this one.
All in all, Hello, Dolly has much to offer. It's not the best musical ever made by a long shot, but it's undeniably fun to watch. It would be fun to see Barbra play the role now that she's a more appropriate age for it. Unfortunately, she doesn't do musicals anymore. Maybe Tyne Daly would take the part.
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The miscasting of Barbra Streisand is an interesting topic of discussion regarding this movie. She's way too young, as everyone else has said; despite slight changes to the script and giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, it's silly to think that a woman in her mid twenties would have built up both the social contacts and worldly sangfroid that the character possesses. That said, however, she does about as well as anyone could ask playing a role she was 3 decades too young for. The animosity between Barbra and Walter Matthau is another problem--they have no chemistry together whatsoever. While his annoyance with her at the beginning is believable, the turnabout at the end comes across completely false. Fortunately, the movie has many other charms to make up for that central problem.
My favorite part of the movie, and the heart of the film, is the "courtship" of Cornelius & Irene and Barnaby & Minnie Fay. Michael Crawford and the late Danny Lockin are absolutely adorable as Cornelius and Barnaby. The "Dancing" and "Elegance" numbers and the dinner scene at the Harmonia Gardens are worth the price of admission alone. Barbra plays better with the rest of the cast too; she's more believable as a "woman of the world" when she's with the younger cast members. The production design is wonderful as well. While the movie was outrageously expensive for its time, just about every dollar is visible on screen. The claustrophobic musicals they've made since the Seventies really look deficient when compared to the wide-open dance scenes and crowd shots in classic musicals like this one.
All in all, Hello, Dolly has much to offer. It's not the best musical ever made by a long shot, but it's undeniably fun to watch. It would be fun to see Barbra play the role now that she's a more appropriate age for it. Unfortunately, she doesn't do musicals anymore. Maybe Tyne Daly would take the part.