Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Funny Face

The 1950's can often be considered the paramount of film production. Many classic movies were made, including Ben-Hur, Rebel Without A Cause, On the Waterfront, Singing in the Rain, and to some degree Old Yeller. It was also the beginning of the end of the musical.

Luckily for me, the library decided to stock up on some classics for their DVD catalog rather than all this newfangled crap that kids these days watch.

Funny Face is a classic musical staring Fred Astaire as Dick Avery and Audrey Hepburn and Jo, the attractive starlet with no relation to Katherine Hepburn.

In this movie, Dick works for a fashion magazine and they are looking for that new hot face. They want an intelligent, sophisticated look to their model, so they take her to a bookstore for a photo shoot. Much to Jo's chagrin, the uninvited guests trash the bookstore.

However, after reviewing the photographs, Dick decides that it is Jo they need for the photo shoot. Unfortunately, Jo wants nothing to do with the magazine, but after some finagling, they convince her to do it and head off to Paris. Along the way, Jo and Dick start to fall in love, which is kind of weird because he was, what 40 years older than her???

Unlike many other classic musicals, this one contains no songs that I knew. I am usually pleasantly surprised when I watch an old film and hear a song I know. This was not the case with Funny Face.

Funny Face is not rated because it's too old, but if it had to be rated, I think it would be PG for smoking and some romance. The movie is 103 minutes long, and is in color. This is important information when reviewing a movie in the 1950's!

I have a bias in reviewing this movie. I like Audrey Hepburn. I loved her in Breakfast at Tiffany's, Sabrina, and My Fair Lady. I have Roman Holiday on my list of movies to see. I give this movie 4 stars. I have an appreciation for classic movies, for musicals, and for Audrey Hepburn. Enough said.

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