"Hello Gorgeous" How Many Streisands Have You Seen?
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 10:49PM Today is the 70th birthday of the legendary Barbra Streisand who we always call Babs. We were chastized in the comments for not celebrating and we get it. There's only one of her, a national treasure. In fact, just a few weeks ago I watched Funny Girl (for the 6th or 7th time) and Funny Lady (for the 2nd time) almost back to back and that double feature is astounding. The first would have to be in the top ten Pure Star Vehicles ever made (♥) and the second one is just... just no, Barbra!
Like Jane Fonda, another screen icon from the 1970s who is on our way back to us, we're über pleased that she's suddenly decided she's an actress again even if we haven't seen the results yet. Barbra's big picture this year is Guilt Trip (co-starring Seth Rogen. November Release) which happens to be her first leading role since the stoney end stone age. Advanced word is positive but you never know who is doing the talking when it comes to advanced word so we're anxious. Comedy was always her forte and there's no reason that La Streep should be the only elderly giant who younger audiences completely "get" as a Funny Girl.
So for today's big day, let's republish an old article called "Posterized Babs".
Funny Girl (1968. Best Actress Winner Oscars & Globes) | Hello Dolly (1969. Best Actress Musical Comedy Golden Globe Nomination) | On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970))
15 more films and brief commentary after the jump
The Owl and the Pussycat (1970. Golden Globe Nomination Best Actress Musical/Comedy) | What's Up Doc? (1972) | Up the Sandbox (1972)
The Way We Were (1973. Best Actress Nominations Golden Globe and Oscar) | For Pete's Sake (1974) | Funny Lady (1975. Golden Globe Best Actress Musical/Comedy Nomination)
A Star is Born (1976. Oscar Best Song Win "Evergreen". Golden Globe Best Actress Win Musical/Comedy) | The Main Event (1979) | All Night Long (1981)
Yentl (1983. Golden Globe Win Best Director. Best Actress Nomination) | Nuts (1987. Golden Globe Best Actress Drama Nomination) | The Prince of Tides (1991. Best Picture Nomination as a Producer. Golden Globe nod as Director)
The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996. Oscar Best Song Nomination "I've Finally Found Someone" / Golden Globe Best Actress Nod Musical/Comedy) | Meet the Fockers (2004) | Little Fockers (2010)
previously published in 2010
Babs is still one of the most famous people on the planet but I'm guessing that younger generations have quite the incomplete picture of her career. I'm guessing that that picture hangs in an old fashioned frame and shows the diva in a turtleneck sweater. Somehow her expression conveys stifling self regard, political activism and mega-wealth all at once.
Babs & Rogen on the set of "Guilt Trip"But when I think of Babs, I laugh. Not at her but with her. Back in the day -- before most of us were attending the movies regularly (myself included) or even alive yet (myself not included) -- she was a corker of a comic actress. She could also swing dramatic as memorably as she could change keys in song. But if you peruse the posters above it seems clear that her giant movie stardom shrank just as soon as she swung dramatic in a permanent sort of way.
- How many of her 18 pictures have you seen?
- Don't you think she should have three Oscars instead of two (hello The Way We Were)
- Are you looking forward to The Guilt Trip?
Babs, Birthday, Funny Girl, The Guilt Trip, movie posters, musicals
Reader Comments (33)
I've actually seen 14 of these. I like her best when she's singing. She has such a vocal gift and it just seems cruel to the audience to deny us her voice. My favorites are Funny Girl, Yentl, and On A Clear Day. The worst one was Nuts, truly awful. It puzzles me when people who are so gifted in one area seem to want something else. But maybe it was the wrong era for a singer in movies.
I've only seen 12, and I just can't think of throwing away time on the "Fockers" pair.
No way on Oscar 3...Joanne Woodward won the BAFTA and NY Film Critics award for "Summer Wishes Winter Dreams," and should have won her second Oscar for that. Actually, she should have won her 3rd in 73, after also losing for "Rachel Rachel" in 68 to Streisand and Hepburn.
"Guilt Trip" maybe...
Seen (and own) EVERY.SINGLE.ONE ;) Yes, I love her. And damnit, yes,she should have won that Oscar for TWWW.....as well as directing Oscar for Prince of Tides. I honestly resent the fact she was not the first woman director to win.
I absolutely cannot wait for Guilt Trip (loving the name!!! Hate the fact it was postponed). I think a lot of the younger generation will really see what she is all about, just like people rediscoved her with her hilarious turn in Meet The Fockers (the third was really bad, though she was fantastic as always).
Ok so I'm biased....but yeah. :) I love her.
Recently saw "What's Up Doc". Wow, she was brilliant in that. And it hit me early Babs is what Jennifer Aniston had been trying and failing at for years.
Was just gonna say that What's Up Doc is one of my all-time favorites. La Streisand is not only hilarious but she's pretty damn sexy in it. Aniston is too bland a persona to compare to Streisand, IMO.
I've only seen six of these and I'm not counting that Focker shit because no.
Love Up the Sandbox. What's Up Doc, A Star Is Born. The Mirror has Two Faces is a guilty pleasure. The Way We Were is so overrated.
Can't wait for Guilt Trip!
This was well timed - TCM is showing Streisand movies all night long. I just set the DVR to record the rest of Funny Girl, which I had alas not seen prior to tonight. Lovin' it so far. I've weirdly seen almost none of her movies, but her music was on around the house enough while I was growing up that I'm very familiar with her from that angle of the showbiz universe.
I'm incredibly embarrassed and disappointed in myself to say that somehow I haven't seen a single one of her movies (not even Meet the Fockers or Little Fockers). I've had Funny Girl and The Way We Were on my Netflix instant queue for over a year, but I haven't watched either of them.
Yentl is the best thing she's ever done. The end.
I've seen six of her movies.
I am embarrassed to say that the scene toward the end of "The Prince of Tides" when she saw the look at Nick Nolte's face and she knew immediately that they can't be together just makes me weep. I know it's not a great movie but I am fond of Hello Dolly; it's 1 of the first few movies my parents bought and they kept playing it.
Sad to say I've only seen 5 of her movies! What's Up Doc is probably her best movie that I've seen, and a true comedic masterpiece of the 70s. Can't beat her work in Funny Girl though, surely one the greatest movie debuts of all times and My Man still gives me shivers thinking about it.
This makes me want to explore more of her movies, I'm actually more familiar with her singing career because my mom absolutely loves her music.
I recently developed a theory wherein one takes the first half of Funny Girl and grafts it onto the final half of Titanic and then one has the perfect movie. Just edit the end of the tugboat scene onto the iceberg scene and poof! Perfection. I kinda like "On a clear day..." because it's craptastic in an interesting way. I also have a soft spot for Yentl. What's Up Doc's Great. Okay, and I 'll admit I'm a sucker for A Star is Born. Can you imagine what it would've been like if they'd actually convinced Colonel Tom Parker to get Elvis to do it. No offense Kris, but c'mon. It would've been amazebots! All the way. Glad she's gravitating toward comedy again. She's best when she's making with the funny business.
Yeah, has Streisand ever been sexier than in "What's Up Doc?" Doubtful. My favourite of her films, too, closely followed by "Funny Girl" and "The Way We Were". Definitely looking forward to her Seth Rogen comedy because, hello, Streisand and Rogen and (I presume) bickering jewish family members!
I love the prince of tides but felt a sigourney weaver or susan sarandon should have been ib babs part,shame she received no director nom or an actress nom for yentyl,she is funny and should be aloowed to do more and also agood director.
I've seen all but two of them. For Pete's sake and Funny Lady (I couldn't finish it. I always remember the In & out joke in which Joan Cusak says she had to "endure" that film and Kevin Kline excusing Streisand saying she "had" to do a sequel LOL).
My favorite is of course Funny Girl. I've watched it million times and always get me. I'm also very fond of On a clear day, in which Babs proves what Nat is saying: she was a wonderful comic till she insisted on going "serious". I miss her comic timing.
So she'll be a 70 year old Mama Rose? Oh My! Can't wait!
Happy birthtday Babs! Until now I've seen 14 of her movies (I miss On a clear day, Up the sandbox, All night long and Little Fockers). My favorites are The way we were (she deserved a second Oscar!), The prince of tides and Funny girl (in this order). I really have to see Funny girl again, it's been a while since I saw it last time... such a wonderful performance! Can't wait to see her on the big screen again!
I've seen them all, even the dreadful Little Fockers and she was the only reason I made it through that mess. She is a most skillful comedienne even in lackluster stuff like For Pete's Sake and The Main Event and a fine dramatic actress when the part suits her like it did in The Way We Were. But she did seem to succumb to Serious Actress-itis between Yentl and The Mirror has Two Faces.
She has some interesting failures in her filmography, Up the Sandbox is just so strange and very much a relic of its time and she is completely wrong in All Night Long but at least she is willing to try different things. I've always found Owl & Pussycat hard to take and I loath her version of A Star is Born but I do have several favorites among her work.
Clear Day is overblown and Yves Montand is a black hole in the lead but its a great showcase for her both in the present and past sequences. Even Funny Lady has its moments, the picture itself is a mess-the staging of the numbers is cluttered and overly busy and she is brittle and haughty two things Fannie Brice never was but the production and costume design are beautiful, the feathered dress she wears is amazing, and when she sings she takes the film to a classic level. It's too bad she didn't have the opportunity to do Hello, Dolly! about ten years later then she did, her youth is distracting and she tries to overcompensate with archness but again when she sings it's a marvel.
However in my opinion she has made three all time classics: What's Up, Doc? where she more than holds her own against the comic juggernaut that was Madeline Kahn, it's also where she changes from tough but glamorous New York chanteuse and 60's musical star into a more relaxed California girl which she's never left behind. Her top two for me and I'd never be able to choose one over the other as the absolute favorite are Funny Girl-pretty much worthless as biography but Barbra is the Greatest Star in it, perhaps no vehicle was ever more perfectly devised to showcase a performer's gifts than this. Funny, sad even tragic at times but so bursting with not just talent but star charisma and promise it's impossible to tear your eyes away, and Wyler made sure she had a defining moment with My Man at the end so when the audience left the theatre they knew a star had truly been born.
The other of course is The Way We Were, even though she doesn't sing except over the credits she never looked better, gave a performance with as much depth nor was so perfectly matched with a costar than here. This may be the only film where she is matched with a performer of equal star wattage that she wasn't able to dominate. Not that she didn't ever have any other compatible costars, O'Neal, Sharif, Nolte, George Segal and Jeff Bridges all did well in their respective films but faded into the background whenever Babs showed up, Robert Redford and she went toe to toe and each held the screen with that lightening in a bottle thing called chemistry that can't be manufactured.
Can't say I'm thrilled with the description of The Guilt Trip but I'll see it for her. As far as her version of Gypsy goes, as long as her voice is in good shape it will be colossal. I've heard all the "she's 70" talk but she's had so much work done of late that I think that will be more distracting than her age. Let's hope she doesn't have anymore, she was always so distinctive looking and now is starting to look a bit waxy. Although a new hairstyle, please a new hairdo!!, would be nice.
I believe that she plans to call it quits as far as films go after Gypsy which would make sense for her legacy to finish up with something memorable and fine. It would be a shame to see her swan song be something beneath her gifts as it is for many actresses. For every Judy Garland perfectly wrapping up their screen career with feet firmly planted, arms thrust to the heavens singing full throttle at the end of "I Could Go On Singing" there's a sad dissipated Veronica Lake in "Flesh Fest" or Joan Crawford in "Trog".
fun fact. in the npr podcast meryl did with terry gross she says how much of a "presence" barbras music was in their household while she was in college
Excellent analysis, joel6!
I have seen all her films except Little Fockers. I should revisit some of them.
* I believe she should maybe have another Oscar for The Way We Were. But she should definitely have a couple more nominations! What's Up, Doc?, Yentl, A Star Is Born, The Prince of Tides, The Mirror Has Two Faces and Nuts. Any of those would have been deserving of a nomination.
* I have always waited for the sequel to TWWW to be made. From everything we read the script was good. Too bad.
* It's a pity she didn't make more films. The parts she has turned down are an incredible array of characters. I read an interesting piece in AfterElton yesterday, where it said that Jane Fonda should be thanking BS for her own career! Babs turned down They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Klute and Julia! Imagine Barbra as Sarah Bernhard, directed by Ken Russell...
* One question to those who own the Funny Lady DVD: Does the Extra material include the musical numbers that were shortened for the copy that was released?
* Don't kill me, but do you agree that there are moments when her delivery is way too melodramatic? I am particularly thinking about TWWW, when they are in LA and she first refers to the palm tress and then goes something like this. "I wish it would rain!"
Marcos, There are places she goes a bit overboard. I always thought that was true in some of her work in Tides and Nuts but I can't agree about the scene you mention in The Way We Were at that point in the story she feels desperately isolated from everything that had made sense in her life and feels Hubbell slipping away and the line, the whole conversation in fact, is uttered in frustration, despair and a yearning for the sure footing of the familiar.
I've seen all 18 like a billion times. The favorites are of course Funny Girl,The Way We Were & A Star Is Born.
When it comes to "bad" ones Little Fockers & The Main Event top my list.
I'm so excited about The Guilt Trip. Can hardly wait anymore!
Happy Babsday!
I've seen all of Streisand's filmography except for Up the Sandbox (what?). My favorites are Funny Girl (of course!), The Way We Were and The Prince of Tides, but I too admire have a guilty-pleasure fixation with The Mirror Has Two Faces.
And say what you will about her Oscar win, but that My Man finale alone merits the award in my book. Talk about deep-felt, dynamo acting while singing!
P.S. http://youtu.be/Hdlz6QzyAVA
-I've seen all except for "Little Fockers".
-No. I'm fine with Glenda Jackson altough I have never seen "Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams" (lovely title).
-Not really
I've only seen 5 (Funny Girl, The Way We Were, Yentl, Prince of Tides, Meet The Fockers). I adore her in Funny Girl, amazing comedic performance, great vocals and an amazing closing scene. I also like Yentl a lot, it has some of the best lyrical storytelling ever. I think she's gorgeous in The Way We Were, but didn't care for the film much. Have no desire to see Little Fockers
What can I say? I've seen Funny Girl and What's Up Doc too many times to count. I've seen the musical parts of Funny Lady, Hello Dolly, and On A Clear Day almost as often. I've somehow missed Up The Sandbox and All Night Long, but I think I was too young for the first and overseas for the latter.
I HAVE heard every single Barbra musical performance on record, and I think that's even more obsessive since she's done a lot more. Barbra's records were pretty bad throughout the 80s until just recently (sorry Broadway Album lovers).
I am still mad to this day that Barbra didn't win an Oscar for The Way We Were. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if she'd lost to a classic performance, but to Glenda Jackson in A Touch of Class? That movie is more unwatchable than The Main Event!
About her win for Funny Girl: Such was the rage over Streisand at the time of her nomination that several members of the Academy submitted a request so that Barbra could be admitted as a member right away. Apparently she was therefore able to vote for herself. As Hepburn and Babs got the exact number of votes, you could conclude that Streisand was de deciding factor for her own win!
I've seen them all except "All night long" and "For Pete's Sake". I love both her comedic side as well as the dramatic side (she gives plenty of both in Funny Girl, for which she deservedly won an Oscar).
I think she might have been nominated for Yentl as best actress had she delved deeper into the character, like Meryl Streep... cutting her own hair shorter, doing a believable man voice tone, learning an accent.
She definitely should have been nominated for Best Director for The Prince of Tides. The film gathered like 6 nominations, including Best Film and the director gets snubbed?! wtf!
Anyway, I look forward to "Guilt Trip" and "Gypsy".
To finish off, not only had she had a great film presence (especially during the 70s) but her television work is remarkable. Her 5 tv specials (starting from the 1965 My Name is Barbra to 1972 Other Musical Instruments) and her later "The Concert 1994" are astounding.
"the Prince of Tides" actually had SEVEN nominations, yet none for Barbra. In fact, wasn't it co-birthday girl Shirley MacLaine who presented the "movie that directed itself" line about this movie at those Oscars?
I've seen 14 and "What's Up. Doc?" should be a much more popular comedy. It is hysterically funny. And watching that early scene in "The Way We Were" last night on TCM, where she gets into bed with Redford. Amazing work, since I have a similar crush on someone whom I probably won't get to bed, even if we work for the same team. All that longing and insecurity and lust and terror is there in her face.
Happy Birthday, Ms. Streisand
forever1267 -- It was Jessica Tandy when she was presenting the film clip
Jessica Tandy even went further and made sure everyone knew which movie she voted for by saying she wouldn't tell but when she was asked to present, "The Prince of Tides" was the one she wanted to. That year's Oscars were memorable with Liza & Shirley and even Billy Crystal supporting Barbra.
I forgot to mention "Up the sandbox" which is such a great movie and her first dramatic non singing role... although it was a flop she delivers a strong performance and looks incredibly beautiful (I always say that people that call her ugly should see the movie and go fuck themselves).
I just had to comment on Barbra's beauty. At the time she "broke out" in theater and records, circa 1962 or so, she really was, at best, interesting or "offbeat" in the looks department. But rather than being satisfied with that, Barbra simply changed the standards of beauty. She forced people to realize that talent and personality trumped "averageness." If it wasn't for Barbra, Meryl could never be considered a movie beauty. So there! ;-)
S -- Totally agree. Remember Liz Taylor and Paul Newman presenting Best Picture? Those were the days! "Up the sandbox" is great fun and so 70s!