Funny Face (50th Anniversary Edition)
Our Price: $29.95
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.25 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Kay Thompson, Michel Auclair, Robert FlemyngBrand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Portuguese (Original Language); Portuguese (Dubbed); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-10-02
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of Funny Face (50th Anniversary Edition)
DVD Review: Astaire, Hepburn, Gershwin, Donen, Paris...Yet Something Still Feels Missing in This 50th Anniversary Salute
Summary: 4 Stars
Last fall, the Gap re-launched their skinny black pant line with a major advertising blitz spotlighting Audrey Hepburn performing her beatnik dance from this well-remembered 1957 musical. Even set to AC/DC's anachronistically hard rocking Back in Black, the sight of the young, coltish star gallivanting with carefully choreographed abandon is truly an iconic image that has endured for half a century. The source movie - now celebrated in a 50th Anniversary Edition DVD - is a Hollywood confection teaming Hepburn with an effortlessly debonair Fred Astaire set to George and Ira Gershwin's memorable music. The elegantly mounted numbers provide the ideal complement to the soufflé-light plot centered on Dick Avery, a world-renowned, Richard Avedon-like fashion photographer who discovers his next superstar model in Jo Stockton, a bookshop clerk and aspiring philosopher, in time for a major runway event in Paris.
Jo's interest in going to Paris is heightened by an opportunity to meet Professor Flostre, a philosopher who specializes in "empatheticalism", a suspect philosophy that stresses the importance of empathy. But romance intrudes, and the rest becomes inevitable. Starting with the photography provided by Avedon himself, the film is stylish to the nth degree with a bold color palette that director Stanley Donen and cinematographer Ray June bring to vibrant life. Donen already had On the Town, Singin' in the Rain and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers under his belt by this time, so he proves again how to make a movie move with fluidity and flair. He also adheres to the formula of studio-manufactured musical comedies with characters going through lightning-quick personality transformations to move the story along and allow them to break into song and dance at a moment's notice.
This level of contrivance will not sit well with some contemporary film viewers, and the opposites-attract storyline seems particularly forced here by the thirty years that separate the co-stars' ages. Regardless, several individual elements work well beginning with Astaire who epitomizes class and artistic drive as Avery, and his dancing and singing remain undiminished by the years. Hepburn is certainly picture-perfect as Jo, looking particularly spectacular in the fashion shoot sequence. With a throaty voice, she sings the classic "How Long Has This Been Going On?" with an aching vulnerability and duets passably on three other numbers. With her ballet training, Hepburn moves well in the dance numbers, though she is not a natural and seems oddly flat-footed when paired with the lithe Astaire, especially on the pastoral "He Loves and She Loves" duet. As seen in the Gap commercial, her frantic dance solo is enjoyable mostly for her sheer exuberance.
As Avery's dictatorial magazine editor Maggie Prescott, the redoubtable Kay Thompson portrays a most irritating character, but her natural wit and good spirits manage to compensate. The film's most energetic number is "Bonjour Paris", a split-screen exploration of the city by Avery, Maggie and Jo. Donen generally does a superb job guiding his movies, but this one ultimately feels a bit lackluster given the participants. For a 50th Anniversary package, the extras are fairly skimpy. While it does offer a fairly pristine print transfer, there is surprisingly no commentary track. A couple of shorts are offered - "The Fashion Designer and his Muse", an eight-minute look at the bonding relationship between Hepburn and her most compatible designer, Hubert de Givenchy, and "Parisian Dreams" in which writer Drew Casper and writer/director Olivier-Rene Veillon give a cinematic tour of the City of Lights. The photo gallery and a disposable extra about Paramount movies in the 1950's are leftovers from the 2001 DVD package.
Description of Funny Face (50th Anniversary Edition)
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 10/02/2007 Run time: 103 minutesBestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Two for the RoadHEPBURN,AUDREY; Release date: 2005-11-01; DVD
Best price: $7.01
Price in other shops:
The Nun's StoryWarner Brothers; Release date: 2006-04-04; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Charade (The Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2004-04-06; Published: 2004-04-01; DVD
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops:
Paris When It SizzlesParamount; Release date: 2011-03-29; DVD
Best price: $2.54
Price in other shops:
How to Steal a MillionTCFHE; Release date: 2004-12-07; DVD
Best price: $7.23
Price in other shops:
Paris When it SizzlesParis; Release date: 2001-04-10; Published: 2001-04-01; DVD
Best price: $10.22
Roman Holiday (Special Collector's Edition)Roman; Release date: 2002-11-26; DVD
Best price: $2.88
Price in other shops:
Breakfast At Tiffany's (Centennial Collection)Paramount; Release date: 2009-01-13; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Sabrina - The Centennial CollectionParamount; Release date: 2008-11-11; DVD
Best price: $7.54
Price in other shops:
My Fair LadyPar; Release date: 2009-10-06; DVD
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops: