The film where Barbra Streisand is in an unhealthy relationship take two, although technically The Way We Were came up second.
Here, Streisand shines as Fanny Brice a great singer but mediocre at everything else but is nevertheless determined to be a star. And she's funny, despite her obvious lack of talent at roller skating, she still has the audience eating out of her hand. She catches the eye of gambler Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif) whom she falls in love with immediately but after he catches adventure for a year before re-entering her life, she makes him pay before falling into bed with him.
Still, all is not well in paradise. Not long after their daughter is born, Nick runs into trouble and is broke and is unable to deal with Fanny as the breadwinner. She's the bigger star by this point. And instead of letting her help him, Nick does something stupid which lands him in prison and ends the marriage.
So, all that happens and some songs are sprinkled in, highlighting Streisand's immense, well-rounded talent though I thought her best number was actually the finale, the oddly placed 'My Man'. Still, despite the solid plot, it was an odd musical and I actually think it would have worked better if some of the songs were removed because Streisand and Sharif were excellent, not to mention the unique cinematography and costumes. This film was truly a showcase for Streisand and was practically custom written for her. She's great and did deserve her Oscar. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-Kudos to Kay Medford who is Fanny's mother and she's a hoot in her small role.
-Fanny is forever obsessed with her looks when she's truly pretty.
-Another shout out to Walter Pidgeon as Florenz Ziegfeld. He's always brilliant.
-This is yet another film in which William Wyler directed his leading lady to an Oscar victory.
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