Fanny Brice Movies
Widely celebrated as one of the most beloved comediennes in the history of entertainment, stage and screen star Fanny Brice tickled audience's funny bones for more than a decade as the main attraction of Broadway's Ziegfeld Follies in the early 1900s. She later moved successfully into film and radio, where her comic talents helped her flourish as the lovably bratty Baby Snooks. The third child in a family that included four siblings, Brice was born Fanny Borach to immigrant saloon proprietors in the Lower East Side of New York in 1891. She was smitten with the life of a performer from an early age, and performances in her father's saloon soon led her to participate in a local amateur talent contest. After taking home the prize, the adorable lass charmed moviegoers by singing and playing piano in a local cinema. She dropped out of school after the eighth grade and worked as a chorus girl in a burlesque review (changing her name in hopes of avoiding Jewish typecasting), and soon found herself in increased demand for stage roles. In 1910, Brice was approached by Max Spiegel to star in College Girls, and she, in turn, asked songwriter Irving Berlin to write her some memorable songs for the occasion. The resulting tune, "Sadie Salome, Go Home," quickly become the actress' trademark.Despite the fact that Brice had briefly married early in life, it was her second union that really fueled the tabloids. Wed to con man Jules Arnstein in 1919, Brice remained steadfastly at her husband's side despite frequent philandering and a stint in prison. When Arnstein was charged with Wall Street bond theft in 1924, Brice spared no expense to fund his defense. Arnstein was eventually convicted and, upon his release in 1927, abandoned his wife and two children. Though audiences turned out in droves to see Brice perform in Ziegfeld Follies in the 1920s and '30s, attempts to establish herself as a serious dramatic actress proved less than fruitful. In the years that followed, she appeared in small capacities in numerous films (as well as starring in 1930's Be Yourself). She married again in 1929, this time to Broadway impresario Billy Rose. Although her third marriage was brief and her film career never quite took off, Brice found fame in her later years when she launched a weekly radio show in 1938. Her final wave of success endured until her death from a cerebral hemorrhage in May 1951. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
This concert and interview documentary features the racy wit of Canada and the U.S.'s most popular female comedians, including Jenny Jones, Whoopi Goldberg, Phyllis Diller, Ellen DeGeneres, and Paula Poundstone. In addition to screening their stand-up gigs and providing interviews with these funny ladies, the documentary provides some historical perspective about the origins of present-day feminine humor using clips of performances by Eve Arden, Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phyllis Diller, Whoopi Goldberg, (more)
The presence of William Powell as legendary showman Flo Ziegfeld at the beginning of Ziegfeld Follies might lead an impressionable viewer from thinking that this 1946 film is a Technicolor sequel to the 1936 Oscar-winning The Great Ziegfeld. Not so: this is more in the line of an all-star revue, much like such early talkies as Hollywood Revue of 1929 and Paramount on Parade. We meet a grayed, immaculately garbed Ziegfeld in Paradise (his daily diary entry reads "Another heavenly day"), where he looks down upon the world and muses over the sort of show he'd be putting on were he still alive. Evidently Ziegfeld's shade has something of a celestial conduit to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, since his "dream" show is populated almost exclusively by MGM stars. Vincente Minnelli is given sole directorial credit at the beginning of the film, though many of the individual "acts" were helmed by other hands. The Bunin puppets offer a tableau depicting anxious theatregoers piling into a Broadway theatre, as well as caricatures of Ziegfeld's greatest stars. The opening number, "Meet the Ladies", spotlights a whip-wielding (!) Lucille Ball, a bevy of chorus girls dressed as panthers, and, briefly, Margaret O'Brien. Kathryn Grayson and "The Ziegfeld Girls" perform "There's Beauty Everywhere." Victor Moore and Edward Arnold show up in an impressionistically staged adaptation of the comedy chestnut "Pay the Two Dollars". Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer (a teaming which evidently held high hopes for MGM) dance to the tune of "This Heart is Mine." "Number Please" features Keenan Wynn in an appallingly unfunny rendition of an old comedy sketch (performed far better as "Alexander 2222" in Abbott and Costello's Who Done It?) Lena Horne, strategically placed in the film at a juncture that could be edited out in certain racist communities, sings "Love". Red Skelton stars in the film's comedy highlight, "When Television Comes"-which is actually Skelton's classic "Guzzler's Gin" routine (this sequence was filmed late in 1944, just before Red's entry into the armed services). Astaire and Bremer return for a lively rendition of "Limehouse Blues". Judy Garland, lampooning every Hollywood glamour queen known to man, stops the show with "The Interview". Even better is the the historical one-time-only teaming of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in "The Babbitt and the Bromide". The excellence of these sequence compensate for the mediocrity of "The Sweepstakes Ticket", wherein Fanny Brice screams her way through a dull comedy sketch with Hume Cronyn (originally removed from the US prints of Ziegfeld Follies, this sequence was restored for television). Excised from the final release print (pared down to 110 minutes, from a monumental 273 minutes!) was Judy Garland's rendition of "Liza", a duet featuring Garland and Mickey Rooney, and a "Baby Snooks" sketch featuring Fanny Brice, Hanley Stafford and B. S. Pully. A troubled and attenuated production, Ziegfeld Follies proved worth the effort when the film rang up a $2 million profit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, (more)
- 1938
Everybody Sing is an uncertain blend of screwball comedy and standard MGM musical. Reginald Owen plays Hillary Bellaire, patriarch of a looney theatrical family, while Billie Burke co-stars as his overly dramatic actress wife Diana. What story there is gets under way when the Bellaire's daughters Judy (Judy Garland) and Sylvia (Lynne Carver) are expelled from school because Judy insists upon singing Mendelssohn to a "swing" beat. As it turns out, Judy is the most sensible member of the family! In one of her few film appearances, Fanny Brice is rather wasted as a Russian maidservant, though she does get to perform a musical number based on her "Baby Snooks" radio character. Far better served within the film's framework is MGM's resident tenor Allan Jones as the family's chauffeur and Reginald Gardiner as Diana Bellaire's long-suffering stage leading man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allan Jones, Fanny Brice, (more)
In MGM's three-hour-plus The Great Ziegfeld, William Powell stars as the titular theatrical impresario, whose show business empire begins when he stage-manages a tour for legendary strongman Sandow (Nat Pendleton). With nary a penny in the bank, he charms European stage star Anna Held (Luise Rainer) to headline his "Follies", and later marries the luscious Ms. Held. From 1907 onward, Ziegfeld stages annual editions of Broadway's most fabulous revue, dedicated to "Glorifying the American Girl" but also giving ample time to develop the comic talents of Fanny Brice (played by herself), Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor and many others. Eventually, Ziegfeld abandons Ms. Held in favor of other beauties, setting the stage for the "telephone scene" which won Luise Rainer the first of her Oscars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Powell, Myrna Loy, (more)
- 1934
Crime Without Passion is an odd, almost existential murder yarn. Famed attorney Claude Rains, incensed that his mistress (Margo) has been seeing other men, kills the girl--or at least thinks he does. Rains believes he is "above" such irritations as conscience and morality, and calmly arranges to cover his crime, using his knowledge of the law to escape detection. But Rains cannot truly escape from himself, and is cajoled by a surprising turn of events to break down and confess. Crime without Passion was ostensibly directed by Ben Hecht, who cowrote the screenplay with his longtime partner Charles McArthur, but most of the actual direction was the responsibility of cameraman Lee Garmes. Watch for cameo appearances by Fanny Brice, by MacArthur's wife Helen Hayes, and by Hecht and MacArthur themselves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Rains, Margo, (more)
- 1930
The difference between social classes provides the basis for this comedy. The trouble begins when a drunken sot wanders into the fancy home of a woman who is hosting a gala dinner. She had invited 13 guests, and so hired Blankely's, a professional company to send her a sophisticated 14th guest. Naturally she mistakes the drunk for the hired guest and invites him to dine. Mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Loretta Young, (more)
While Barbra Streisand played musical-comedy star Fanny Brice in Funny Girl and Funny Lady, the closest Brice ever came to playing a Streisand-like role on film was in the 1930 comedy-drama Be Yourself. The Rose of Washington Square is cast as Fanny Field, the long-suffering girlfriend of no-account, gin-swilling prizefighter Jerry Moore (Robert Armstrong). After sacrificing everything to advance Jerry's career, Fanny is "repaid" when Jerry dumps her in favor of femme fatale Lillian (Gertrude Astor). Our heroine gets her revenge by telling Jerry's ring opponent to "go after" her man's nose, which was recently reconstructed by plastic surgery. As a result, Jerry loses the bout, but comes to his senses, returning to Fanny for good. Highlights include Brice's takeoff of "Dante's Inferno" and her song solo "Cookin' Breakfast for the One I Love," co-written by her then-husband Billy Rose. Unfortunately, the public didn't respond to Be Yourself, and Fanny Brice never again starred in a film, though she appeared as supporting player and guest performer from time to time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fanny Brice, Robert Armstrong, (more)
- 1929
Apparently, The Night Club was planned as a feature-length adaptation of a popular novel by Katherine Brush. What emerged was a 52-minute crazy quilt, comprised of selected scenes from 24 all-talkie Paramount short subjects, filmed in 1928 by director Robert Florey. This series was intended to spotlight the New York nightclub scene by featuring the biggest "acts" at work before enthusiastic audiences. After a few introductory comments by actor-playwright Donald Ogden Stewart, the film segues into a series of musical specialties, featuring such celebrated performers of the period as Fanny Brice, Anne Pennington, Tamara Geva and Pat Rooney. Also included is a dramatization of the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story "Pusher-in-the-Face," Most critics regarded Night Club as little more than a glorified "trailer," promising much and delivering little. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fanny Brice, Ann Pennington, (more)
- 1928
A largely silent musical, My Man is primarily a showcase for the enormously popular Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice who plays the owner of a costume shop who tries to deal with her free-spirited troublesome sister while simultaneously trying to hang onto her relationship with a homeless physical culture demonstrator. Brice and he decide to marry and as they prepare for their wedding, her sister gets jealous and tries to seduce him. Though the story isn't much, Brice does perform some of her most famous sketches and even sings a couple songs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fanny Brice, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, (more)
