365+ movies in 365 Days: Day 121 - Funny Face

Five years ago I was pretty much unaware of anything having to do with fashion. My first exposure was The Devil Wears Prada. Then I started watching Project Runway. I started becoming more aware of the history of fashion. I went to the YSL exhibit here at the De Young Museum. I saw a Lifetime movie about Coco Chanel and a documentary about Valentino. In a few years I had developed a basic overview of the history of fashion and the goings on in the world of fashion magazines. I mention all of this because today is the second time in two years I have watched the film Funny Face, starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire, and it is all about the world of fashion photography. The first was at home on DVD and the second was at The Stanford Theatre.

The movie also stars Kay Thompson, in a rare movie role, as Maggie Prescott fashion editor of Quality magazine. In an attempt to have fashion represent both beauty and intellect the photographer, Dick Avery (Astaire) and his models invade a counter-culture bookstore in Greenwich Village where Jo Stockton (Hepburn) works as a clerk. before you can say cheese, Hepburn has been discovered as new look and is whisked off to Paris for a whole new line of couture fashion made just for her and Quality Magazine.

Paris, of course is lovely, and everyone knows that when in Paris romantic complications will ensue. 

These complications are accompanied by some of George and Ira Gershwin's classic songs, including 

"S Wonderful", "Funny Face", "Bonjour, Paris" and "How Long Has This Been Going On" and wonderful Paris landmarks.

Astaire's character is based on famed photographer Richard Avedon and his work is used in the opening credits and in background photos, while Thompson's character is based on real life Vogue editor Diana Vreeland. 

The film has many iconic moments in it. In particular are the classic over-exposed shot of Audrey Hepburn's face that just highlights her facial features and the skinny black pant that Hepburn wears when she performs a Bohemian dance in a cafe. besides dancing Hepburn does all her own singing in the film. 

Astaire also does a classic dance number, this time with an overcoat and an umbrella. 

But both Hepburn and Astaire are upstaged by Thompson when she performs. She opens the film with the wonderful "Think Pink" and then performs a duet with Hepburn and a montage with Hepburn and Astaire.

Astaire and Hepburn are a romantic couple in the movie, but Astaire was 30 years her senior. This type of May/December pairings were standard for Hepburn, who was cast with some of the greatest leading men in movies including, Gregory Peck, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden, Cary Grant, Burt Lancaster, Rex Harrison and Henry Fonda, all of whom ranged from ten to thirty years older than her. George Peppard in Breakfast At Tiffany's was the rare exception. It was not until 1966 when she made How To Steal A Million with Peter O'Toole that she started being cast with leading men that were around the same age as she was.

Sadly some of the technical components of the film don't hold up. There is a photo montage sequence in the middle of the film that looks old fashioned today. During two scenes that take place in a small churchyard it appears as if a filter was placed on the lens to give everything a soft, ethereal effect and it is distracting. Plus the print we saw was a bit faded, or maybe the bulb in the projector was not bright enough, but the film should have been vibrant and it was not.

At The Movie House rating *** 1/2