In 1890, matchmaker Dolly Levi (Barbra Streisand) leaves New York City for Yonkers to set up a successful, grumpy businessman (Walter Matthau) with a future wife… but love is a complicated thing. The Broadway musical became an opportunity for Gene Kelly to make a colorful, expensive Hollywood blockbuster in an era when its kind were going out of style – this one has everything money can buy except perhaps genuine heart. The glitzy details of the sets and costumes are impressive; the music engaging but lacks variation. Streisand and Matthau both deliver terrific performances in the leads.
1969-U.S. 146 min. Color. Produced and written by Ernest Lehman. Directed by Gene Kelly. Book: Michael Stewart. Songs: Jerry Herman (“Hello, Dolly!”, “It Takes a Woman”). Art Direction: Herman A. Blumenthal, Jack Martin Smith. Cast: Barbra Streisand (Dolly Levi), Walter Matthau (Horace Vandergelder), Michael Crawford (Cornelius Hackl), E.J. Peaker, Marianne McAndrew, Tommy Tune… Louis Armstrong.
Trivia: Ann-Margret was allegedly considered for a role; Elizabeth Taylor, Doris Day and Shirley MacLaine as Dolly. Alternative version runs 118 min.
Oscars: Best Score of a Musical Picture, Art Direction-Set Decoration, Sound.
