Skip to main content

Hello, Holly! (1969)

Friday, February 6, 2009

Hello, Dolly!. Feature film. (1969, 146 mins) IMDB

...One of the last big Hollywood musicals ever produced....

H

ello, Dolly! has to be one of the last monster musicals made in Hollywood. I don't know what the budget was, but bigger than large is probably a good starting point. The cast is enormous and since it's a period piece, the costumes were many and varied and expensive. Then the sets. Some on location, with construction to fit the times, but in addition massive sound stage sets and backlot sets. It's miracle this film was made at all and it looks good, no great, but that's probably the best you can say about this film.

Walter Mathau fits the bill as a cranky bachelor, but he can't sing or dance and, guess what, it's sort of important in a musical.

Of course Streisand can sing, we all know that, but there aren't many songs worth the effort. There really is only one memorable song in the movie, the title song and it's not associated with Streisand. That would be Louis Armstrong. They bring him in but only give him only a minute of screen time. That makes no sense.

Michael Crawford can do it all, but his voice didn't sound right in this film.

And I'm sorry, but Tommy Tune looked lanky and out of place. He looked like sticks moving. Long, long sticks.

A Hollywood musical is a love story where the plot takes us from one action sequence (i.e., song and dance) to the next. It ends with the biggest production piece that blows the top off. The biggest set-piece occurs in a restaurant before Act III. The ending seemed week and low-budget compared to what transpired before. I know they didn't shot it in sequence, but it was almost as if they ran out money when it came time to shot Act III.

There is a love story narrative to this film. Dolly is Mrs. Levi, a matchmaker and widow. She's trying to set up Mathau, a wealthy businessman with some wealthy woman, but it hasn't worked out too well. Mahtau has a niece who wants to marry Ambrose, the local artist. The uncle thinks he's a fool and bum and not worthy of his niece, but she's in love.

Mathau has two clerks working in his store. Cornelius and Barnaby. Both are young, naive etc. They take a trip to NYC from Yonkers just to kiss a girl for the first times in their lives.

Need I say they all end up marching into a church for a wedding? I didn't think so.

Posted 2009/02/06 at 10h39ET in Movie Commentary.

Labels:
Reactions:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 5: Writing a Novel—The Deep Blue Hold

Monday, November 21st, 2016 No work on the novel on Day 4. Note: Unedited writings from my notebook for this novel. Square bracket items represent added comments.
At 18:31—Office ... if I use Leänne instead of Leanne how will people react... Y esterday was Sunday and I took it off, plus I was dealing with some mental health issues. I know this story is something that is simply a matter of putting in the time to make it happen. I’m supposed to be working on it as much as I can but I haven’t been doing that. Two main reasons. It’s been a while since I’ve worked on a story. Then there’s the issues of my mental health. Things happen. I get down and it impacts on my writing. I might be using it as an excuse, but it’s clearly something I need to deal with. I have to find a schedule I can work with. Perhaps I need to put this first and cut out other things. Not sure but I will figure it out. A name for the hero came to me. For the moment going with Leanne or is it Leanna? Should be Le…
Post a Comment
Read more

Writing a Novel: The Deep Blue Hold–Introduction

Thursday, March 9th, 2017 ... I fight my insecurities and doubts and I withdraw farther away from people and life ... I n November 2016 I started work on a new novel with the working title: The Deep Blue Cage. A few weeks after I started, I stopped. I was feeling too depressed about everything including the idea of writing a new novel. It happens to me at various times, with varying degrees, and it is debilitating. The ultimate issue was: Why bother? Why bother write another novel no one will read and no one will care about. I also found I was dreading the writing process more and more. It was painful to think about. I walked away and focused on other things. Or tried to. That didn’t work either. I felt trapped and unsure where I should head, what I should do. I even asked the big question, what the hell is life about anyway. There’s no one answer to this question despite the proclamations of some and because I believe I can think critically, can reason, I look at it from many a…
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 6: Writing a Novel—The Deep Blue Hold

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2016 Note: Unedited writings from my notebook for this novel. Square bracket items represent added comments.
At 20:44—Office ... Lost at sea, she's rescued by a ship and wished she had never set foot on it.... N othing new on this story. Nothing came to me while I was sleeping or when on my errands. I thought something would come about, but nope. So be it. I have two chapters written. Not sure if they are any good but they are there. And so Chp. 3 to write. And I don’t see the scene because I’m not sure what should happen. The question is what is the cliffhanger. Nope. 3 about her, not the ship and crew. And I’ve already written the last line of the chapter. She wakes up and feels immense pain. Not sure if I should mention blood in the water. This chapter or the following. So it’s early dawn or not quite sunrise. And she’s in the cockpit unconscious. But how do I write it from her POV if she’s out. Hmmm. I can do it but should I do it? And I don’t w…
Post a Comment
Read more