{"id":24448,"date":"2026-09-14T14:28:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T18:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=24448"},"modified":"2026-09-14T15:08:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T19:08:52","slug":"funny-lady-1975","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=24448","title":{"rendered":"Funny Lady-1975"},"content":{"rendered":"

Funny Lady-1975<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Herbert Ross<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Barbra Streisand, James Caan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #1,550<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed September 14, 2026<\/p>\n

Grade: B-<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 1968 film version of Funny Girl starring Barbra Streisand is such a joy to watch time and time again that I should have known a sequel would inevitably disappoint.<\/p>\n

Especially since I had never even heard of the sequel.<\/p>\n

But that’s exactly what the 1975 film Funny Lady, with a cutesy title to drum up interest, ultimately does.<\/p>\n

It’s a letdown in the highest regard, except for a few choice musical numbers and maybe the costume design.<\/p>\n

‘How Lucky Can You Get’ is the prime standout. This powerful anthem is the centerpiece of the movie’s score and allows Streisand to belt it out.<\/p>\n

It also shows the most emotion.<\/p>\n

Second in line, ‘More Than You Know’ is a lush, beautiful, and deeply emotional ballad delivered with Streisand’s trademark vocal control.<\/p>\n

Barbra being Barbra, she does what she can vocally, of course, but the thin script and jarring miscast make for a dull, uneven film experience.<\/p>\n

Set in the 1930s, Fanny Brice (Streisand) is now a huge Broadway star whose fortunes, like everyone else’s, have taken a hit from the Great Depression that ravaged the United States.<\/p>\n

After a whirlwind romance that finds the couple frequently sparring, Fanny unconvincingly marries songwriter Billy Rose (James Caan), and the two agree to collaborate on a show.<\/p>\n

Despite the show’s early flops and errors, Fanny eventually makes it a success, but the sudden pressures of fame put a strain on her marriage.<\/p>\n

Events spiral when Fanny’s ex-husband, Nick (Omar Sharif), resurfaces and she realizes she still has strong feelings for him.<\/p>\n

The biggest problem is casting the leading man, Billy Rose. The character is supposed to be short, disheveled, unattractive, and awkward.<\/p>\n

Supposedly, still in love with Nick, Fanny more or less ‘settles’ for Billy.<\/p>\n

James Caan, especially in 1975, coming off a roaring success and career-defining role as the sexy, charismatically aggressive Sonny in The Godfather (1972), has none of Billy Rose’s traits.<\/p>\n

Quite the contrary.<\/p>\n

Tall, good-looking, with chiseled features, he’s the furthest thing from awkward.<\/p>\n

To make matters worse, Caan and Streisand have no chemistry.<\/p>\n

Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, or Robert Blake would have been dynamic casting, and Pacino and Blake were even seriously considered.<\/p>\n

When later questioned about the casting decision, Streisand revealed that it came down to who the audience would want to see her kiss.<\/p>\n

Maybe it’s Caan, but the decision all but ruins the movie.<\/p>\n

The banter and romantic sequences come across as boring, tedious, and therefore unfulfilling.<\/p>\n

Other irritants like a throwaway role given to Roddy McDowall don’t help the finished product. As Fanny’s gay friend, Bobby Moore is reduced to serving her hot tea and occasionally walking into a scene to see what troubles Miss Fanny.<\/p>\n

Granted, it’s the 1930s; his sexuality is only suggested and never clearly stated, but we know almost nothing beyond that of his character’s thoughts and feelings.<\/p>\n

A slyly suggested dalliance with another male character would have been nice.<\/p>\n

Soon-to-be star Ben Vereen is given essentially nothing to do but dance a bit, yet was laughably given a Golden Globe nomination for Best New Star.<\/p>\n

Obviously, they cut scenes, leaving gaping continuity holes.<\/p>\n

Despite the limited chemistry, Streisand and Caan do their best to create tense-filled scenes, but the bickering is overdone. It feels more like they really can’t stand each other than a lovers’ disagreement.<\/p>\n

I couldn’t shake my perception of Caan as Sonny from The Godfather, which was more than a little distracting. When Nick returns to the scene, I half-expected Billy to have the poor guy whacked or make him an ‘offer he couldn’t refuse’.<\/p>\n

I knew I was supposed to be rooting for Fanny and Billy, but instead I championed a Nick and Fanny reunion during one of their limited scenes.<\/p>\n

Which begs the question: why did Omar Sharif have barely more than a cameo’s worth of scenes? Surely, a quality romantic triangle would have held more interest.<\/p>\n

Despite all the missteps, the musical numbers are the film’s highlight, and if there’s any reason to tune in, that’s it.<\/p>\n

For theater fans, enough gorgeous costumes and dance numbers amid the melodrama keep things interesting, too.<\/p>\n

With terrible casting and a marginally digestible script, the recommendation is to skip Funny Lady (1975) altogether and instead dust off Funny Girl (1968) every year or so and pretend this movie was never made.<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations:\u00a0<\/strong>Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, “How Lucky Can You Get”, Best Sound<\/p>\n

Golden Globe Nominations:\u00a0<\/strong>Best Picture- Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical, Best Actor- Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical-James Caan, Best Actress- Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical-Barbra Streisand, Best Original Score, Best Original Song- “How Lucky Can You Get”, New Star of the Year-Actor-Ben Vereen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Funny Lady-1975 Director Herbert Ross Starring Barbra Streisand, James Caan Scott’s Review #1,550 Reviewed September 14, 2026 Grade: B- The 1968 film version of Funny Girl starring Barbra Streisand is such a joy to watch time and time again that I should have known a sequel would inevitably disappoint. Especially since I had never even … Continue reading Funny Lady-1975<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,158,49,192,47,396,188],"tags":[820,12645,12646,6848,980,12474,701,826],"class_list":["post-24448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1975-films","category-bios","category-comedies","category-dramas","category-musicals","category-musical-comedy","category-musicdramas","tag-barbra-streisand","tag-ben-vereen","tag-carole-wells","tag-herbert-ross","tag-james-caan","tag-larry-gates","tag-omar-sharif","tag-roddy-mcdowall"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24448"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24485,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24448\/revisions\/24485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}