I can't believe the lies that some people try to pass off as the truth - the misinformed speculations, and the outright bile.
Robert Swink, the editor of "Funny Girl," went on record about the Georgia James character: “I know the Anne Francis role was cut down terribly,” Swink said. “But Willie Wyler only did it for the sake of the picture. He had final cut. Streisand didn’t.”
Needless to say, only someone with no grasp of the facts would suggest Harry Stradling "replaced" Vilmos Zsigmond as DP on "Funny Girl" - and then erroneously state that he wanted to walk off the picture. The simple fact is Stradling loved working with Streisand and appreciated her interest in cinematography and lighting. The last four films he shot (before his death in 1970) were all Streisand films. And he didn't sign up for them because he was forced to; he did them because he wanted to. And not that it matters, but he got two additional Oscar nominations out of it.
And as you've pointed out, Streisand had nothing to do with Zsigmond getting fired from "Funny Lady" - what's more, he never said she was responsible for it. But he did address the situation, stating he wanted to make sure "Funny Lady" DIDN'T look like "Funny Girl" - he wanted to the film to have a darker tone, more similar to "Cabaret." And that's when he wrote his ticket out of town, because that's just what producer Ray Stark, director Herbert Ross and Columbia executives wanted - that "Funny Lady" should look exactly like "Funny Girl."
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