I LOVE this movie but I HATE these sequences / songs :
Ribbons Down My Back, SO Long Dearie, It Takes A Woman (Matthau's voice makes me vomit)
"In every dimension , there's another YOU!"
I'd cut the waiter's "We're So Excited That Dolly's Coming That Endless Unemotional Dance Interpretation Is Imperative" number by about eight minutes. Just have one damn waiter spin around and sing "Goody!".
It is wretchedly long, as is the whole film. Another nail in the coffin of the studio system this was. Had it been a small intimate musical it might have succeeded.
"Victor, what are we going to do to stop this fiendish tit?"
All I might have done was shorten "Dancing" and "The Waiters Gallop" by a few minutes. I wouldn't touch and of the dialogue scenes.
share Curious that nobody is mentioning the obvious: that forgettable ballad Streisand sings (so forgettable, I can't
even remember the title, much less the lyrics). It was written for the film.
Streisand disowned this film before it was even released, and almost never discusses it. Probably because it's
the only musical she made that she has to "share" with other, talented cast members.
At the time it was released, one of her managers was quoted as saying the fault of the movie lay in giving so much screen
time to the two young couples. Uh, hell-oh? That's how the original play is in "The Matchmaker." I'm sure
Streisand would've loved to sing EVERY song and dominated every scene. But given the success of the both the
straight play and the musical, that wasn't going to happen.
Hi Gbennett - I haven't been around in awhile, glad to see your comment.
The song "Love is Only Love" was first written for MAME, and was cut out of town. Herman repurposed it for DOLLY and added the "Mrs Horace Vandergelder" intro. I thought it was a lovely song - it showed Dolly had genuine feelings for Horace rather than just seeking his $$$
Many, many fans of HD are disappointed by Streisand's attitude. She sees it as "silly" and "I can't believe so many people love it so much". To me, that's sort of a put-down of her fans. She now says she feels she was miscast, but I have to differ. She looked 35ish with the way she was made up, and she played the role to perfection. She got all the mischief, energy, humor, warmth and fun. Maybe she feels this way because she had a difficult time making it and received such a hard time about taking the role.
Much is made that it "bombed". It did not. It was a roaring success *popularity* wise. But so much money was spent on it that it took a looooong time to recoup (unlike STAR and DR DOLITTLE, never came close to recouping). Now it's a cash cow for Fox due to the home video market. And I firmly believe that it's still popular and remembered, and now profitable, because of her.
I love it. It brings me joy :)