Funny Face (DVD)

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The musical portions of the movie include dance numbers choreographed by Fred Astaire and Eugene Loring, plus the songs "How Long Has This Been Going On?," "Funny Face," "Bonjour, Paris!," "He Love and She Loves," "On How to be Lovely," "Basal Metabolism," "Clap Yo' Hands," "Let's Kiss and Make Up," and "'S Wonderful." Along with the scenery, they are the film's primary attractions. If you don't care for music or dance, this probably isn't the movie for you.

What's more, the Academy nominated the film for four Oscars: Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and Best Writing. "Funny Face" is as cute, sweet, humorous, romantic, and colorful as they come. But you knew this. How could a movie directed by Stanley Donen ("On the Town," "Singin' in the Rain," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "Kismet," "Damn Yankees," "Charade") be anything less?

Video:
The Paramount video engineers provide a high-bit-rate, anamorphic widescreen transfer for the 1.85:1 VistaVision production. The Technicolor comes up well, very bright (maybe too bright for real life but just right for musical comedy) and rich. Contrasts are strong, black levels are deep, and detailing is excellent. Moreover, the screen is remarkably clean, free of almost all age marks, with only a natural film grain to remind one of its photographic origins. About the only minor distraction is that if you inspect the picture too closely, you'll see that the engineers applied a little too much edge enhancement to achieve their desired effect, with obvious haloing around many of the images. However, from a normal viewing distance (no matter what size your screen), one cannot really notice the issue much.

Audio:
The disc includes the film's original monaural soundtrack and a newer Dolby Digital 5.1 remix. The 5.1 displays a good front-channel stereo spread, but it's also rather forward and edgy, occasionally even nasal. There is very limited surround activity except for a touch--a very small touch--of musical ambience bloom, and both the frequency response and the dynamic range sound restricted. So, while the video quality looks as good as almost anything made today (EE excepted), the audio shows its years compared to today's state-of-the-art sonics.

Extras:
Disc one of this two-disc Centennial Collection edition contains the feature film, along with nineteen scene selections and English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles.

Disc two contains a number of peripheral items relating to the movie. First up is "Kay Thompson: Think Pink," a twenty-six-minute biography of the entertainer who co-stars in the film. Next is "This Is VistaVision," twenty-four minutes on Paramount's widescreen process. After that is "Fashion Photographers Exposed," eighteen minutes on the photographer's art; then "The Fashion Designer and His Muse," eight minutes on the working relationship between Audrey Hepburn and designer Hubert de Givenchy; followed by "Parisian Dreams," seven minutes on the myth of Paris as the romance capital of the world; and "Paramount in the '50s," nine minutes on the studio's movies of the decade. Things finish up with an original widescreen theatrical trailer and galleries of production, movie, and publicity stills.

Because this is a prestige Centennial Collection release, Paramount also provide an illustrated booklet insert and a stunningly beautiful slipcover for the double slim-line keep case.

Parting Thoughts:
"Funny Face" may not be the most sparkling, the most original, or the most romantic of Hollywood musical comedies, but it's close enough to remain reasonably effervescent after all these years, and it's hard to resist Hepburn and Astaire in the leads or Gershwin's music playing second fiddle. Still fun stuff.

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