The amazing Ben Vereen and some amazingly questionable Ray Aghayan & Bob Mackie costumes. I'm not sure they're defensible even in period terms. They did receive an Oscar nomination, but let's chalk that up to the drugs.
Decades later, Funny Lady proves a surprisingly palatable watch, but the one time the film just explodes into life is during these three indelible minutes.
I saw the movie only once when it came out, but this was the only scene I have remembered. And it's as good (even with the questionable costume) as I remembered. Thank you for posting it.
Amazing Ben Vereen totally takes my breath away in this performance. His body dance pose at the beginning of this clip echoes a poster by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec -- Vereen brings the "negro jazz" of the 1920's to life.
OMG, thanks so much for posting! Agree with all previous comments: over-the-top Ben Vereen performance (even if tightly edited). I found first half of film entertaining (Streisand's, "I've Got a Code in By Dose"), but the second half a REAL yawner!
I totally agree. I saw it a local theater when first released with a friend who was a big Babs Streisand fan. The movie only comes alive during the musical numbers. I have NEVER seen it shown on TV.
I had to watch it twice to see what the 'questionable' costumes were, mentioned above. Even when this was made, that was awful! Good thing Ben Vereen's exceptional talents made you pay more attention to song and dance, and not to what they were wearing.
I decided to watch "Funny Lady" late one sleepless night. When I saw this scene I was stunned, not so much by the dancing, which was undoubetedly amazing, but by the costume. Why on earth, even in 1975, would a costume designer think it was ok to dress him up as a watermellon? This isn't just "questionable" it's disgusting. How Ray Aghayan & Bob Mackie could think this was appropriate is unimaginable. I know the setting was in the 30"s, but that costume was still not necessary and I found it really offensive.
You speak the truth, Kemo Sabe ! This was a dismal sequel to "Funny Girl". The only redeeming factors are the musical numbers and in my opinion, this is the BEST one ! Bless Ben Vereen !! :-)
This was to have been a show stopper dance sequence for Mr. Vereen. What you see in the final cut in Funny Lady is a sassy number dressed in garish costumes and stage design featuring Mr? Vereen's exceptional rug cutting via a very uneven, over edited and ultimately unsatisifying celluloid sequence. Leaves a person wondering what the hell was really going on during this number's filming and post production back in 1975.
I love this number with Ben Vareen. Evidently, much of Vareen's footage from this film were cut and the final cut of Clap Hands is uneven and too edited. With that said Vareen's dancing is fantastic. I think Funny Lady production wound up unfocused and too bloated and the final editing was noteven production
I have a notion to second that emotion. This sequel to "Funny Girl" is not a particularly good film. Weak script and not much chemistry tween the two leads (Streisand and James Caan). Best parts are the musical numbers and this is my favorite one. Ben's dancing & delivery always "make my day" !!
