Funny Face - Definition and Overview

Funny Face is an American musical film released in 1957, based on the 1927 broadway version by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin. It stars Audrey Hepburn as Jo, a shy, bookshop clerk-cum-amateur philosopher, who is discovered by a famous fashion photographer (played by Fred Astaire) and finds herself at a major fashion event in Paris, where romance blossoms. The plot derived from of the film is dramatically different although many of the songs remain. Astaire also appeared as the male lead in the stage version, although as a completely different character. The movie plot is actually adapted from another Broadway musical Wedding Bells by Leonard Gershe

Unlike her later film, My Fair Lady, Hepburn sings in her own voice in this, her first musical. Astaire, meanwhile, was approaching the end of his musicial film career; several songs in the film, including the title song, date back to his earliest musicals in the 1930s. Kay Thompson makes a rare appearance on camera as well.

Astaire's character was loosely based upon the career of Richard Avedon, who provided a number of the photographs seen in the film.

Funny Face was also the name of a television series starring Broadway singer/actress Sandy Duncan, which aired from 1971 to 1972 for two series runs.

External links

• Funny Face on the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050419/)