Funny Face

1957

Funny Face

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

88%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 34

81%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 40,807

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Movie Info

This filmed version of the 1927 George Gershwin Broadway musical Funny Face utilizes the play's original star, Fred Astaire, and several of the original tunes, then goes merrily off on its own. Astaire is cast as as fashion photographer Dick Avery (a character based on Richard Avedon, the film's "visual consultant"), who is sent out by his female boss Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) to find a "new face". It doesn't take Dick long to discover Jo (Audrey Hepburn, who does her own singing), an owlish Greenwich Village bookstore clerk. Acting as Pygmalion to Jo's Galatea, Dick whisks the wide-eyed girl off to Paris and transforms her into the fashion world's hottest model. Along the way, he falls in love with Jo, and works overtime to wean her away from such phony-baloney intellectuals as Professor Emile Flostre (Michel Auclair). The Gershwin tunes include the title song, "S'wonderful", "How Long Has This Been Going On" and "He Loves and She Loves"; among the newer numbers is Kay Thompson's energetic opener "Think Pink". For years available only in washed-out, flat prints, Funny Face was eventually restored to its full Technicolor and VistaVision glory. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Cast

Audrey Hepburn
as Jo Stockton
Fred Astaire
as Dick Avery
Kay Thompson
as Maggie Prescott
Robert Flemyng
as Paul Duval
Dovima
as Marion
Virginia Gibson
as Babs
Suzy Parker
as Specialty Dancer
Sunny Harnett
as Specialty Dancer
Sue England
as Laura
Ruta Lee
as Lettie
Alex Gerry
as Dovitch
Iphigenie Castiglioni
as Armande
Jean Del Val
as Hairdresser
Albert D'Arno
as Beautician
Nina Borget
as Assistant Hairdresser
Don Powell
as Specialty Dancer
Marilyn White
as Receptionist
Dorothy Colbert
as Receptionist
Louise Glenn
as Junior Editor
Heather Hopper
as Junior Editor
Cecile Rogers
as Junior Editor
Nancy Kilgas
as Melissa
Emilie Stevens
as Assistant Dance Director
Paul L. Smith
as Steve
Diane Dubois
as Mimi
Karen Lee Scott
as Gigi
Gabriel Curtiz
as Man Next to Hand Stand
Peter Camlin
as Buyer
Elizabeth Slifer
as Mme. La Farge
Donald Lawton
as Airport Clerk
Karine Nordman
as French Girl
Genevieve Aumont
as French Actress
Nesdon Booth
as Southern Man
George Dee
as Seedy Man
Marcel de la Brosse
as Seedy Man
Albert Godderis
as Seedy Man
Diane Du Bois
as Mimi
Jerry Lucas
as Bruiser
Jack Chefe
as Frenchman
Carole Eastman
as Specialty Dancer
Jan Bradley
as Crying Girl
Jerry Chiat
as Man on Head
Claudette Colbert
Elsa Peterson
as Buyer
Fern Barry
as Southern Wife
Michel Auclair
as Prof. Emile Flostre
Adolph Deutsch
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Critic Reviews for Funny Face

All Critics (34) | Top Critics (7)

  • The great photographer Richard Avedon curated the titles and exquisitely coloured stills of Hepburn in the latest collection from Givenchy, and each one is poster-perfect. The plot, such as it is, is full of lighthearted fun.

    Jan 2, 2018 | Full Review…

    Kate Muir

    Times (UK)
    Top Critic

  • If you're prepared to do a bit of revisionist thinking, it all makes sense.

    Feb 28, 2014 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

    Charlotte O'Sullivan

    London Evening Standard
    Top Critic

  • Astaire could still dance up a storm, no doubt about it, and this has its moments.

    Feb 27, 2014 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    Peter Bradshaw

    Guardian
    Top Critic

  • It's an intermittently charming trifle with directorial style to burn in the place of any kind of satisfactory substance.

    Feb 27, 2014 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    David Jenkins

    Little White Lies
    Top Critic

  • Sensation trumps cogitation-unsurprising in a Hollywood production-which doesn't negate the enduring allure of this beautiful bauble.

    Jun 26, 2012 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

    Keith Uhlich

    Time Out
    Top Critic

  • ...can clunk like a tin can in the dryer. But hey, we're talking Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire, so that's some mighty elegant slack we're willing to cut here.

    Feb 2, 2009 | Full Review…

    Mark Bourne

    Film.com
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (34)

Audience Reviews for Funny Face

  • Feb 14, 2015
    The notion that Audrey Hepburn would ever be considered "plain" or "unattractive" is ridiculous, but I don't think it's a movie that ever tries to pass itself off as remotely realistic . . . It's just a fun romantic comedy. The dance sequences are outstanding.
    Alec B Super Reviewer
  • Jun 09, 2011
    It was cute. Audrey Hepburn was adorable and I enjoyed her dancing. Fred Astaire was charming and they had great chemistry together. I know that Audrey was dubbed in "My Fair Lady" but Im not so sure here. Her singing wasn't great. Not terrible, but in reality she shouldnt have been picked for a musical. However, she's a wonderful dancer and the film is worth a watch just for the dance numbers. The songs were catchy. Though, I didnt care much for the dancing that went with some of them. They felt a bit contrived and too "broadway-esque". It was a bit been there and done that. The solo dance numbers by Audrey and Fred were MUCH better. Overall, I enjoyed it. But its not my favourite Audrey film.
    m h Super Reviewer
  • Mar 28, 2011
    I love Audrey Hepburn. I like Fred Astaire. I like director Stanley Donen. I love musicals. I hate "Funny Face." Watching "Funny Face" was like overdosing on sugar. You might be like, 'Steven? How can you hate "Funny Face" and like something like "High School Musical?"' Well, my answer is easy. With a movie like "High School Musical" the songs are helping tell the story and let you connect to the narrative and the characters. (Um, like ANY good musical) The songs in "Funny Face" have so little to do with the overall arc that when they happen (and they happen about every 5 minutes) the entire film has to stop. "Funny Face" seems like it runs 3 hours. Sure, Hepburn and Astaire are likable, like always, but they are really sticking to their wheelhouse here. There is nothing new and everything else is so schmaltzy that it renders the entire thing pat. "Funny Face" is just too silly, too tiresome and too meandering for me to actually enjoy.
    Steven C Super Reviewer
  • Aug 21, 2010
    Great dancing and some iconic songs but not the highlight of either of the two lead's careers. Full review later.
    Thomas B Super Reviewer
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