FUNNY FACE: Centennial Collection (Paramout 1957) Paramount Home Video

Spending time with Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn in Paris is like a holiday through Parisian haute couture. Stanley Donen’s Funny Face (1957) is sumptuous entertainment, a wry musical comedy that also takes its sly poke at the world of fashionista gurus. The film stars the amiable and elegant Fred Astaire as Dick Avery, a photographer working under the iconoclastic goddess-like renaissance of Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson, doing a magnificent lampoon of Helen Gurley Brown) as the publisher of ‘Quality’ Magazine.

Seems ‘Quality’ is in a quandary. They need a fresh new face to launch their spring and summer campaign. But where, oh where to find that new look in a sea of cloned imitations? Well, to Greenwich Village of course, and a beatnik bookstore overseen by Jo Stockton (Audrey Hepburn).

Jo knows as much about fashion as she does of brain surgery. More over, she thinks that ‘style’ is quite ridiculous and beside herself after Avery and Prescott descend on her drab book emporium with a slew of photographers and one hapless super model.

To ease her pain, Dick decides to stay behind after the shoot, empathize with Jo and help clean up the mess he and his crew have made. Instead, Dick discovers what Maggie seems to have overlooked; that the new ‘Quality’ woman has been right under their noses all along. Whisking Jo to Paris, she at first defies Dick and Maggie’s edicts of outward elegance for inward socialism with Professor Flaustra. Gradually, however, the world of fashion’s superficial veneer becomes less so to Jo. She realizes that fashion does indeed serve a fundamental purpose in the world, but more importantly, Joe realizes that she has fallen desperately in love with her mentor – Dick Avery.

Musically speaking, the film is on high ground with Audrey singing in her own voice the poignant, ‘How Long Has This Been Going On.’ Astaire taps the exuberant ‘Let’s Kiss and Make Up.’ Astaire and Audrey do an elegant pas deux to Gershwin’s immortal, ‘S’Wonderful’ and the entire cast gets into the act with ‘Bonjour Paris!’ This reviewer’s personal favorite kicks off the film: Kay Thompson’s acidic and comical ‘Think Pink’ – an ode to the launch of an international fashion craze. As Thompson croons – “Red is dead. Blue is through. Green’s obscene. Brown’s to boo…and there is not the slightest excuse for plum or puce…or chartreuse.”

Immeasurably aided by Paramount’s patented high fidelity widescreen process, VistaVision, and the sumptuous backdrop of Paris at its most photogenic (despite reoccurring inclement weather throughout the shoot), Funny Face emerges as a genuine bauble of high gloss and ultra sheen; a gorgeous musical with much to appreciate and admire throughout.

WHY ISN'T THIS ON BLU-RAY YET?

Paramount re-issued Funny Face less than a year ago in a magnificently restored 50th Anniversary edition. It is this same transfer that greets the viewer of Paramount’s newly reissued Centennial Collection edition.

The anamorphically enhanced VistaVision image positively glows from corner to corner. Colors are bold and vibrant. Contrast levels are bang on. Fine details are evident throughout and age related artifacts are practically non-existent. The audio has been repurposed to 5.1 and seems surprisingly crisp. The film’s original mono mix is also included for purists.

Extras have been fleshed out on the Centennial Edition. All of the featurettes on the 50th Anniversary disc have been imported herein. These include Parisian Dreams, Paramount in the ‘50s and The Fashion Designer and His Muse. To these are added a fascinating, if brief, retrospective on Kay Thompson’s life, a featurette on the art and craft of fashion photographers, and finally, a very brief retrospective on Paramount’s VistaVision process with limited clips.

“On how to be lovely…” this DVD comes highly recommended but it will be interesting to wait and see what the future holds for the Centennial Collection. May we be so bold as to suggest newly restored and extra packed editions of The Greatest Show On Earth, The Ten Commandments, White Christmas, Artists and Models, The Great Gatsby, The Carpetbaggers, The Court Jester and Rosemary’s Baby to name but a handful?

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
4

VIDEO/AUDIO
4.5

EXTRAS
3.5