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Editorial Reviews
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They just don't make musicals like this any more. There are some who would be grateful for that--the plot is but a flimsy excuse to string together song and dance numbers. Some of us, however, love big, splashy, overdone musical scenes, of which there are many. Glittering stage numbers showcase a commanding Barbra Streisand as Dolly Levy, a New York matchmaker who can find a mate for anyone. Anyone but herself, that is. Determined to marry wealthy Walter Matthau, she lures him out of Yonkers and sets about wooing him.
Don't worry about the lack of a solid story or Gene Kelly's pedestrian direction. Watch instead for the musical numbers and the lavish costumes. Listen to Jerry Herman's score, and dance around the living room when a sequined Streisand arrives in a club as Louis Armstrong strikes up the title tune for her benefit. (Just pull the shades first.) Based on Thornton Wilder's play The Matchmaker, Hello, Dolly! won Academy Awards for best sound, art direction, and musical score. --Rochelle O'Gorman
Customer Reviews
Elephantitis (2004-07-06)  Thornton Wilder's modest little play "The Matchmaker" has been blown up as big as a zeppelin in this out-of-control Streisand vehicle. A couple of songs had been added in the original musical conversion of the play on Broadway but this Hollywood monstrosity was never on Wilder's drawing board. The play had in fact been filmed ten years earlier with Shirley Booth, Paul Ford, Anthony Perkins and Shirley MacLaine in the leads. They should have left it at that. The original point of the story of the middle-aged Dolly Levi's pursuit of Horace Vander Geller is swallowed up here by the vast sets (the New York street set was one of the largest ever constructed and was forbidden to Paul Newman for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" for fear "Butch" would reach the theaters before "Dolly") and interminable and generally idiotic production numbers. This must be some of the worst dancing ever filmed. Hard to believe a couple of Hollywood veterans like Gene Kelly and Ernest Lehman rode herd on this fiasco.
"Hello, Dolly!" (2004-07-02)  Mrs. Dolly Levi is inarguably the most endearing film character I have ever encountered. She is beautiful, fashionable, clever, and humorous. One cannot help but wish that Dolly actually existed. Indoubtedly, I cannot imagine anyone other than Barbra Streisand playing the part of Dolly. Her stunning voice and captivating performance make "Hello, Dolly!" a truly wonderful movie.Besides Streisand's amazing performance, this movie includes some wonderful songs and exciting dancing scenes. However, the dancing scenes do become a bit tedious and long.What is "Hello, Dolly!" all about? It is the story of a widow who arranges an unimaginable amount of events and places. She assists a couple's elopement, two friends' trip to New York City, and a bored man's romance.This film features other loveable characters, too, such as a head waiter in a posh restaurant, an orchestra conductor at the same restaurant, and a hatmaker who desires to be "evil."I would highly recommend this romantic comedy to anyone. Although the dance and song scenes are too long, watch the complete movie. Streisand's performance is extremely wonderful and endearing.
Tune Vs Crawford: Palpable Onscreen Tension (2004-06-29)  The tension that erupted between Tommy Tune and Michael Crawford whenever they were onscreen together in this fine film was delightfully electric. Their intramural competition propagated palpable intensity not really visible or audible (they had no exchange of dialogue) -- it was more a matter of pride between two spunky bachelors, a jousting of the male wills: Tune's learned dance talent meets Crawford's raw dance energy. Both portraying young men pursuing women in the movie, their performances conveyed much more deep and lusty a purpose between them, a cocksure attitude of stretched wide smiles and leggy high-hop dancing, a genuine duel of actors in their prime. Don't miss this one because, despite their competition, both Crawford and Tune emerged victorious and grand.
The Last of the Great Movie Musicals (2004-06-29) By Streisand's own admission, she was too young in 1967 to have made a movie about an middle-aged woman making a personal "comeback"... and we all know how wonderfully different and marvelous the film would have been with Carol Channing... however, this does not take away from the fact that this is an incredible, lush, entertaining and musically rich film. The transfer to DVD is superb and crystal clear in picture and sound. The widescreen is anamorphic and color corrected. The only drawback is Walter Matteau's typical characterization which often detracts from the scenes he appears in, and his song "It takes a woman" is only saved by the beautiful setting and the male singers and dancers that accompany him. His voice really should have been dubbed by someone who could sing. Not to worry, Marianne McAndrew (who is stunningly beautiful) is a treasure in this film.... and her songs are wonderful (not sure if that is really hear voice, but its terrific). The sets are incredible and who wouldn't give anything to dine and dance at the Harmonia Gardens? The set designs, art direction, cinematography and costumes are exquisite.
"I think he's been holdin' out on us." (2004-04-05) I would give this film two-and-a-half stars. This mega-expensive film adaptation of the enormously popular Broadway musical really intended to give it's audience a terrific time at the movies. Unfortunately, despite all of the ridiculously inflated production values and self-conscious grander, HELLO DOLLY remains a frustrating disappointment at best. There are occasional moments where the film does sparks to life, but sadly these scenes are few and far between. Part of the problem may actually be the original play on which the film is based, which, despite it's massive popularity, was pretty slight entertainment to begin with. Though the film was actually the fifth-highest grossing film of 1969, it was still unable to recover it's tremendous budget, and was viewed as a flop by the majority of the public. Of course, many people criticize the casting of the then-27-year-old Barbra Streisand as the widowed Dolly Levi, but her energetic and surprisingly layered performance is really the sole reason anyone even remembers this movie today. Walter Mathau is exceptable romantic foil, even though he and Streisand generate zero chemistry. The film wastes far too much screentime on Michael Crawford and Danny Loklin, who attempt to be a poor man's Laurel and Hardy, but really just wind up grating the nerves. And not only is poor Melanie McAndrew's singing absolutely dreadful, but this "young woman" actually looks older and more matronly than Streisand's supposedly middle-aged Dolly! Legendary actor/dancer Gene Kelly seems to be a bit lost in this, one of his later directorial efforts. Despite all the attempts the set designers and cinematographer have made to dazzle viewers with the sheer scope of the production design, Kelly's direction is oddly flat and uninspired - which leaves the movie with the feel of filmed theater production, rather than that of a full-fledged motion picture. This problem filters out to other aspects of the film, even the busy choreography - which involves some very difficult steps - comes off as more boring rather than exhilarating. That said, this overlong, underdeveloped film is watchable, but that's about all it is. About the DVD: While the film itself may be mediocre, the DVD transfer is phenomenal - vivid colors, razor-sharp details, and virtually no edge enhancement. The sound is also excellent, and although there aren't any newly-produced features, the trailer and featurette are nice additions.
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