Tuesday, June 14, 2011

"Now I'm smooth and snappy"


Here is another Formspring question, this time from Shybiker's Ally!


In the movie "Zelig," Woody Allen inserted himself into past events. If you could do that in real-life, what old movie or historical event would you want to be inserted into?


Great question (and movie recommendation :-))! The first classic film I really fell in love with was the 1962 musical, Gypsy. It stars Natalie Wood as the famous stripper and burlesque performer, Gypsy Rose Lee, with Rosalind Russell as her mother, Rose, and Karl Malden as Rose's boyfriend, Herbie. The musical actually chronicles Gypsy's life before she became famous, and her relationship with her mother. Her mother, "Mama Rose," pushes Gypsy (then known as "Louise") and her younger sister into show business by creating a ridiculous vaudeville act. The film mostly centers on this, runs at about two and a half hours, and does not introduce the burlesque until the last thirty minutes or so. 


I first saw Gypsy when I was 11 or 12, and it stuck with me. I developed an obsession as I learned the songs, and pined for Gypsy's sophistication and glamour. Therefore, of all the classic films I have seen, I would most like to be in Gypsy. First, its time period and genre make it ideal. Since it is a musical, I could express myself by singing and dancing with a 1920s and 1930s theater backdrop. Tulsa, another character who performs in Mama Rose's act, does this. One of my favorite numbers from Gypsy is Tulsa's "All I Need is the Girl." He comes off as so charming, and dances impressive choreography. I could not find the 1962 version on YouTube, but I did find 1993 film version. I have not seen this version, but the scene remains pretty much the same, except with different actors.





Second, as I mentioned before, Natalie Wood's portrayal of Gypsy has always inspired me. I would love to be in this movie and perform a striptease like this number. It looks fun and empowering, though I would probably never do anything similar in real life. This (which is from the 1962 version) is one of my favorite parts of any movie.





Feel free to keep asking me such awesome questions!

~F.

3 comments:

Marie-Louise said...

love the pants in your previous post!

Shybiker said...

Great answer. I'm glad you enjoyed coming up with it.

I love the Natalie Wood version of "Gypsy" and have also seen Bernadette Peters and Patti LuPone do it on Broadway.

emma wallace said...

Ooh! I've actually never seen this movie! Yipes! But I read the summary and I have a tough time imagining Natalie Wood as the "awkward" one. Ha! I think I have a movie night coming up!