Hello, Dolly! (film)
Hello, Dolly! is a 1969 American musical romantic comedy film based on the 1964 Broadway production of the same name, which was based on Thornton Wilder's play The Matchmaker. Directed by Gene Kelly and written and produced by Ernest Lehman, the film stars Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Danny Lockin, Tommy Tune, Fritz Feld, Marianne McAndrew, E. J. Peaker and Louis Armstrong (whose recording of the title tune had become a number-one single in May 1964).[2] The film follows the story of Dolly Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker who travels to Yonkers, New York in order to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. In doing so, she convinces his niece, his niece's intended and Horace's two clerks to travel to New York.
Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly!
by Michael Stewart
The Matchmaker
by Thornton Wilder
Einen Jux will er sich machen
by Johann Nestroy
A Day Well Spent
by John Oxenford
Ernest Lehman
Jerry Herman (music and lyrics)
Score adaptation:
Lennie Hayton
Lionel Newman
- December 16, 1969
146 minutes
United States
English
$25 million
$26 million (theatrical rental)
Released on December 16, 1969, by 20th Century-Fox, the film won three Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Score of a Musical Picture and Best Sound and was nominated for a further four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Although the film eventually broke even, it was not a commercial success.[3][4]
Plot[edit]
In 1890, all of New York City is excited because the well-known widowed matchmaker Dolly Levi is in town. Dolly is currently seeking a wife for grumpy Horace Vandergelder, the well-known unmarried "half-a-millionaire", but it soon becomes clear that she intends to marry Horace herself. Meanwhile, Ambrose Kemper, a young artist, wants to marry Horace's niece, Ermengarde. However, Horace opposes this, feeling Ambrose cannot provide financial security. Horace, who is the owner of Vandergelder's Hay and Feed, explains to his two clerks, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, that he is going to get married, though what he really wants is a housekeeper. He plans to travel to New York that very day to march in the 14th Street Parade, and also to propose to milliner Irene Molloy, whom he has met through Dolly Levi. Dolly arrives in Yonkers and sends Horace ahead to the city. Before leaving, he tells Cornelius and Barnaby to mind the store.
Cornelius, weary of his dull existence, decides that he and Barnaby need to get out of Yonkers. Dolly overhears, and decides to set them up with Irene Molloy and her shop assistant, Minnie Fay. She also helps Ambrose and Ermengarde, entering them in a dance contest at the very fancy Harmonia Gardens restaurant, which Dolly and her late husband frequented. The entire company takes the train to New York.
In New York, Irene and Minnie open their hat shop for the afternoon. Irene does not love Horace Vandergelder, but knows that the marriage will provide her with financial security and an escape from her boring job. However, Irene hopes to escape her loveless marriage, and plans to try and find real love before the summer is over. Cornelius and Barnaby arrive at the shop and pretend to be rich- Irene seems to take to Cornelius immediately. Horace and Dolly arrive, and Cornelius and Barnaby hide. Minnie screams when she finds Cornelius hiding in an armoire. Horace is about to open the armoire himself, but Dolly "searches" it and pronounces it empty. After hearing Cornelius sneeze, Horace storms out upon realizing there are men hiding in the shop, although he is unaware that they are his clerks. Dolly arranges for Cornelius and Barnaby, who are still pretending to be rich, to take the ladies out to dinner at Harmonia Gardens to make up for their humiliation. Dolly briefly tries to teach Cornelius and Barnaby to dance, which leads to the whole town dancing in the local park.
The clerks and the ladies go to watch the Fourteenth Street Association Parade together. Alone, Dolly asks her first husband Ephram's permission to marry Horace, requesting a sign. She resolves to move on with life. After meeting an old friend, Gussie Granger, on a float in the parade, Dolly catches up with the annoyed Vandergelder as he is marching in the parade. She tells him the heiress Ernestina Simple would be perfect for him and asks him to meet her at Harmonia Gardens that evening.
Cornelius is determined to get a kiss before the night is over. Since the clerks have no money to hire a carriage, they tell the girls that walking to the restaurant is more stylish. In a quiet flat, Dolly prepares for the evening. At the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant, Rudolph, the head waiter, whips his crew into shape for Dolly Levi's return. Horace arrives to meet his date, who is really Dolly's friend Gussie. As it turns out, she is not rich or elegant as Dolly implied, and she soon leaves after being bored by Horace, just as she and Dolly planned.
Cornelius, Barnaby and their dates arrive and are unaware that Horace is also at the restaurant. Dolly makes her triumphant return to the restaurant and is greeted in style by the staff. She sits in the now-empty seat at Horace's table and proceeds to tell him that no matter what he says, she will not marry him. Fearful of being caught, Cornelius confesses to the ladies that he and Barnaby have no money, and Irene, who knew they were pretending all along, offers to pay for the meal. She then realizes that she left her handbag with all her money in it at home. The four try to sneak out during the polka contest, but Horace recognizes them and also spots Ermengarde and Ambrose. In the ensuing confrontation, Vandergelder fires Cornelius and Barnaby, and they are forced to flee as a riot breaks out. Cornelius professes his love for Irene. Horace declares that he would not marry Dolly if she were the last woman in the world. Dolly angrily bids him farewell; while he's bored and lonely, she will be living the high life.
The next morning, back at the hay and feed store, Cornelius and Irene, Barnaby and Minnie, and Ambrose and Ermengarde each come to collect the money Vandergelder owes them. Chastened, he finally admits that he needs Dolly in his life, but she is unsure about the marriage until Ephram sends her a sign. Cornelius becomes Horace's business partner at the store, and Barnaby fills Cornelius' old position. Horace tells Dolly life would be dull without her, and she promises that she will "never go away again".
Release[edit]
U.S. premieres[edit]
The film premiered in New York at Rivoli Theater on December 16, 1969. Production had wrapped more than a year earlier, but release was significantly delayed for contractual reasons.[10] A clause in the 1965 film sale contract specified that the film could not be released until 20 June 1971 or when the show closed on Broadway, whichever came first.[11] In 1969, the show was still running. Eager to release the film to recoup its cost, Fox negotiated and paid an "early release" escape payment to release "Dolly" which cost Fox an estimated $1–2 million.[10] The following day, the film started 45 roadshow engagements around the United States and Canada before opening worldwide on December 18, starting in Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa.[12]
Critical reception[edit]
The film received favorable reviews upon release,[3] but some critics felt it was not a success as a musical, with Kelly and Kidd making little use of the widescreen format of the film. Critic Tom Santopietro described their approach as "shoveling more and more bodies on-screen with no apparent purpose."[13] Vincent Canby in his New York Times review said that the producer and director "merely inflated the faults to elephantine proportions."[14]
In more recent years, Hello, Dolly!'s critical reputation has cooled considerably; as of June 2022, it holds a 45% "Rotten" rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The consensus states: "Though Barbra Streisand charms, she's miscast as the titular middle-aged widow in Gene Kelly's sluggish and over-produced final directorial effort."[15] Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine said of the film: "More infamous for bringing Fox financially to its knees than for being the last major musical directed by Gene Kelly, Hello, Dolly! is one big-assed bull in a china shop. The film cost nearly as much to produce as Cleopatra and made far less at the box office, thus earning the film its reputation as one of Hollywood’s foremost turkeys."[16]
Box office[edit]
The film opened strongly, finishing in third place at the US box office behind On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Easy Rider in its opening week[17] and initially grossed more than The Sound of Music, but lost momentum and became a disappointment at the box office.[3] It grossed $33.2 million at the box office in the United States,[18] earning a theatrical rental (the distributor's share of the box office after deducting the exhibitor's cut)[19][20] of $15.2 million,[21][22] ranking it in the top five highest-grossing films of the 1969–1970 season.[22][23][4] In total, it earned $26 million in theatrical rentals for Fox,[18] against its $25.335 million production budget.[21] Despite performing well at the box office, the losses worsened disastrously. Over the last few decades, however, it has gone substantially into profit due to enormously successful home video sales, starting in 1978 when it went "gold" for vhs/beta sales at a then suggested retail of $69.95 USD. [4]
The soundtrack album's sales also did not live up to expectations, peaking at number 49 on the Billboard chart.[3]