Gypsy
Original poster
Directed by	Mervyn LeRoy
Produced by	Mervyn LeRoy
Written by	Leonard Spigelgass Based on the stage musical by Arthur Laurents and a memoir by Gypsy Rose Lee
Starring	Rosalind Russell Natalie Wood Karl Malden
Music by	Jule Styne
Cinematography	Harry Stradling
Editing by	Philip W. Anderson
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	November 1, 1962
Running time	143 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Gypsy is a 1962 American musical film produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Leonard Spigelgass is based on the book of the 1959 stage musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable by Arthur Laurents, which was adapted from Gypsy: A Memoir by Gypsy Rose Lee.

Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics for songs composed by Jule Styne.

The film was remade for television in 1993.

[edit] Plot

Determined to make her young, blonde, and beautiful daughter June a vaudeville headliner, willful, resourceful, domineering stage mother Rose Hovick will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. She drags the girl and her shy, awkward, and decidedly less-talented older sister Louise around the country in an effort to get them noticed, and with the assistance of agent Herbie Sommers, she manages to secure them bookings on the prestigious Orpheum Circuit.

Rosalind Russell in a scene from the film

Years pass, and the girls no longer are young enough to pull off the childlike personae their mother insists they continue to project. June rebels and elopes with Tulsa, one of the dancers who backs the act. Devastated by what she considers an act of betrayal, Rose pours all her energies into making a success of Louise, despite the young woman's obvious lack of singing and dancing skills. Not helping matters is the increasing popularity of sound films, which leads to a decline in the demand for stage entertainment. With bookings scarce, mother and daughter find themselves in Wichita, Kansas, where the owner of a third-rate burlesque house offers Louise a job.

When one of the strippers is arrested for shoplifting, Louise unwillingly becomes her replacement. At first her voice is shaky and her moves tentative at best, but as audiences respond to her she begins to gain confidence in herself. She blossoms as an entertainer billed as Gypsy Rose Lee, and eventually reaches a point where she tires of her mother's constant interference in both her life and wildly successful career. Louise confronts Rose and demands she leave her alone. Finally aware she has spent her life enslaved by a desperate need to be noticed, an angry, bitter, and bewildered Rose stumbles onto the empty stage of the deserted theater and experiences a moment of truth that leads to an emotional breakdown followed by a reconciliation with Louise.

[edit] Production

The Broadway production of Gypsy had been a triumph for leading lady Ethel Merman. Throughout its 702-performance run, Mervyn LeRoy saw it numerous times, and he repeatedly assured Merman he planned to cast her in the film adaptation he was preparing. Shortly prior to the show's closing, however, it was announced Rosalind Russell had been signed to star instead. Russell's husband, theatre producer Frederick Brisson, had sold the screen rights to the Leonard Spigelgass play A Majority of One to Warner Bros. with the stipulation his wife star in both films. Because Russell was still a box office draw and Merman never had established herself as a popular screen presence, the studio agreed to Brisson's terms. Merman was devastated at this turn of events and called the loss of the role "the greatest professional disappointment of her life," and that the film eventually received mostly mediocre reviews was of little comfort to her. ^[1]

Although Russell had starred in the 1953 stage musical Wonderful Town, she was not capable of handling many of the songs in the Gypsy score. Her own gravelly singing voice was blended with that of contralto Lisa Kirk, and the result made the character of Rose sound like she had a split personality. ^[1] In later years, Russell's original vocals were rediscovered on scratchy acetate discs and included as bonus tracks on the CD reissue of the film's soundtrack. ^[2]

Marni Nixon had dubbed Natalie Wood's singing voice in West Side Story the previous year, but because the character of Louise is not supposed to be an outstanding vocalist, Wood was allowed to sing her songs in Gypsy, with the exception of a few high notes dubbed by Nixon. ^[3]

[edit] Cast

• Rosalind Russell ..... Rose Hovick
• Natalie Wood ..... Louise Hovick
• Karl Malden ..... Herbie Sommers
• Paul Wallace ..... Tulsa
• Suzanne Cupito ..... Baby June
• Ann Jillian ..... Dainty June
• Diane Pace ..... Baby Louise
• Betty Bruce ..... Tessie Tura
• Faith Dane ..... Mazeppa
• Roxanne Arlen ..... Electra

[edit] Song list

• Small World ... Rose
• Some People ... Rose
• Baby June and Her Newsboys ... Baby June and Chorus
• Mr. Goldstone, I Love You ... Rose
• Little Lamb ... Louise
• You'll Never Get Away From Me ... Rose and Herbie
• Dainty June and Her Farmboys ... Dainty June and Chorus
• If Mama Was Married ... June and Louise
• All I Need Is the Girl ... Tulsa
• Everything's Coming Up Roses ... Rose
• Together Wherever We Go ... Rose, Herbie, and Louise
• You Gotta Have A Gimmick ... Tessie Tura, Mazeppa, and Electra
• Let Me Entertain You ... Louise
• Rose's Turn ... Rose

"Together Wherever We Go" was deleted prior to the film's release, although it was included on the soundtrack album, and "You'll Never Get Away From Me" was abbreviated to a solo for Rose following the initial run. In the DVD release of the film, both numbers - taken from a 16-millimeter print of inferior quality - are included as bonus features. ^[4]

[edit] Critical reception

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times observed, "That tornado of a stage mother that Ethel Merman portrayed on Broadway in the musical comedy Gypsy comes out little more than a big wind in the portrayal that Rosalind Russell gives her in the transfer of the comedy to the screen. For all Miss Russell's exertions, for all her pumping on the bellows of Auntie Mame and forcing as much air into her singing as her rusty vocal chords will bear, she misses the Merman magic and magnificence in the mama role that is still the big thing in the movie . . . And that's the misfortune of this picture, because the mama role desperately needs power and a great deal of personal magnetism to make it sufferable . . . No, it takes a lot of magic to make this old biddy bearable, and Miss Russell doesn't have it for us." He thought Natalie Wood "actually makes something stalwart and inspiring of the limpid little thing who has played a decided second fiddle to her mother's favorite in the early scenes. And, except towards the end, when she affects a bit of a Gallic air, Miss Wood puts solidity and sparkle into the ratty goings on." He added, "Karl Malden is also solid and agreeable all the way through" and concluded, "Of course, there's a lot of production, a lot of studio backstage atmosphere and the usual sentimental touches in this inevitably widescreened color film. It follows a standard pattern just as surely as a hound follows its nose. But it doesn't come up with roses. It comes up with a tomato plant loaded with ripe fruit." ^[5]

Variety noted, "There is a wonderfully funny sequence involving three nails-hard strippers which comes when Gypsy has been unreeling about an hour. The sequence is thoroughly welcome and almost desperately needed to counteract a certain Jane One-Note implicit in the tale of a stage mother whose egotisms become something of a bore despite the canny skills of director-producer Mervyn LeRoy to contrive it otherwise. Rosalind Russell's performance as the smalltime brood-hen deserves commendation . . . It is interesting to watch [Natalie Wood] . . . go through the motions in a burlesque world that is prettied up in soft-focus and a kind of phony innocence. Any resemblance of the art of strip, and its setting, to reality is, in this film, purely fleeting." ^[6]

Time Out London called the film "blowsy" and "miscast" and added, "Russell is horrendous." ^[7]

[edit] Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Cinematography (Harry Stradling), Best Costume Design (Orry-Kelly), and Best Music Adaptation or Treatment (Frank Perkins).

Rosalind Russell won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, her second consecutive win in this category; she won the the previous year for A Majority of One. Additional nominations included Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Director, Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Natalie Wood), Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Karl Malden), and New Star of the Year – Actor (Paul Wallace).

Leonard Spigelgass was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Musical.

[edit] DVD release

Warner Home Video released the Region 1 DVD on May 2, 2000. The film is in anamorphic widescreen format with an audio track in English and subtitles in English and French.

The Region 2 DVD was released on December 6, 2006. The film is in fullscreen format with audio tracks in French and English and subtitles in French.

Gypsy is one of six films included in the box set The Natalie Wood Collection released on February 3, 2009.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Gypsy (1962 film) at the Internet Movie Database
• Gypsy at Allmovie