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Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:15
Fresh:7
Rotten:8
Average Rating:5.7/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 26 mins
Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
Synopsis: In early-20th-century Yonkers, a wealthy local merchant, Horace Vandergelder (played by Walter Matthau), hires matchmaker Dolly Levi (Barbra Streisand) to find a mate for him--but instead she... In early-20th-century Yonkers, a wealthy local merchant, Horace Vandergelder (played by Walter Matthau), hires matchmaker Dolly Levi (Barbra Streisand) to find a mate for him--but instead she decides to win him over for herself. His life is further complicated by his young niece, Ermengarde, who is determined to wed an artist Horace finds entirely unsuitable, and by his two hapless employees, who against Horace's wishes leave work to venture into New York so each can kiss a girl. Miserly, curmudgeonly, irascible Horace finds that matters have gotten completely out of his control--and the only person who seems to know exactly what is going on is the widowed Dolly Levi. The film is based on a succession of source material, beginning with the 1835 British play A DAY WELL SPENT by John Oxenford, Thornton Wilder's 1938 play THE MERCHANT OF YONKERS, and Wilder's successful 1954 adaptation of his own play, renamed THE MATCHMAKER, rewritten for Ruth Gordon and then made into a film by the same name in 1958 starring Shirley Booth. In 1964, Carol Channing starred in the story's next incarnation on Broadway: Michael Stewart's play HELLO, DOLLY! on which this film's screenplay is directly based. [More]
Starring: Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Louis Armstrong
Starring: Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Louis Armstrong, Marianne McAndrew, E. J. Peaker, Tommy Tune, David Hurst
Director: Gene Kelly
Director: Gene Kelly
Screenwriter: Ernest Lehman
Composer: Jerry Herman
Reviews for Hello, Dolly!
Inexplicably nominated for Oscars, Gene Kelly's last musical is a big, bloated, stagy film--despite the presence, charm and voice of Barbra Streisand.
More infamous for bringing Fox financially to its knees than for being the last major musical directed by Gene Kelly, Dolly! is one big-assed bull in a china shop.
Hello, Dolly! is one of those films from the late sixties that helped nail down the coffin lid on musicals.
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