When musicals are based on true stories, (well, when any movie is based on a true story) they're even more appealing to me.
Today, for the umpteenth time, I watched Funny Girl, starring, Barbara Streisand (Fanny Brice) and Omar Sharif (Nick Arnstein). Ever since the first time I saw the movie, I swooned over the dashing and debonaire Nick Arstein and fantasized about the wonderful love affair between the two.
Fanny Brice was a successful star of the Ziegfeld Follies and wasn't all that attractive, herself. She was a comedienne, who could sing and entertain, and who, unfortunately, fell hopelessly in love with Arnstein.
The film depicts him as handsome, suave, and a man of the world, who is protective and charming and classy and gallant. God, it hurts when "true" stories aren't at all true.
Unfortunately, Nick wasn't exactly Omar Sharif. As they say, "Love is blind." Not only wasn't he a great looker, but I read that he was a common criminal - a swindler, a con man - who had been arrested several times, throughout Europe.
The movie depicts him as a professional gambler, which he was. He meets Fanny, they fall in love, get married, have a baby, but don't live happily ever after.
As it turns out, Nick Arnstein, one of his aliases, was married whilst wooing Fanny. He thought nothing of moving in with her and her mom and living off Fanny's money. And it wasn't until his divorce was finalized, seven years later, that he and Fanny wed - two months prior to her delivering their first baby.
Funny how creative license works. In the movie, Arnstein turns to crime, because his ego wouldn't allow him to be anything but the breadwinner and the thought of living off his wife's money was unbearable. HA!
When he was fingered as part of a gang that stole millions of securities, he wasn't even man enough to turn himself in. Instead he went into hiding, letting Fanny deal with the press and cops. Plus, she was pregnant with their second child, who was never mentioned in the movie.
The movie not only has him turning himself in, but pleading guilty. From what I read, he spent four years trying to beat the rap on technicalities. Wonder if you can guess who paid the lawyers fees.
Finally, in 1927, Brice woke up and divorced him. Well, he was having an affair with some wealthy, older woman.
I'm guessing that Ray Stark, Brice's son-in-law, and the man who created Funny Girl was afraid Arnstein would have sued him if he wrote the truth. Oh wells, fantasy is always so much better than reality.
1 comment:
So many "true stories" aren't true. It's disappointing. But I guess it's our fault for believing things we see and read, without researching it.
What made you look beyond the movie?
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