
Maggie Prescott, the Editor-in-Chief of New York based Quality, a fashion magazine that sets trends i.e. leads instead of follows, has come up with her latest brainchild: to feature a model to be the Quality Woman, complete with successful Paris-based designer Paul Duval to devise a new collection inspired by her. The Quality Woman is not only to embody beauty, but also intellect. Against Maggie's initial judgment, she relents to the vision of her head photographer Dick Avery... (Full plot summary below)
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Maggie Prescott, the Editor-in-Chief of New York based Quality, a fashion magazine that sets trends i.e. leads instead of follows, has come up with her latest brainchild: to feature a model to be the Quality Woman, complete with successful Paris-based designer Paul Duval to devise a new collection inspired by her. The Quality Woman is not only to embody beauty, but also intellect. Against Maggie's initial judgment, she relents to the vision of her head photographer Dick Avery in choosing Jo Stockton rather than one of their in-house models as the Quality Woman, Jo the clerk they met in an impromptu photo shoot they did against her will in the Greenwich Village bookstore where she works. The marks against Jo are not only that she isn't a professional, but that she has what she even considers a funny looking face, something that Dick instead calls interesting. Jo, who abhors all that the world of fashion represents in she being an intellectual, ultimately agrees as the job would take her to Paris where she hopes to meet her idol, Professor Émile Flostre, the leading philosopher on the concept of empathicalism. But in Paris, the two worlds for Jo begin to collide in more ways than one, arguably the most important in she falling for Dick, his actions solely to get her to exude the emotions he wants for the photos.
Leave your thoughts about Funny Face.
| CineVueCleaver PattersonFilms such as the exquisite Funny Face, where all the ingredients came together in picture perfect composition, allows us to share, even if only briefly, in this land of fantasy and make-believe. |
| Independent (UK)Geoffrey MacnabStanley Donen's 1957 musical represents a triumph of form over content. |
| Total FilmSimon KinnearOne of Hollywood's funniest, most stylish musicals, this breezy satire from 1957 thrives on the pairing of Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. |
| Filmcritic.comPaul Brennerone of the finest movie musicals of all time. |
| Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)Ken HankeAt once more naturalistic and more stylized -- with Donen pushing Technicolor to the very limits of color saturation. |
| Times (UK)Kate MuirThe great photographer Richard Avedon curated the titles and exquisitely coloured stills of Hepburn in the latest collection from Givenchy, and each one is poster-perfect. The plot, such as it is, is full of lighthearted fun. |
| The SpectatorIsabel QuiglyThe film fairly bursts with charm, the Gershwin songs are lively, Paris is as photogenic as ever and the existentialists are grubby to the life. |
| Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasYou can argue with the movie in your head, even while you admit—say, when Dick and Jo dance their way across a stream by lightly stepping onto a floating raft—that your heart is having all sorts of fun. |
| Empire MagazineDavid ParkinsonA timeless musical treat and the most fun you can have with really elegant clothes on. |
| EmanuelLevy.ComEmanuel LevyOne of Stanley Donen's most stylish and enjoyable films, this musical is a triumph for Astaire's spectacular dancing, Audrey Hepburn's elegant appearance, and the Gershwins splendid score. |