DVDizzy Forum

Wow, Div!
Loved your post. I’m a big My Fair Lady and Hello, Dolly! fan, both the stage shows and the films.

I’ve seen both of them on the big screen in recent years and they were so worth it!

Barbra’s vocals on Dolly have practically ruined any other recordings of the score for me. I really think she was at her vocal peak when the score was recorded in 1968. The film was completed almost a year before its Christmas 1969 release due to the stage show still running.

I enjoy Carol Channing as Dolly because I just adore her in general and she created the role.

Bette Midler, I also love but although she was great on stage in the part, vocally she was a disappointment to me. Whenever I listen to the cast album I usually skip most of Bette’s numbers and listen to the rest of the cast’s songs which are fantastic!
Just my opinion.

I do enjoy Bette’s TV Gypsy soundtrack but of course she was 25 years or so younger.

Oh, I love Midler's Dolly. I always loved Carol Channing as a personality although I haven't seen or heard much of her work, although I admit I'm more fond of both Streisand and Midler (speaking of the three in general, not in relation to their takes on Hello, Dolly!). But as for Hello, Dolly! specifically, the movie is what I experienced first, so naturally I have more attachment to Streisand's take because of that, I suppose. Streisand sounds gorgeous on "Before the Parade Passes By." I was surprised when I read online that a lot of people didn't like that film back when.

The biggest complaint was that many at the time felt she was too young. As I’m sure you know, Dolly is supposed to be middle aged, at least in her 40s. But Barbra was 26 when she made the film! And there was just a backlash against “bloated” big budget musicals by the end of the ‘60s. Even Walt Disney’s The Happiest Millionaire (which I love) which was the studios’ big Christmas 1967 release was a box office bomb.
AND by the late ‘60s popular culture had changed so much. A film like Hello, Dolly! was considered “old fashioned” by 1969.

Barbra’s recording of the score, however, was almost universally praised. And today, 54 years after its first release, it’s regarded as a true classic.

I'm glad Hello Dolly!'s movie is considered a classic because I loved it when I saw it.

I say they should have done a TV version of Bette's Hello Dolly! just to have it immortalized.

I would have loved to have a TV version of the Midler version.

Then I could see it! Have you ever seen it, Divinity or carolinakid?

No, Duster, I haven’t but I have the cast CD. I DO have several friends who saw it and they said it was fantastic. Bette in particular absolutely stole the show!

No, I haven't sadly. I wonder if there might be a YouTube upload somewhere, then I suppose I could "watch" it in some manner.

Oh, ok guys. Too bad none of us saw it! And, yes, YouTube is a great place to look for such a thing!