This movie inspired by the true life story of Fannie Brice, a well-known comedian, who has a very difficult childhood in the Jewish slums of New York, where she faces many challenges in her way, but through talent and determination, she manages to achieve a great success.
I wish William Wyler's direction was more inventive and humurous (it's his first musical), but Streisand gives a meteoric performance, as Fanny Frice and as herself, showing a tremendous charismatic presence that goes beyond physical looks and acting.
Streisand is stunning, but the film is a trial, particularly when the music disappears somewhere around the 90-minute mark and all that's left is leaden melodrama.
