Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire may be the leads in the 1957 Funny Face, but the star of this musical comedy is fashion. Paramount Home Entertainment celebrates the 50th anniversary of the film with an all-new DVD. Since the movie is set in the fashion world of Paris, even though it hadn't gained the reputation back then that it has now, that only made sense. Designer Hubert de Givenchy's designs were not only beguiling and championed by Hepburn, they were magnificent creations before their time.

Hepburn plays Jo, a mousy bookstore worker in the right place at the right time when a squad of pink-dressed ladies led by Maggie (Kay Thompson), the head of a fashion magazine, decides the bookstore is great as a "normal" place photo in their magazine.

Audrey Hepburn &

 Fred Astaire

Tagging along is mag photographer Dick Avery (Astaire) who not only steals a kiss from Jo, but decides she the average everyday woman they're looking for to make into a model. Quicker than you can say "ooh, la, la!" the group is in Paris and transforming their bookworm into a princess.

Mixed in with an utterly silly plot is the magic of singing - many George and Ira Gershwin tunes "How Long Has This Been Going On?", "He Loves And She Loves" "I Love Your Funny Face"  - and dance numbers performer well by Hepburn and Thompson and energetically entertainingly by Astaire. 

There's no debate that Hepburn was a wonderful actress and beautiful, but the fashions in this movie make her whip cream on the sundae. However, as Jeffrey Banks explains in one of the commentaries on the DVD, "The clothes never wore Audrey, which was really important. You always saw her. You noticed the clothes, but it wasn't about the clothes; it was about the woman wearing them. That was Givenchy's genius in dressing her."

One of the real standouts in Funny Face is Kay Thompson. She's a real hoot throughout the entire movie and holds her own against the dancing and singing pros.

Kay Thompson

The backdrop of Paris is the perfect setting for this eye-candy romantic plot. Anyone who is a fan of musicals or fashions will thoroughly love Funny Face. Although the film garnered four Academy Award nominations including Best Art Direction (Hal Pereira, George W. Davis, Sam Comer, Ray Moyer), Best Cinematography (Ray June), Best Costume Design (Edith Head and Hubert de Givenchy) and Best Screenplay (Leonard Gershe), others might be hitting the fast-forward button quite often.

Special Features

• The Fashion Designer and His Muse - Author Pamela Keogh (Author Style) and Author/Designer Jeffrey Banks talks about Hepburn and Hubert de Givenchy's relationship concerning the costumes he created for her on more than this film. Banks says she never felt confident in her roles and his clothes were like armor, protecting her.

Audrey Hepburn & Hubert de Givenchy

• Parisian Dreams - Author Drew Casper (Style of Stanley Donen) talks about how Funny Face is really Cinderella in Paris. How a meek bookstore worker becomes a high fashion model in Paris certainly seems so. Casper also talks about how the city plays a big part of the movie, how the photography (Richard Avedon) was also a big part of the movie's look, and the incredible architecture in the film.

• Paramount in the '50s - Retrospective Featurette - Clips of moving making during the 1950s including Sunset Blvd., The Greatest Show On Earth, Come Back Little Sheba, A Place in the Sun, Roman Holiday, Ten Commandments, To Catch A Thief, and many others. For any classic movie fan this bonus feature is a real treat.

• Photo Gallery

• Theatrical Trailer

Director: Stanley Donen

Writers: Leonard Gershe

Cast: Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, Kay Thompson, Michael Auclair

Run Time: 103 minutes

DVD Release Date: 10/02/2007

Format: Widescreen - color

Rating: not rated - okay for 12 and older

Classic Movie Guide Rating: 2.5 our of 5 stars

Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment

Photos © Milton H. & Greene/Corbis/Paramount Home Entertainment