Add to Google personal 
10:31 AM PDT on Sunday, April 6, 2003
There was a time when Hollywood believed that every smash hit on the
Broadway stage guaranteed a blockbuster on film. But transferring the
material to the big screen could be tricky. Sometimes it worked and
sometimes it didn't.
A shining example of when it did work is the sensational musical Gypsy
from 1962, possibly the finest stage to screen adaptation in the history of
musical film. The volcanic Rosalind Russell plays a monster of a stage
mother to the world's greatest stripper played by Natalie Wood.
Sexy Gypsy Rose Lee wasn't always the talented, shapely looker. Once she
was just plain and untalented Louise Hovic, forced to play the front end
of a cow in her sister June's vaudeville act.
But the real star of the show is their mother Rose, a woman who lives
out her fantasies of stardom by using her almost frightening ambition to
push her daughters to even greater heights.
But when June runs away, Rose turns her laser-like attention upon poor reluctant Louise.
An accidental booking into a seedy burlesque house sets the stage for Louise's debut as a stripper, her transformation into the world renown Gypsy Rose Lee, and a showdown with grasping Momma Rose.
Louise's ultimatum forces Rose to take an honest look at her own life and her regrets, frustrations, and pent-up desires to be a performer come blazing out in a musical tour-de-force.
| Multimedia | ||
|
----------
To check out Rosalind Russell's "Life is a Banquet" page
Click here
Find out how closely Natalie Wood's life mirrored that of
Gypsy Rose Lee's by
Clicking here
----------
This week's recommendation:
Gypsy (1962)
Starring: Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Synopsis: This splashy musical tells the mesmerizing story of how no-talent Louise Hovick rises from behind her actress sister Dainty June to become the 1930's burlesque queen, Gypsy Rose Lee. The lovely Natalie Wood is sensational as Gypsy and Rosiland Russell won a Golden Globe award for her performance as Gypsy's volcanic Mama Rose. Look for Ann Jillian as Dainty June.
If you liked Rosalind Russell in Gypsy, you might want to check out some of her other movies:
Auntie Mame (1958)
Starring: Rosalind Russell
Director: Morton DaCosta
Synopsis: Grand-scale, much-loved comedy about a boy's life-affirming eccentric aunt. Always armed with a colorful dress and an acerbic quip, the flamboyant, vibrant socialite Mame Dennis is the quintessential roaring 20's flapper, with a huge desire to live life to the fullest. Rosalind Russell was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Mame.
Craig's Wife (1936)
Starring: Rosalind Russell, John Boles
Director: Dorothy Arzner
Synopsis: Rosalind Russell stars as a woman whose obsession with her home and her privacy leads her to alienate everyone around her. Under Arzner's direction, a remarkably sympathetic portrait emerges of a housewife who walls herself up, brick by brick, in a pathological tomb of her own creation.
His Girl Friday (1940)
Starring: Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant
Director: Howard Hawks
Synopsis: Russell stars as a female reporter who can't seem to escape her job or her editor/ex-husband in this delightfully sharp screwball classic. Grant and Russell supply loads of snappy banter at machine-gun speed. A classic not to be missed.
Picnic (1955)
Starring: William Holden, Kim Novak, Rosalind Russell
Director: Joshua Logan
Synopsis: Trouble begins when a drifter comes to a small Mid-western town and stirs up the lives of it's residents. Critics raved over the performances in this drama about restrained 50s-era sexuality. Russell steals the show with her stunning portrayal of a desperate old-maid school teacher.
Sister Kenny (1946)
Starring: Rosalind Russell
Director: Dudley Nichols
Synopsis: Biography of Elizabeth Kenny, an Australian nurse who devoted her life to the cure and treatment of infantile paralysis. The film details Kenny's struggles to get official recognition for her techniques and theories. Rosalind Russell received a Best Actress Oscar for her role.
