Gypsy (1962) Review

Distributor: Warner Bros.

Starring: Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Morgan Britteny, Ann Jillian, Paul Wallace

Director: Mervyn LeRoy

Screenplay: Leonard Spigelgass 

Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim

Producer: Mervyn LeRoy

Running Time: 2hr 23m

Release Date: November 1st 1962 (USA)

Rating: PG

Based off the memoirs of famous stripper, Gypsy Rose Lee, this musical (created by Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents) was released on stage in 1959 and later on film in 1962. Since then it has been revived in theatre many times with a 2015 West End version starring Imelda Staunton as Rose Hovick. The film itself did reasonably well in the box office as was its critical reception with Russell winning a Golden Globe for Best Actress that year. So was this musical well adapted into a film? Yes... with a few flaws.

What's the story? The movie follows Gypsy Rose Lee, known as Louise Hovick (Wood), from childhood to her stripper days. Through most of her life, she and her sister June (Morgan Britteny and later Ann Jillian) have been pushed onto stardom by their domineering mother Rose (Russell). Whilst 'Baby/Dainty' June is very talented on stage, Louise didn't seem to be talented at all which frustrates Rose. One day, when a man named Herbie (Malden) offers them a chance to tour around vaudeville, they soon use June and her back-up singers 'The News Boys' to gain fame and attention. However, when June leaves because of her resentment before Rose, Rose uses Louise as the new star in the now dying vaudeville lifestyle. When they accidentally book a performance in a burlesque, Louise soon becomes the famous stripper Gypsy Rose Lee.

Despite the title, Gypsy isn't the main character in this movie. Oh sure she gets a lot of focus, particularly towards the end, this is Rose's story as she is the one who pushes her daughter into fame. Rose is a show mother, someone who tries to force their children into theatre or the media because they want to be noticed themselves. This means that she is actually a pretty insufferable character. She never listens to anyone, especially her children, she keeps trying to shoehorn ways into keeping the 'Baby June' act alive even though everyone grows up and leaves and she is trying to stay in theatre even though it's falling into decline since the introduction of 'talkie' films. All throughout the film she is just unlikable since she basically robs her daughters of a normal childhood and Russell just sells it in the performance. Russell just gives the role so much power and dominance which is exactly what Rose needed to be. The song at the end, 'Rose's Turn', truly makes her character as she pours her heart and soul at the audience about her life and what she could've been which makes her motivation slightly more understandable. It is clear that Russell deserved that Golden Globe award.

That isn't to say Gypsy Rose Lee herself doesn't get any focus and in fact, she's the best character. Natalie Wood is very diverse in the role from the shy and reclusive Louise to the diva-like Gypsy and yes she was fiiiiiiiine. But back to the character, Louise always let her mother walk all over her and the audience just basically wants her to live her own life and get a break. There's this one song called 'Little Lamb' where she is celebrating her birthday all alone. The lyric that stuck out was 'little lamb, little lamb, I wonder how old I am.' That is just heart-breaking to watch as her life is practically gone at this point. So when she does become a star, it's all the more refreshing to see her stand up to her mother and break free. This is especially shown in the montage of her rise to fame where with each performance, she takes off more items of clothing which shows her increasing confidence. Whilst Rose steals the show with Rosalind Russell's performance, Louise is a more likable character.

Herbie is a good side character as well. Herbie is the voice of reason and it’s his interactions with Rose that makes her more bearable as he humanises her. He also cares for the girls and helps out the News Boys through their vaudeville years. Malden plays him like a fast talking manager but he isn't just that as he is a man who lives in a show mother's shadow so when he stands up to her and leaves her, it's good to see him asserting dominance for once and tries to give Rose the wake-up call.

All of these characters are good but the others feel pushed aside. June in particular is a missed opportunity since her character alone can hold a movie. June was pushed at a very young age and is forced to act like a child well into her teens. You can imagine how scarring that is to a child and it certainly takes its toll considering what happens to her character. However, she is given little screen time since the focus is on Rose and Louise. The problem with this is that June never got the chance to develop as a character nor did we see much of her increasing frustration with Rose. Her connection with Louise is never fully realised either. Whilst there is a connection, it never really has much of an effect on June herself since her goodbye letter to Rose only had Louise as an afterthought. It really is a shame since her character could've been the focus since she was a) pushed around by her mother to breaking point and b) she was ultimately upstaged by her sister who became more famous than her. There's not one scene or mention of how she feels about the latter since she completely disappears in the second half of the movie! Yes she has an effect on Rose (this is what possibly broke her sanity) but not on Louise? She does mention her about how she is not like June but she never seemed that upset about her departure after the goodbye scene. A real shame that a character this interesting never got developed properly.

The News Boys are interchangeable as well. With the exception of Tulsa (Wallace) who gets his own time to shine, the rest of them are basically background characters. One of the News Boys in particular does something with June when they leave but we were never pointed out who Jerry was so the audience are left thinking 'who's Jerry?' 

The song numbers are hit and miss, mostly hit. 'Little Lamb' and 'Rose's Turn' are strong emotional highlights and they're the best songs of the movie. 'Mr Goldstone,' 'Moo Cow' and 'You've got to have a gimmick' are funny as well and good luck getting 'Let me Entertain You' out of your head. However, songs like 'Small Worlds' 'All I Need is a Girl' and 'Everything's Coming up Roses' are forgettable and boring. 

The production design, whilst good at creating a 1930's feel, it all feels staged, particularly during the musical numbers. Sometimes this works like the 'Let me Entertain You' numbers and 'Rose's Turn' because the former is literally a stage show and the latter is also on a stage to symbolise Rose's desire for stardom. However, the other songs felt like they could've easily been done on stage which is a problem because LeRoy did not take advantage of the fact that it was a movie and could've done something more stylised with some of these songs to make it feel more like a movie and less like a stage show on camera.

However the biggest problem with this film is the run time. It is LOOOOOOOONG with scenes that drag and don't connect as much with the rest of the film and therefore should've been cut. Also, like 'Into the Woods,' each half of the stage show doesn't translate into one coherent film because it feels like two different ones. You've got one half with the Hovick family on vaudeville and the second half focusing on Louise becoming Gypsy Rose Lee. If this was a modern film, it should've been split into two parts like every last instalment of all the young adult film franchises. That way, the pacing could've been much better,

With that said, the performances are great, some of the characters are phenomenal as are most of the songs. It's well made considering its 60's background as well. However, some characters are underdeveloped, it's too long and it all feels too staged to justify its existence as a film (save for the Gypsy rise to fame montage). If you're a fan of musicals or you're parents make you watch it, you'll be fine. However, there are films, even musicals that are slightly better.

'Gypsy' gets 3 and a half striptease shows out of 5

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