''Hello, Dolly!'' is a 1969 American
musical romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film based on the 1964
Broadway production of the same name, which was based on
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel '' The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and '' The Skin of Our Teeth'' — ...
's play ''
The Matchmaker
''The Matchmaker'' is a 1954 play by Thornton Wilder, a rewritten version of his 1938 play ''The Merchant of Yonkers''.
History
The play has a long and colorful history. John Oxenford's 1835 one-act farce ''A Day Well Spent'' had been exte ...
''. Directed by
Gene Kelly and written and produced by
Ernest Lehman
Ernest Paul Lehman (December 8, 1915 – July 2, 2005) was an American screenwriter. He was nominated six times for Academy Awards for his screenplays during his career, but did not win. At the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001, he received an Ho ...
, the film stars
Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...
,
Walter Matthau,
Michael Crawford
Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian.
Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom '' Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' a ...
,
Danny Lockin
Daniel Joseph Lockin (July 13, 1943 – August 21, 1977) was an American actor and dancer who appeared on stage, television, and film. He was best known for his portrayal of the character Barnaby Tucker in the 1969 film '' Hello, Dolly!''.
I ...
,
Tommy Tune
Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Wal ...
,
Fritz Feld
Fritz Feld (October 15, 1900 – November 18, 1993) was a German-American film character actor who appeared in over 140 films in 72 years, both silent and sound. His trademark was to slap his mouth with the palm of his hand to create a "pop" s ...
,
Marianne McAndrew
Marianne Christine McAndrew (born November 26, 1942) is an actress known for her role as Irene Molloy in the film '' Hello, Dolly!''
Career
''Hello, Dolly!'' was McAndrew's first credited film role. The role of Irene Molloy was given considerab ...
,
E. J. Peaker and
Louis Armstrong (whose recording of the
title tune had become a number-one single in May 1964). The film follows the story of
Dolly Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker who travels to
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as en ...
in order to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. In doing so, she convinces his niece, his niece's intended and Horace's two clerks to travel to New York.
Released on December 16, 1969, by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
, the film won three
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
s for
Best Art Direction,
Best Score of a Musical Picture and
Best Sound and was nominated for a further four Academy Awards, including
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
. Although the film eventually broke even, it was not a commercial success.
Plot
In 1890, all of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
is excited because the well-known widowed matchmaker Dolly Levi is in town. Dolly is currently seeking a wife for grumpy Horace Vandergelder, the well-known "half-a-millionaire", but it soon becomes clear that she intends to marry Horace herself. Meanwhile, Ambrose Kemper, a young artist, wants to marry Horace's niece, Ermengarde. However, Horace opposes this, feeling Ambrose cannot provide financial security. Horace, who is the owner of Vandergelder's Hay and Feed, explains to his two clerks, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, that he is going to get married, though what he really wants is a housekeeper. He plans to travel to New York that very day to march in the 14th Street Parade, and also to propose to milliner Irene Molloy, whom he has met through Dolly Levi. Dolly arrives in Yonkers and sends Horace ahead to the city. Before leaving, he tells Cornelius and Barnaby to mind the store.
Cornelius, weary of his dull existence, decides that he and Barnaby need to get out of Yonkers. Dolly overhears, and decides to set them up with Irene Molloy and her shop assistant, Minnie Fay. She also helps Ambrose and Ermengarde, entering them in a dance contest at the very fancy Harmonia Gardens restaurant, which Dolly and her late husband frequented. The entire company take the train to New York.
In New York, Irene and Minnie open their hat shop for the afternoon. Irene does not love Horace Vandergelder, but knows that the marriage will provide her with financial security and an escape from her boring job. However, Irene hopes to escape her loveless marriage, and plans to try and find real love before the summer is over. Cornelius and Barnaby arrive at the shop and pretend to be rich- Irene seems to take to Cornelius immediately. Horace and Dolly arrive and Cornelius and Barnaby hide. Minnie screams when she finds Cornelius hiding in an armoire. Horace is about to open the armoire himself, but Dolly "searches" it and pronounces it empty. After hearing Cornelius sneeze, Horace storms out upon realizing there are men hiding in the shop, although he is unaware that they are his clerks. Dolly arranges for Cornelius and Barnaby, who are still pretending to be rich, to take the ladies out to dinner at Harmonia Gardens to make up for their humiliation. Dolly briefly tries to teach Cornelius and Barnaby to dance, which leads to the whole town dancing in the local park.
The clerks and the ladies go to watch the Fourteenth Street Association Parade together. Alone, Dolly asks her first husband Ephram's permission to marry Horace, requesting a sign. She resolves to move on with life. After meeting an old friend, Gussie Granger, on a float in the parade, Dolly catches up with the annoyed Vandergelder as he is marching in the parade. She tells him the heiress Ernestina Simple would be perfect for him and asks him to meet her at Harmonia Gardens that evening.
Cornelius is determined to get a kiss before the night is over. Since the clerks have no money to hire a carriage, they tell the girls that walking to the restaurant is more stylish. In a quiet flat, Dolly prepares for the evening. At the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant, Rudolph, the head waiter, whips his crew into shape for Dolly Levi's return. Horace arrives to meet his date, who is really Dolly's friend Gussie. As it turns out, she is not rich or elegant as Dolly implied, and she soon leaves after being bored by Horace, just as she and Dolly planned.
Cornelius, Barnaby and their dates arrive and are unaware that Horace is also at the restaurant. Dolly makes her triumphant return to the restaurant and is greeted in style by the staff. She sits in the now-empty seat at Horace's table and proceeds to tell him that no matter what he says, she will not marry him. Fearful of being caught, Cornelius confesses to the ladies that he and Barnaby have no money, and Irene, who knew they were pretending all along, offers to pay for the meal. She then realizes that she left her handbag with all her money in it at home. The four try to sneak out during the polka contest, but Horace recognizes them and also spots Ermengarde and Ambrose. In the ensuing confrontation, Vandergelder fires Cornelius and Barnaby and they are forced to flee as a riot breaks out. Cornelius professes his love for Irene. Horace declares that he would not marry Dolly if she were the last woman in the world. Dolly angrily bids him farewell; while he's bored and lonely, she will be living the high life.
The next morning, back at the hay and feed store, Cornelius and Irene, Barnaby and Minnie, and Ambrose and Ermengarde each come to collect the money Vandergelder owes them. Chastened, he finally admits that he needs Dolly in his life, but she is unsure about the marriage until Ephram sends her a sign. Cornelius becomes Horace's business partner at the store, and Barnaby fills Cornelius' old position. Horace tells Dolly life would be dull without her, and she promises that she will "never go away again".
Cast
![Hello, Dolly!5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Hello%2C_Dolly%215.jpg)
*
Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...
as
Dolly Levi
*
Walter Matthau as Horace Vandergelder
*
Michael Crawford
Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian.
Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom '' Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' a ...
as Cornelius Hackl
*
Marianne McAndrew
Marianne Christine McAndrew (born November 26, 1942) is an actress known for her role as Irene Molloy in the film '' Hello, Dolly!''
Career
''Hello, Dolly!'' was McAndrew's first credited film role. The role of Irene Molloy was given considerab ...
as Irene Molloy
*
E. J. Peaker as Minnie Fay
*
Danny Lockin
Daniel Joseph Lockin (July 13, 1943 – August 21, 1977) was an American actor and dancer who appeared on stage, television, and film. He was best known for his portrayal of the character Barnaby Tucker in the 1969 film '' Hello, Dolly!''.
I ...
as Barnaby Tucker
* Joyce Ames as Ermengarde Vandergelder
*
Tommy Tune
Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Wal ...
as Ambrose Kemper
* Judy Knaiz as Gussie Granger; Ernestina Semple
*
David Hurst
David Hurst (born Heinrich Theodor Hirsch; 8 May 1926 – 15 September 2019) was a German actor, best known for his role in the film '' Hello, Dolly'' as Rudolph the headwaiter.
Biography
Early life and career
Hurst grew up in a family of ac ...
as Rudolph Reisenweber
*
Fritz Feld
Fritz Feld (October 15, 1900 – November 18, 1993) was a German-American film character actor who appeared in over 140 films in 72 years, both silent and sound. His trademark was to slap his mouth with the palm of his hand to create a "pop" s ...
as Fritz, German waiter
* Richard Collier as Joe, Vandergelder's barber
*
J. Pat O'Malley as Policeman in park
*
Louis Armstrong as Orchestra leader
*
Scatman Crothers
Benjamin Sherman Crothers (May 23, 1910 – November 22, 1986), known professionally as Scatman Crothers, was an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show '' Chico and the Man'', and Dick Hal ...
as Porter (''uncredited'')
*
Tucker Smith
Tucker Smith (born Thomas William Smith, April 24, 1936 – December 22, 1988) was an American actor, dancer, and singer who performed the role of Ice in the movie musical ''West Side Story''.
Life and career
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...
(''uncredited'') as Dancer
*
Jennifer Gan
Jennifer Gan (March 2, 1938 – September 15, 2000) was an American stage, film and television actress. She appeared in sixteen film and TV titles in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Career as Ginny Gan
A life member of The Actors Studio, she first be ...
(''uncredited'') as Miss Bolivia
Musical numbers
![Hello, Dolly!4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Hello%2C_Dolly%214.jpg)
# "Call On Dolly"
# "Just Leave Everything To Me"
# "Main Titles (Overture)"
# "It Takes a Woman"
# "It Takes a Woman (Reprise)"
# "Put on Your Sunday Clothes"
# "Ribbons Down My Back"
# "Dancing"
# "Before the Parade Passes By"
# "Intermission"
# "Elegance"
# "Love is Only Love"
# "
Hello, Dolly!"
# "It Only Takes a Moment"
# "So Long, Dearie"
# "Finale"
# "End Credits"
The
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
was released on the vinyl LP format and 8-track tape format in December 1969. It was released on compact disc in November 1994. Both the LP and compact disc omit selections 1, 3, 10, and 17.
Production
Filming
![Hello, Dolly!6](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Hello%2C_Dolly%216.jpg)
The town of
Garrison, New York
Garrison is a hamlet in Putnam County, New York, United States. It is part of the town of Philipstown, on the east side of the Hudson River, across from the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Garrison Metro-North Railroad st ...
, specifically the
Garrison Landing Historic District around the train station, was the filming site for scenes in
Yonkers
Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York (state), New York, after New York City and Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. The popul ...
. In the opening credits, the passenger train is traveling along the Hudson River. Provided by the
Strasburg Rail Road
The Strasburg Rail Road is a heritage railroad and the oldest continuously operating standard-gauge railroad in the western hemisphere, as well as the oldest public utility in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1832, the Strasburg Ra ...
, the train is pulled by
Pennsylvania Railroad 1223 (now located in the
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is a railroad museum in Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
The museum is located on the east side of Strasburg along Pennsylvania Route 741. It is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Mus ...
) retrofitted to resemble a New York Central & Hudson River locomotive. The locomotive, used in "Put on Your Sunday Clothes", was restored specifically for the film. The
Poughkeepsie (Metro-North station)
Poughkeepsie station is a Metro-North Railroad and Amtrak stop serving the city of Poughkeepsie, New York. The station is the northern terminus of Metro-North's Hudson Line, and an intermediate stop for Amtrak's several Empire Corridor trains. ...
trackside platform was used at the beginning when Dolly was on her way to
Yonkers
Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York (state), New York, after New York City and Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. The popul ...
.
The name Judy Knaiz's character, Ernestina Semple, was changed from the stage version's Ernestina Money.
The church scene was filmed on the grounds of the
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...
at
West Point, New York
West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...
, but the church's facade was constructed only for the film. New York City scenes were filmed on the
20th Century-Fox lot in California. Some of the exteriors still exist. The film was photographed in
65 mm
70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge for motion picture photography, with a negative area nearly 3.5 times as large as the standard 35 mm motion picture film format. As used in cameras, the film is wid ...
Todd-AO
Todd-AO is an American post-production company founded in 1953 by Mike Todd and Robert Naify, providing sound-related services to the motion picture and television industries. For more than five decades, it was the worldwide leader in theater s ...
by
Harry Stradling
Henry A. Stradling, A.S.C. (September 1, 1901 – February 14, 1970) was an American cinematographer with more than 130 films to his credit.
His uncle Walter Stradling, son Harry Stradling Jr. and godson Gerald Perry Finnerman were also cine ...
.
The film was beset by tension on the set, with Streisand clashing with costar Matthau and director Kelly.
Michael Kidd
Michael Kidd (August 12, 1915 – December 23, 2007) was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer and actor, whose career spanned five decades, and staged some of the leading Broadway and film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Kidd, stron ...
, the choreographer, had conflicts with costume designer
Irene Sharaff
Irene Sharaff (January 23, 1910 – August 16, 1993) was an American costume designer for stage and screen. Her work earned her five Academy Awards and a Tony Award. Sharaff is universally recognized as one of the greatest costume designers of ...
and Kelly, to the point that he and Kelly were no longer on speaking terms.
Tensions came to a head in a heated argument between Streisand and Matthau on June 6, 1968, on a hot day in Garrison the day after the
assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
On June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan shortly after midnight at the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles. He was pronounced dead at 1:44 a.m. PDT the following day.
Kennedy was a senator from New York and a candidate ...
.
Music
Most of the original Broadway production's score was preserved for the film; however, "Just Leave Everything to Me" and "Love Is Only Love" were not in the stage show. Jerry Herman wrote "Just Leave Everything to Me" especially for Streisand; it effectively replaced "I Put My Hand In" from the Broadway production. However, an instrumental version of parts of "I Put My Hand In" can be heard in the film during the dance competition at the Harmonia Gardens.
Herman had previously written "Love is Only Love" for the stage version of ''
Mame
MAME (formerly an acronym of Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a free and open-source emulator designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game systems in software on modern personal computers and other platforms. Its intention is to preserve ...
'', but it was cut before its Broadway premiere. It occurred in the story as Mame tried to explain falling in love to her young nephew Patrick. A brief
prologue
A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...
of "Mrs. Horace Vandergelder" was added to the song to integrate it into this film.
[Konder, George C. ''Hello, Dolly!'': Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Album (CD Re-issue). Liner notes dated September 1994. Philips Records, 810 368-2]
Working under the musical direction of
Lionel Newman
Lionel Newman (January 4, 1916 – February 3, 1989) was an American conductor, pianist, and film and television composer. He won the Academy Award for Best Score of a Musical Picture for '' Hello Dolly!'' with Lennie Hayton in 1969. He ...
and
Lennie Hayton
Leonard George Hayton (February 14, 1908 – April 24, 1971) was an American musician, composer, conductor and arranger. Hayton's trademark was a captain's hat, which he always wore at a rakish angle.
Early life
Hayton was born in New Yor ...
, the very large team of orchestrators included film stalwarts
Herbert W. Spencer and
Alexander Courage; the original Broadway production arranger,
Philip J. Lang, making a rare film outing; and established television and pop arrangers
Joe Lipman
Joseph P. Lippman (April 23, 1915 - January 21, 2007) was an American composer, arranger, conductor, pianist, and songwriter working in jazz and traditional pop. His musical career was over five decades long, having started at age 19 with the Ben ...
,
Don Costa
Dominick P. "Don" Costa (June 10, 1925 – January 19, 1983) was an American conductor and record producer. He discovered singer Paul Anka and worked on several hit albums by Frank Sinatra, including ''Sinatra and Strings'' and '' My Way''.
...
, and
Frank Comstock
Frank G. Comstock (September 20, 1922 – May 21, 2013) was an American composer, arranger, conductor and trombonist. For television, Comstock wrote and arranged music for major situation comedies and variety shows; his theme and incidental mus ...
. All of the actors did their own singing, except for
Marianne McAndrew
Marianne Christine McAndrew (born November 26, 1942) is an actress known for her role as Irene Molloy in the film '' Hello, Dolly!''
Career
''Hello, Dolly!'' was McAndrew's first credited film role. The role of Irene Molloy was given considerab ...
(Irene Molloy) whose singing was dubbed by Melissa Stafford for Irene's vocal solos and
Gilda Maiken for when Irene sings with other characters.
Release
U.S. premieres
The film premiered in
New York at Rivoli Theater on December 16, 1969. Production had
wrapped more than a year earlier, but release was significantly delayed for contractual reasons.
[Kurtti, p. 160] A clause in the 1965 film sale contract specified that the film could not be released until 20 June 1971 or when the show closed on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
, whichever came first. In 1969, the show was still running. Eager to release the film to recoup its cost,
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
negotiated and paid an "early release" escape payment to release "Dolly" which cost Fox an estimated $1–2 million.
The following day, the film started 45
roadshow
Roadshow theatrical release is a practice in which a film opened in a limited number of theaters in large cities.
Road show or Road Show may also refer to:
*''Antiques Roadshow'', a BBC TV series where antiques specialist travel around the country ...
engagements around the United States and Canada before opening worldwide on December 18, starting in Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa.
Critical reception
The film received favorable reviews upon release,
but some critics felt it was not a success as a musical, with Kelly and Kidd making little use of the
widescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
format of the film. Critic
Tom Santopietro described their approach as "shoveling more and more bodies on-screen with no apparent purpose."
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
in his ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' review said that the producer and director "merely inflated the faults to elephantine proportions."
In more recent years, ''Hello, Dolly!s critical reputation has cooled considerably; as of June 2022, it holds a 45% "Rotten" rating on review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The consensus states: "Though Barbra Streisand charms, she's miscast as the titular middle-aged widow in Gene Kelly's sluggish and over-produced final directorial effort." Eric Henderson of ''
Slant Magazine'' said of the film: "More infamous for bringing Fox financially to its knees than for being the last major musical directed by Gene Kelly, ''Hello, Dolly!'' is one big-assed bull in a china shop. The film cost nearly as much to produce as
''Cleopatra'' and made far less at the box office, thus earning the film its reputation as one of Hollywood’s foremost turkeys."
Box office
The film opened strongly, finishing in third place at the US box office behind ''
On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' and ''
Easy Rider
''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...
'' in its opening week and initially grossed more than ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...
'', but lost momentum and became a disappointment at the box office.
It grossed $33.2 million at the box office in the United States,
earning a
theatrical rental
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is freq ...
(the distributor's share of the box office after deducting the exhibitor's cut)
of $15.2 million,
ranking it in the top five highest-grossing films of the 1969–1970 season.
In total, it earned $26 million in theatrical rentals for Fox, against its $25.335 million production budget.[ Despite performing well at the box office, it still lost its backers an estimated $10 million.]
The soundtrack album's sales also did not live up to expectations, peaking at number 49 on the '' Billboard'' chart.
Home media
''Hello, Dolly!'' was one of the first theatrical films to be released on the then-new VHS and Betamax home video formats in the fall of 1978. It was released on DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
in 2003 and Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
in 2013. It began streaming on Disney+
Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
on May 22, 2020.
Awards and honors
Others
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
* 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
** " Hello, Dolly!" – Nominated
* 2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals
Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals is a list of the top musicals in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute at the Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Holl ...
– Nominated
In other media
* Songs and footage from scenes "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" and "It Only Takes a Moment", as well as still images from the film in general, were prominently featured in the 2008 Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
-Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...
film, ''WALL-E
''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton, pro ...
''. WALL-E watches the footage from an old Betamax, and learns about the concept of love from the film.
* The songs "Elegance" and "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" are heard through any day at the Main Street section of the Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...
in Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...
with the addition of "Before the Parade Passes By" at Disneyland
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
in Anaheim.
* The song "Just Leave Everything to Me" is heard in the season 2 opening of ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'' is an American period comedy-drama television series, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, that premiered on March 17, 2017, on Amazon Prime Video. Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it stars Rachel Brosnahan as ...
''.
See also
* List of American films of 1969
This is a list of American films released in 1969.
''Midnight Cowboy'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
__TOC__
A–B
C–G
H–M
N–S
T–Z
Documentaries and shorts
See also
* 1969 in the United States
External links
19 ...
* ''Hello, Dolly!'' stage play
* ''The Matchmaker''
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
''New York Times'' review
2003 review of the DVD release
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hello, Dolly! (Film)
1969 films
1969 musical comedy films
1969 romantic comedy films
1960s American films
1960s English-language films
1960s historical comedy films
1960s historical musical films
1960s historical romance films
1960s romantic musical films
20th Century Fox films
American historical comedy films
American historical musical films
American historical romance films
American musical comedy films
American romantic comedy films
American romantic musical films
Culture of Yonkers, New York
A Day Well Spent
Films based on adaptations
Films based on musicals
Films based on musicals based on films
Films directed by Gene Kelly
Films produced by Ernest Lehman
Films scored by Lennie Hayton
Films scored by Lionel Newman
Films set on trains
Films set in 1890
Films set in the 1890s
Films set in New York City
Films set in New York (state)
Films set in Westchester County, New York
Films shot in New York City
Films shot in New York (state)
Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award
Films that won the Best Sound Mixing Academy Award
Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award
Films with screenplays by Ernest Lehman