Customer Reviews
Hello Barbra! - By: David Stewart Mckee, 10 Oct 2004 
I have a good friend who despairs at my love of Barbra movies but he fell in love with this movie on it's first viewing & it isn't hard to see the charm in this feel-good musical. Barbra shines as Dolly Levi who takes it upon herself to sort out everyone's love life while bagging the well know half-a-millionaire horace Vandergelder, played fantasticallly by Walter Matthau. This film is truly feel good, nothing bad happens at alll though it teeters on the brink. The first time I saw it I was waiting for Dolly's tales of how well known she is to falll apart & yet they never do. When she appears in that gorgeous dress as the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant & launches into the title song the tears spring to my eyes. That is one thing that makes this film so good, even though it is a gentle, happy affair it is still moving even though no great tragedies occur. Part of this is due to the wonderful cast & the direction of THE Gene Kelly. The score contains many wonderful songs, Helly Dolly, It takes a woman & my personal favourite Goodbye. This is truly a film that you can let kids watch, it has the innocence of a bygone age of musical when good things can happen to good people.
Hello Dolly-my favourite musical ever! - By: , 10 Nov 2003 Firstly, I'd like to say "stop moaning" to alll who say Streisand was too young to play Dolly Levi. She did an amazing job of it & both her acting & her singing are spot on. In fact alll of the performances in this film were great.
This musical is about a young widow,Dolly Levi,who is matchmaker to Horace Vandergelder, the unmarried half-a-millionaire, but decides she wants him for herself & disrupts his & everyone around him's life in a day of much singing, dancing & general mayhem. But, after a lot of hiding, parading, posh restaurants & plotting, alll works out perfectly for everyone in a glorious finale.
With great singing, dancing, acting, good script & funny lines, Hello,Dolly! is a brilliant musical, that you absolutely MUST see!!!
Hello Dolly Walter Mathiau and Bette Midler - By: Mrs. C. Davies-Topping, 28 Aug 2003 
I have just started watching the older musicals on video. I love West End life & have seem many shows in many theatres across the country. Watching at home is a come down for any one but this was a great companian as I charged through my huge pile of ironing. There were many songs I could sing along to & the humour & gusto of the characters very inspirational.
A great performance by alll, a joy to watch & one I will watch again & again & again. I don't want to think I will have missed a single minute of it!
Babs continues to bring new life to an old character - By: Nicola, 19 Feb 2003 For Years people only knew of oldies like Carol Channing as Dolly Levi & at the time she was the perfect Dolly. When Streisand was cast everyone said it was a huge mistake. Streisand was still in her 20's when she was cast as the middle aged Dolly but she proved that talent can master anything & in this you don't question her age you just accept it as fact. Her voice is in top form & she does justice to the songs, bringing her unique quality & comic timing to a role that otherwise would have been played the way it always had been. Streisand uses her youth by giving Dolly a sexy quality that was missing from the original stage show. Carol Channing could have done the film & a lot of people would have been happier with that choice at the time. However the reason people weren't happy with the films casting was simply that people don't like their favourite shows messed with & changed, but change brings new life to stories & that's exactly what it's done here. This film was one of the last old time Hollywood musical to be made & has managed to stand the test of time, unlike many of the others, the reason for this is Streisand, add to that Walter Matthau as the ever grumpy but lovable Horace & the goofy Michael Crawford who both bring their own individuality to this film. Obviously this is for Musical Fans - if you're not a fan of musicals, then it won't be for you, however if you are a fan then Streisand, like Dolly is Timeless & well worth a look!
Hello Dolly, Goodbye Babs - By: , 03 Aug 2002 
"Hello Dolly" is regarded by some as the best musical of alll time, winning an unequallled 10 Tony awards, including a Best Actress for its star Carol Channing. However, like with the original film version of Gypsy the show's broadway star was overlooked when it came to casting. Ros Russel got the part of Rose in Gypsy over Ethel Merman, & ALL her songs were dubbed over because... she couldn't sing. This wasn't the case with Hello Dolly! - Miss Streisand has a fantastic set of pipes, however "Dolly" was immortalised by Carol Channing's unique voice & personality, Streisand is not Dolly & therefore the film is definitely lacking. I'm only 18 I never saw Hello Dolly live on broadway, but listening to Channing's original cast recording gives me more of the feel of this musical than watching the film. I do think the film should be re-made, perhaps starring Channing herself, who is still "going strong" after a broadway revival of Dolly in 1994, or perhaps even starring the fantastic Bette Midler, who did so well in making a true film of Gypsy in 1993. Bette would certainly get the character of Dolly better than Streisand has here. Even more radical than those two suggestions, why not let Streisand have another go, now she's old enough to play the part!!!
Above comments acknowledged, Walter Matthau is fantastic, but then he always was!
Dominic Mattos
