Funny Girl

Set in and around New York City just before and following World War I, the story opens with Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice awaiting her husband Nicky Arnstein to arrive at the theater, and then moves into an extended flashback focusing on their meeting, marriage, and Fanny's rise to stardom. Fanny is a stage-struck Jewish teenager who lands her first job in vaudeville. Her mother believes in her but her mother's card-playing friends, including Mrs. Strakosh, try to dissuade Fanny from show business, believing Fanny is not a stage beauty. During a rehearsal, Fanny's boss complains about Fanny's unsynchronized dancing skills and appearance, wanting to fire her. She perseveres and, with some assistance from Eddie, is put in a roller-skating act after falsely claiming she can skate. The performance goes wrong, but the audience thinks that Fanny is hilarious and cheers her singing. After the show, the suave Nicky Arnstein comes backstage to meet Fanny. She finds Nicky handsome and charming, but declines his invitation for dinner. Fanny's dream is realized when, six months later, she is hired for the Ziegfeld Follies. In her debut performance, Fanny is cast as the beautiful bride in a romantic musical number. Uncomfortable about her looks, she adds a comic twist by appearing pregnant in the wedding gown. An angry Ziegfeld wants to fire Fanny but the audience loves the hilarious act. He tells her to play it that way every performance. Nicky Arnstein appears and congratulates Fanny on her success, then accompanies her to the Brice family celebration. Within a year, Fanny is a Broadway star. While on tour, she runs into Nicky in Baltimore. During a romantic dinner, they declare their mutual romantic feelings. The reunion is cut short after Nicky's racehorse loses a big race, leaving him broke. To make money, Nicky heads for Europe to gamble during the voyage. Fanny impulsively quits the tour and rushes back to New York to join him. A tugboat takes her to Nicky's ship, which just left port. Nicky is delighted to see Fanny. During the trip, Nicky wins a fortune playing poker. The two eventually marry and move into a mansion and soon have a daughter. Fanny later returns to the Ziegfeld Follies. When Nicky's various business ventures fail, he resorts to gambling to recoup his losses. This causes him to miss Fanny's new premiere, further straining their marriage. Fanny's mother tells an unknowing Fanny about Nicky's dire financial situation and advises her to "love him less and help him more". Nicky is offered a lucrative business venture, but he quickly realizes Fanny is secretly financing the deal and rejects it. He instead becomes involved in a bonds scam. The next day, before a matinee performance, Florenz Ziegfeld informs Fanny that Nicky was arrested for embezzlement. He advises her not to attend the court hearing, which suggestion she defies, and leaves the theater. At the court hearing, Nicky says nothing in his defense, and instead, the judge sees him in his chambers, where Nicky is given an 18-month sentence for embezzlement. Nicky and Fanny are allowed a few minutes in private, in the judge's office, to say goodbye, where Nicky tells Fanny to "keep on being a Funny Girl", before his incarceration. The film shifts back to the present timeline as Fanny nervously awaits Nicky's return from prison. Nicky arrives, and, after a bittersweet reunion, the two agree to separate, leaving Fanny heartbroken.

Plot from Funny Girl (film)CC BY-SA 4.0