jacobs-greenwood The title makes one think that this movie is about stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, when it's really about her pushy backstage mother Rose Hovick, played by Rosalind Russell (even though it was Ethel Merman who made the part famous on Broadway). In fact, the DVD is included in Warner Home Video's Natalie Wood Collection, further confusing the matter.It's Wood that plays the title role, as Rose's youngest daughter Louise, who grows up in the shadow of her singing and dancing older sister June (played by Morgan Brittany, her film debut, and Ann Jillian), who went on to become actress June Havoc. Russell and eventually Wood are equal to their parts as is Karl Malden as Herbie Sommers, a stage director that falls in love with Rose and becomes the manager-agent of her ever growing child stars on the vaudeville circuit.Herbie loses his patience with Rose when he finally realizes that her ambition has become exploitation as she convinces poor Louise to be the star of a burlesque show, where she's transformed into the renowned stripper.This musical drama, which was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and adapted by Leonard Spigelgass from Lee's memoir and the play by Arthur Laurents, features two renditions of the song "Let Me Entertain You", "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and many others. Its Color Cinematography and Costume Design as well as its Score received Academy Award nominations. Harvey Korman appears uncredited as Miss Lee's agent.

Robert D. Ruplenas What a great piece of film making. Some critics have called Gypsy the greatest musical ever produced, and I think I see why they say so. I've never seen a staged performance so I can't compare, but I don't see how this movie version could be any better than it is. Everything is at the highest level - casting, script, acting, direction, cinematography. The story is gripping, as one watches how a driven, obsessed, controlling woman warps the lives of those around her. Evidently Ethel Merman was furious that Russell was chosen for the part Merman created on Broadway, but Russell's performance is powerful. Karl Malden is just great as poor Herbie. Natalie Wood is flawless as Jean. The moment near the end when she looks at herself in the mirror before going onstage for her stripping debut, and suddenly recognizes her own femininity ("I'm a pretty girl, mama") is heartbreaking. The script never lets up on the dramatic tension, and the cinematography - in beautiful, extinct Technicolor - is a feast for the eyes. Evidently Russell couldn't sing and had to be dubbed. I've heard that Merman kept the outtakes of Russell's singing as a vicious memento (I'd kill to hear them). At any rate this is one of the all time greats, not to be missed.

Prismark10 Gypsy a musical based on the life of Gypsy Rose Lee takes liberties with the true story, its a clunky musical drama with some comedy, rather tame by today's standards as its not erotic or sexy, the musical numbers are rather forgettable and goes on for too long.The film is dominated by Rosalind Russell's overbearing and pushy stage mother who wants to make her children stars. She plays it loud and brash. Karl Malden is the put upon suitor who wants to marry her but gets nowhere as she loves the limelight too much.Natalie Wood plays Gypsy as someone who is sweet and innocent, a vaudeville act who stumbled into stripping and ended up being a successful showgirl. Even though the film was made in 1962 and there were censorship rules, its too wholesome. Burlesque is supposedly rather sleazy and she was a stripper for goodness sakes but here we hardly get to see any bare flesh and when Woods does her turn, the men are going crazy when all she has done was show a bit of shoulder.

Dalbert Pringle In my opinion, this 1962 film, based upon the 1957 book "Gypsy: A Memoir" written by Gypsy Rose Lee, herself, would have faired so much better had it been presented as a straight drama. I certainly found that both the musical numbers and the frequent lapses into comedy really weakened the overall punch that this film undoubtedly could've produced had these unnecessary elements not dominated a good part of the story.I also thought that Rosalind Russell's character as Rose Hovick, the ultimate, overbearing stage-mother-from-hell (who tyrannized the entire story) was given way-way too much attention and screen-time for my liking.From start to finish Russell's willful, one-note character literally chewed-up every bit of scenery with her loud, controlling and bossy histrionics. I found that this decidedly annoying character lost the novelty of her appeal within the first 30 minutes of the story.I also found that "Gypsy's" 143-minute running time to be almost unendurable to sit through. If a good 30 minutes had been carefully edited from this production I think that it would've been so much easier to enjoy.This movie just went on and on and on. (Ho-hum!) And its story just seemed to be going around and around in a vicious circle that ended up, in the long run, going absolutely nowhere at all.Another serious problem with "Gypsy" was the miscasting of Natalie Wood as the title character. From my point of view, Wood (though undeniably attractive) just didn't seem to possess the crucial dramatic resources to draw upon for this very demanding part. Wood simply played her part sweet & simple and this inevitably reduced her "Gypsy" to being nothing but an unambitious square - In other words, she was an accidental success.Yes. I fully understand that this film was clearly a product of early-1960's movie-making and that strict censorship was still in full swing back then - But, with that said, I really thought that it was completely laughable that Gypsy Rose Lee's meteoric rise to becoming a very hot burlesque queen was depicted as though just a sly wink, a sexy wiggle, and the revealing of a naked shoulder (and nothing else) was all that was required of her to achieve this special status of "striptease" royalty.Even though "Gypsy" was obviously a big-budget production that might have worked its intended magic as a stage play, on screen it was a truly disappointing let-down that certainly left a whole helluva lot to be desired.All-in-all - I would never recommend this film to anyone.