Gypsy: stage vs screen

Mervyn LeRoy's 1962 film of Gypsy, released by Warner Bros. with Rosalind Russell as Rose, Natalie Wood as Louise, and Karl Malden as Herbie, adapts the 1959 Broadway musical that starred Ethel Merman. Arthur Laurents wrote the stage book, Jule Styne the music, and Stephen Sondheim the lyrics, drawing on Gypsy Rose Lee's 1957 memoir. The score is mostly intact. Here is what changed on screen.

Stage

Broadway musical (1959)

Screen

Gypsy (1962), directed by Mervyn LeRoy

1. Rosalind Russell replaces Ethel Merman

Ethel Merman created Rose on Broadway, and Mervyn LeRoy had told her he planned to cast her. Instead Warner Bros. signed Rosalind Russell: her husband, producer Frederick Brisson, had sold the studio the play A Majority of One on condition that she star in both films, and Merman had never become a film draw. Merman called it the biggest professional letdown of her life. Russell won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.

2. Russell's singing voice is blended with Lisa Kirk's

The Gypsy score was beyond Russell's range, so her voice was blended with that of contralto Lisa Kirk, who sang uncredited. Kirk's full vocal of "Rose's Turn" was released on the original soundtrack album but is not the version used in the film. Russell's own original vocals were later found on acetate discs and added to the CD reissue as bonus tracks.

3. Natalie Wood sings for herself

Marni Nixon had dubbed Natalie Wood in West Side Story the year before, but Wood sang her own parts as Louise in Gypsy. She sang "Little Lamb" live in the film and recorded a separate studio version for the soundtrack album. "Mr. Goldstone, I Love You" and the reprise of "Small World" were also sung live on set, by Russell rather than Kirk.

4. One song is cut and another trimmed

"Together, Wherever We Go," the trio for Rose, Herbie, and Louise, was deleted before release, though it survives on the soundtrack album. "You'll Never Get Away from Me," a duet for Rose and Herbie on stage, was cut down to a solo for Rose after the film's first run. Both full numbers, taken from a lower-quality 16mm print, are included as bonus features on the DVD.

5. The burlesque world is gentler

The story still reaches a low-rent Wichita burlesque house, and Tessie Tura, Mazeppa, and Electra still teach Louise about the need for a gimmick in "You Gotta Get a Gimmick." But Variety's review felt the film prettied up the burlesque world with soft focus and a kind of phony innocence, and said its picture of the strip trade had little to do with the real thing.

6. Rose's Turn and the ending survive

The film keeps "Rose's Turn," Rose's breakdown alone on an empty stage. She admits she lived through her daughters, the two begin to reconcile, and Louise invites her to a society party that evening. Stage endings vary: the original script moves tentatively toward reconciliation, while the 1974 and 2008 Broadway revivals end with Louise walking away and Rose alone.

7. The 1993 TV film goes back to the stage

Bette Midler played Rose in a CBS film that aired December 12, 1993, directed by Emile Ardolino, with Laurents adapting his own book. Laurents had hated the 1962 film and at first opposed a remake. The TV version reused the original Broadway orchestrations, its numbers were choreographed by Jerome Robbins, and some songs were sung live rather than lip-synced. Midler won a Golden Globe for the role.

8. A big Hollywood hit that won no Oscars

Warner Bros. released the 143-minute film on November 1, 1962. It cost about $4 million and grossed about $11.1 million, making it the eighth-highest-grossing film of 1962 in the United States. It earned three Oscar nominations, for cinematography, costume design, and scoring of music, but won none, while Russell's Golden Globe was its main prize.

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