Amsel's lost art: FUNNY GIRL

In 2021 I wrote about Richard Amsel’s proposed poster art for FUNNY LADY, the 1975 musical about the further adventures of Fanny Brice. Barbra Streisand returned to her Oscar-winning role with gusto and aplomb, yet while the FUNNY GIRL sequel was another box office hit, and received several Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, it did not quite match the critical praise of its predecessor.

The artwork lingered in my memory primarily because it was more akin to the streamlined graphic art approach Amsel used for Bette Midler’s album covers, than his more embellished movie poster illustrations. Its deceptive simplicity is part of its charm.

I heard rumors that Amsel had done a sketch or two of the original FUNNY GIRL back in 1968, but I was never able to find one – or so I thought. I have many Streisand portraits in my digital Amsel archives, and the majority of them I classified long ago as either personal or student works.

Well…I recently watched the movie FUNNY GIRL for the first time (I know, I know… I’m now likely to have my gay membership card revoked), and realized one piece in particular that Amsel illustrated was definitely inspired directly by the film. The art was under my nose the whole time.

I'm certain this was not a formal poster proposal, but merely a student portfolio project. Amsel did many such movie-inspired portraits while at the Philadelphia College of Art (BONNIE AND CLYDE and OLIVER! among them). Yet it’s fun to wonder the What if…? question.