Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Steineded How sad is this?

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

David Marcos Gypsy is arguably the greatest Broadway show ever written. It's funny, scary, dramatic, moving, sexy...everything you'd ever want from a show. Why Hollywood felt the need to mess with perfection is beyond me, but they did.Warner's 1962 version of Gypsy gets off to such a rough start that it's impossible to ever redeem itself even when it finally gets back on track later in the film. The first act portion of Warner's Gypsy mixes song/scene order, combines characters, adds needless voice overs, and destroys the pacing of the film completely.With this cast's less than stellar vocal abilities, the music score was never going to soar like it usually does with better singers at the helm, but the slow tempos sure don't help.Rosalind Russell does as best she can in a role she's not terribly well-suited for, but she does manage to wring a bit of comedy out of the dreary first half of the film and give the character of Rose a bit of pathos in the second half of the film. Her voice isn't up to task for the songs, but she gives it her all and you have to admire that.Of the whole cast, Natalie Wood comes across the best. Her voice isn't perfect, but she pulls her songs off well enough and makes Louise a real person, despite the screenwriter and studio's attempts to sabotage her at every turn. For instance, why make June run away with a random chorus boy named Jerry instead of Louise's crush, Tulsa? It takes away a big moment for her character.Once the act 2 portion gets going, the film evens out and it becomes a bit more watchable, as it stays rather faithfully to the original stage script. Unfortunately, by that point, it's too little too late and the damage has been done.If this movie is your only option, it's worth a shot, but the stage version is infinitely better and more worth your time.

Hitchcoc Because I could never accept Natalie Wood as Gypsie Rose Lee, I couldn't get into this musical. I find the songs sort of pedestrian. I know that Mama was a reality in her life and that she had to continually compete with her little sister, but I never really thought that the story was terribly interesting. Stage mothers have been the topic of so many plays and movies and this didn't offer me anything new. I think Rosalind Russell was fine as the mother. She did plenty of shouting and had genuine edginess in her role. She could also express hurt. Natalie is so beautiful, so striking. From what I've seen of film of Gypsie Rose Lee, she wasn't the dark beauty that Wood was. This is one of those movies that I remember, but it doesn't do all that much for me.

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.