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They just don't make musicals like this any more. There are some who would be grateful for that--the plot is but a flimsy excuse to string together song and dance numbers. Some of us, however, love big, splashy, overdone musical scenes, of which there are many. Glittering stage numbers showcase a commanding Barbra Streisand as Dolly Levy, a New York matchmaker who can find a mate for anyone. Anyone but herself, that is. Determined to marry wealthy Walter Matthau, she lures him out of Yonkers and sets about wooing him. Don't worry about the lack of a solid story or Gene Kelly's pedestrian direction. Watch instead for the musical numbers and the lavish costumes. Listen to Jerry Herman's score, and dance around the living room when a sequined Streisand arrives in a club as Louis Armstrong strikes up the title tune for her benefit. (Just pull the shades first.) Based on Thornton Wilder's play The Matchmaker, Hello, Dolly! won Academy Awards for best sound, art direction, and musical score. --Rochelle O'Gorman
 Customer Reviews 
GLORIAT
Rating: 5
AWESOME. NOTHING HAS CHANGED SINCE FIRST SEEING IT. GLAD TO HAVE THIS ONE IN MY LIBRARY NOW.
Back Where She Belongs!!!
Rating: 5
When this movie came out in 1969, the country was in social turmoil and this light-as-a-feather story was relegated to the "has-been" file. Add the fact that Barbra Streisand (a girl of 26 at the time) was asked to play the widow Dolly!!!
But now one can enjoy this movie for what is - a happy-step, smile-on-your-face piece of escapism. The movie moves quickly with quirky characters, fantastic songs, and some of the best mugging Streisand has ever put on film.
Spend a Sunday morning in your jammies with a cup of hot chocolate, and just let this wonderful film take you to a happy place.
Don't let the parade pass you by!
Rating: 4
A huge hit on Broadway, Hello Dolly was a very controversial film in its time, and still gets Barbra Streisand and movie musical fans riled up from time to time. Most of the controversy came from the fact that Barbra Streisand, a then-questionable box office draw, was hired over Carol Channing, who originated the role on Broadway to great praise. In the end, Barbra shows that she can do a role she probably never should have been considered for.
The best things about the movie are the musical numbers, which Streisand only shines brightly in. She sounds great in "Just Leave Everything to Me," brings great energy to "Put on Your Sunday Clothes," and looks beautiful in "Hello Dolly," a duet with Louis Armstrong that has great chemistry. In fact, despite Streisand's admittant insecurity about her part, and the fact that, at 27, she was too young to be playing a middle-aged spinster, she is the only reason to watch this movie. It is funny to think that the biggest mistake of the movie turned out to be the film's only saving grace.
Unfortunately, there are some glaring flaws in the movie. For one thing, Streisand and her leading man, Walter Matthau, have no chemistry on screen (the two famously hated each other in real life), making their love story uninvolving at best. Also, between musical numbers, the movie drags, sometimes painfully so, and even some of the musical numbers with Barbra absent are, at their best, mediocre.
Despite these problems, I'd have to say the movie is, all and all, a good time had by anyone who watches. Not a classic, but entertaining nonetheless.
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