Kander and Ebb: Movie Musicals
by Claire J Rottenberg
In 1975, the same year as their successful Broadway
musical, "Chicago," John Kander
and Fred Ebb wrote
part of the score to the Barbra Streisand film,
"Funny Lady." The film was a sequel to "Funny
Girl" and it was a moderate success. One of Kander
and Ebb's songs from the film, "How Lucky Can You Get?,"
was nominated for an Academy Award. The best songs
in the film, however, were older songs not written
by Kander and Ebb.
Kander and Ebb's next venture into composing a film
score was in 1977 when they composed four songs for
the film, "New York, New York." Although the film was
directed by the respected director, Martin Scorsese,
and it starred Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro, it
was a flop and grossed a million dollars less than it
cost. However, the film had Kander and Ebb's most
popular song, "New York, New York."
Frank Sinatra recorded it and the song became a
huge hit and it has become associated with both
Sinatra and New York City.
After the failure of "New York, New York," Kander and
Ebb returned to Broadway, creating another flop, "The
Act," in 1978. Their next success came in 1981 with
"Woman of the Year," starring Lauren Bacall. They
continued creating Broadway shows until Ebb's death
in 2004.
Some of the best known songs from Kander and Ebb are
"New York, New York," "Cabaret," "Maybe Next Time,"
and "All That Jazz."
Part 1 of Kander and Ebb posts.