Musicals Blog

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.