The working title of this film was Wedding Day. The opening credits include the following written statement: "We are most grateful to Mrs. Carmel Snow and Harper's Bazaar Magazine for their generous assistance." The onscreen credit for sound recording reads: "George and Winston Leverett." Funny Face is based on Wedding Day, an unproduced musical play by Leonard Gershe. According to LAT, Gershe(1922--2002)served in the merchant marines with Richard Avedon, the noted fashion photographer who was the real-life model for the "Dick Avery" character. Modern sources state that Gershe based the love story in Wedding Day on Avedon and his wife Doe, who, like the character "Jo Stockton," became a noted model despite her indifference toward that profession. Modern sources also state that the original musical score for Wedding Day was written by Vernon Duke and Ogden Nash, and that the musical play was once optioned by producer Clinton Wilder. Before any stage production was mounted, Gershe sold the rights to his play to M-G-M, which assigned producer Roger Edens and director Stanley Donen to the project.
       According to Cosmopolitan, M-G-M soon thereafter decided to incorporate into the project the George and Ira Gershwin score from the 1927 musical play Funny Face, in which Fred Astaire had previously starred on Broadway with his sister Adele. Four songs from that musical--"Let's Kiss and Make Up," "He Loves and She Loves" "Funny Face" and "S'Wonderful"--were used in the film, along with two other Gershwin compositions: "How Long Has This Been Going On?" which was originally cut from the musical play Funny Face, then later integrated into the musical Rosalie; and "Clap Yo' Hands" from Oh, Kay. Modern sources report that the Gershwin musical catalog was controlled at the time by Warner Bros., and that M-G-M acquired the use of these songs for Funny Face in exchange for lending director Donen to Warner Bros. for their 1957 adaptation of the hit Broadway musical The Pajama Game (See Entry).
       In a 27 Oct 1955 M-G-M press release, the studio announced that contract dancer Carol Haney had been selected to play the female lead in Wedding Day, with the studio's Dolores Gray cast in the role of the fashion editor. In Jan 1956, however, DV announced that Paramount had acquired the film rights to Funny Face from M-G-M, and had cast Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire as the romantic leads. As part of this deal, Paramount also acquired the temporary services of M-G-M contractees Edens and Donen, who, the trade paper pointed out, had done considerable prepping for the film at their home studio. DV also noted that Astaire's current project at Paramount, Papa's Delicate Condition, for producer Robert Emmett Dolan, was being delayed until the completion of Funny Face.
       That project, which ultimately starred Jackie Gleason, however, was shelved until 1963 (see entry). According to Cosmopolitan, M-G-M had also sought Hepburn for the female lead in their production of Funny Face, but was unable to acquire her services from Paramount, to whom she was then under exclusive contract. Modern sources claim M-G-M executives were happy to sell Funny Face to Paramount, as they had become disenchanted with the musical genre due to the lackluster box office performance of such films as their 1955 production It's Always Fair Weather (See Entry).
       According to the file on the film in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library, Funny Face was originally given a budget of $2,739,000. After shooting from 9 Apr to 28 May 1956 at Paramount Studios, the production moved on location to Paris, France, where shooting continued from 5 Jun to 3 Jul 1956. Due to poor weather in France, which extended the location shoot an extra eleven days, the final budget of the film escalated to $3,164,000. According to the Paramount studio files, Avedon's onscreen credit was originally to have read: "Special Visual Consultant (Courtesy of Harper's Bazaar)." Funny Face marked the film debut of noted fashion models Suzy Parker (1932--2003) and Dovima. Funny Face also marked the motion picture debut of Carole Eastman, who had a small role in the film as a specialty dancer. Eastman later became a screenwriter, often using the pseudonym Adrien Joyce. Her most famous screenplay was for Five Easy Pieces (1970, see above).
       Modern sources claim the inspiration for Kay Thompson's character, "Maggie Prescott," was Vogue magazine editor Diana Vreeland. Modern sources include Genevieve Aumont (French actress) in the cast. The film received Academy Award nominations in the Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design and Writing (Story and Screenplay--Written Directly for the Screen) categories. In May 1990, Funny Face was chosen to close the AFI Film Festival and was re-released by Paramount that same year in select U.S. cities.