Widely considered top to bottom one of the finest musicals in Broadway history Gypsy got lucky in its film version. Granted Rosalind Russell doesn t have the bell-ringing voice one craves for in Everything s Coming Up Roses but as a domineering stage mom she s truly fearsome. Trouping through vaudeville with her is her daughter the future celebrity stripper Gypsy Rose Lee played by Natalie Wood in all her youthful lusciousness. The production is studio-bound but this actually fits the unreal show-biz world depicted. The Jule Styne-Stephen Sondheim score has no weak spots and some of the burlesque numbers ( Let Me Entertain You and the riotous You Gotta Get a Gimmick ) are so authentic you d swear they were at least 100 years old. Gypsy is one of those big somewhat stately musicals that does satisfying credit to its stage origins; no cinematic ground-breaking here but a swell way to spend a rainy afternoon. --Robert Horton - 085391675525