Hello, Dolly! is a 1969 American romantic comedy musical film based on the Broadway production of the same name. Directed by Gene Kelly and adapted and produced by Ernest Lehman, the cast includes Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Danny Lockin, Tommy Tune, Fritz Feld, Marianne McAndrew, E. J. Peaker and Louis Armstrong (whose recording of the title tune had become a number-one single in May 1964). The film follows the story of Dolly Levi (a strong-willed matchmaker), as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. In doing so she convinces his niece, his niece's intended, and Horace's two clerks to travel to New York City.
The film won three Oscars for Best Art Direction, Best Score of a Musical Picture, and Best Sound Best Sound Mixing and was nominated for a further four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Despite becoming one of the highest grossing films of 1969, it could not recoup its budget of $25 million (which adjusted for inflation is the equivalent of $164 million in contemporary dollars). Hello, Dolly! is now considered to be one of the greatest musical films ever.
