The Great Ziegfeld
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Movie Reviews of The Great Ziegfeld
Movie Review: The Great Ziegfeld...Great musical; Great bio pic; Great historical articfact
Summary: 5 Stars
Ziegfeld's second wife, Billie Burke, chose William Powell to play Ziegfeld. Billie Burke, most familiar to modern audiences as Glinda, The Good Witch of the North (The Wizard of Oz (70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition)), is played here by Myrna Loy. As anyone who has seen Powell and Loy together in The Complete Thin Man Collection (The Thin Man / After the Thin Man / Another Thin Man / Shadow of the Thin Man / The Thin Man Goes Home / Song of the Thin Man / Alias Nick and Nora) can attest, these two have terrific screen chemistry.
Luise Rainer won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as Anna Held, Ziegfeld's common law wife and the star of his early Broadway productions. The film is very coy in its treatment of the Ziegfeld-Held relationship. One minute he's trying to manufacture publicity to introduce the French singer to American audiences, the next moment he's sending her massive jewels with notes referring to her as his wife. (Which she makes her maid read aloud twice and repeats herself..."my wife.") Audiences of 1936 probably knew the back story. It was quite the scandal in its day.
A special mention should be given to Virginia Bruce in the supporting role of Audrey Dane. Dane is not a historical character; she is a composite of the women with whom the philandering Ziegfeld dallied. As such, she is marvelously juicy character who says she would sell her soul for jeweled baubles and stardom; she brings contraband champagne backstage during performances; she makes inappropriate speeches during curtain calls; and ultimately causes the break up of Ziggy's first marriage. Bruce, who had actually been a Ziegfeld Girl on Broadway, does a fine job with the singing and dancing, and she's electric in the hard edged backstage sequences.
Ray Bolger and Fanny Brice play themselves. Just...WOW!!
The most impressive musical number, "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" (with a generous helping of "Rhapsody in Blue") will knock your socks off. The costumes range from frothy 18th century ball gowns to eerie art deco bird women. They threw everything but the kitchen sink into this number, and somehow managed to pull it off! It could not be recreated today without CGI.
The DVD does have some problems. The film is about three hours long and, although cleaned up, is not in the best shape. It's a film that cries out for a commentary, but there is none. Perhaps in 2011 they will see fit to give us a Deluxe 75th anniversary edition with the treatment this classic deserves. However, between musicals having fallen into general disfavor and diminished audience attention spans, don't hold your breath.
Anyone interested in classic film and/or American musicals owes it to themselves to see this. While it gives us an extended bio of one of Broadway's most successful producers, Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., it is an amazing piece of American cultural history in itself
Movie Review: A glimpse at Hollywood's glamorous past.
Summary: 5 Stars
In the course of my reading I have come across a great many references to Florenz Ziegfeld and his legendary "Ziegfeld Follies". But I knew precious little about them. It seems that for three decades between 1907 and 1936 Flo Ziegfeld's lavish productions were all the rage on Broadway. And why wouldn't they be? The list of stars who performed in these shows reads like a "who's who" of show business during this period. Recently, I came across a VHS copy of the epic three hour 1936 film "The Great Ziegfeld" at my local library. It turns out that "The Great Ziegfeld" is not only a biography of this show business icon but the film also offers you an incredible opportunity to relax in your living room and sample the best of the what the Follies had to offer all those years ago. What you will discover is that these extravaganzas were postively "stunning". There has never been anything else quite like the "Follies" before or since.
For me, what was really neat about watching "The Great Ziegfeld" was the opporunity to partake of actual performances by such legendary figures as Al Jolson, Will Rogers, Fanny Brice and the song and dance man Ray Bolger (later the 'Tin Man' in the "Wizard of Oz"). It easy to see why these folks were such crowd pleasers in their day. But it was not just the so-called "stars" that made "Ziegfeld Follies" so special. It was was the lavish sets and the cadre of beautiful girls who would appear in each show. Literally hundreds of beautiful girls! These shows truly were spectacular in every way! And although this film was made more than 70 years ago I was glued to my TV the entire time.
As I mentioned earlier, the film also doubles as a biography of Flo Ziegfeld....well, sort of. The producers take liberal amounts of literary license with his life story. We do learn that Flo will spare no expense to make sure that his shows are the most ostentatious productions on Broadway. This penchant for lavish spending will land Flo in the poor house on more than one occasion. "The Great Ziegfeld" also focuses on Flo's personal life including his long-time common-law marriage to the Polish born performer Anna Held (played by Luise Rainer) and his subsequent marriage to actress Billie Burke (played by Myrna Loy). Indeed, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the outstanding music in this film by Walter Donaldson and the great Irving Berlin.
"The Great Zeigfeld" won three Academy Awards in 1936 and was nominated for four more. Kudos to William Powell for a splendid performance as Flo Ziegfeld. I found this to be an outstanding film on so many levels. It is a movie that I could watch again and again. Highly recommended!
Movie Review: A movie that deserved an Oscar!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you like musicals, you will love watching "The Great Ziegfeld". This movie has everything and it is awe inspiring to watch. William Powell plays Ziegfeld and he gives the showman a great tribute. Fannie Brice has a small part but it shows her as her silly self. The music in this movie, the Overture and the Intermission and throughout the film is wonderful and exciting. Frank Morgan (the Wizard of Oz), does a fantastic supporting role. Luise Rainer has many special qualities about her as an actress, and she won an Oscar for her performance. There are many inspiring showpieces in this movie. One of the best is a spiral cake with girls dressed in long flowing gowns and men dressed in tuxedos. As the camera rises to the top of the cake there is a beautiful girl who looks like a queen with stars in the background. A fashion show with girls dressed in rich apparel with extravagant designed hats and one girl with a white cottonball-like plume taller than she is on her side. Ray Bolger sings and walks across small steps at a high level with girls all around him. Will Rogers and Eddie Cantor have bit parts. One awesome scene begins with balloons on ribbons which come out into the audience. Another fantastic scene is a row of various kinds of dogs on the stage and girls dance around them. One scene is of the inside of homes and these homes are on rolling platforms, 5 of them in a row. Girls asleep in beds wake up and make their beds and then the camera shows them dancing on these platforms as they move in and out, seperately, from one another. Fantastic! The end of the movie is sad as the Stock Market crash of 1929 has come and Ziegfeld loses all his stocks and is broke. He has 4 shows that he has ready but they have to be shut down because of a lack of money. Ziegfeld misses Louise Rainer alot, which adds to his depression. When he hears that he has lost all of his stocks and money it is the final blow. Before he dies he sees the shows that he has made as they come to his remembrance. He then looks up and says words about steps, and he says, "I must go higher. Higher." Then he passes away, thus ending the movie. This film shows Hollywood at it's finest. It is a film that you HAVE to buy and see it for yourself. You'll be glad you did!Movie Review: The Best Musical Ever Made
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is great family entertainment. It keeps your attention the whole way through the picture. The stars include William Powell, Luise Rainer, Frank Morgan, Fannie Brice, Ray Bolger and others. The movie has comedy, drama, romance, it has it all. The production number at the end of the first half of the film is well done. It shows a large cake design that revolves slowly and on the top is seen a girl dressed as a queen with a sky of stars in the background. One stage number shows many balloons floating slowly towards the camera and behind them is one scene after another of beauty. Another number shows a line of dogs standing still while girls dance around them. Another great number shows couples living in fancy houses, but the scenery is on moving platforms, three of them, and each one moves at a different time. The couples are singing in this scene. Then is seen a large number of tapdancers dancing on these moving platforms. There is also a fashion show with girls wearing very costly gowns and large plumes on their heads. If you like MGM musicals, you should see this one. You wont be dissappointed. The movie centers around the life of Florenz Ziegfeld. When you watch this movie for the first time, you will want to watch it again and again.Movie Review: This could never be done today.
Summary: 5 Stars
What a great and wonderful film. Lately i've been in love with "Ziegfeld Girl" playing "You stepped out of a dream" and the Lana Turner sequence at the end over and over again. But this film "The Great Ziegfeld" is now my new favorite. I use to work at Radio City Music Hall under Leon Leninoff who designed all the stage shows production numbers in the earlier days. This film captures and reminds me so much of the old days at the "hall." If you love lavish production numbers, wonderful music, beautiful costumes then this film is for you. I can just imagine what it would have been like to be a Ziegfeld girl. The production number "A pretty girl is like a melody" was all shot in one take according to the extra that is on the DVD. Even if your not of that time (which i'm not) this movie is so great you can't help falling in love with it. It comes complete with Overture, Intermission, Entrance and Exit music. Unfortunetly this could never be filmed correctly today and there isn't the talent to create such a film anymore. So sit back and enjoy this one. You won't be sorry.