The Great Ziegfeld
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Movie Reviews of The Great Ziegfeld
Movie Review: A SUPERB FILM BIO - ONLY AVERAGE LOOKING TRANSFER
Summary: 3 Stars
"The Great Ziegfeld" is a biographic film based on the life of Broadway impressario, Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. Brimming with stellar performances by William Powell, Myrna Loy and Luise Rainer (who walked off with the Best Actress Oscar)a wonderful score and mind-boggling production values, this is one heck of a good time for a night's entertainment!TRANSFER: Unfortunately, Warner Brothers gives us a somewhat tired looking print of this classic film. Though the gray scale is generally well balanced, some of the picture appears to be out of focus while other portions are filled with excessive film grain. Dirt, age related artifacts and an incredible amount of scratches in some scenes really detract from the over all visual presentation. The audio is MONO and, as with the picture, is not adequate. During some of the songs the background hiss is excessive.
EXTRAS: A flimsy featurette that all too briefly attempts to "sum up" the film and the real life of one of the 20th century's greatest showman.
BOTTOM LINE: Because you are not likely to see this film revisited in a Deluxe Edition I am recommending to add it to your library. But it in no way stands up to Warner's previous DVD mastering efforts on "Now Voyager" or "Mildred Pierce".
Movie Review: Too Long and Draggy after the Intermission
Summary: 3 Stars
The first part of this film is exceptional. The musical numbers and the origins of the great showman himself are fantastic.
After the intermission the movie bogs down and there aren't enough musical numbers to sustain one's interest. As a matter of fact, the last 1/4 of the movie is entirely devoid of them.
"The Great Ziegfeld" is worth its title of the best picture of 1936 for two reasons: 1) A Pretty Girl is like a Melody number....MGM at its most lavish!!
and #2) Luise Rainer's Oscar Winning performance....when she phones Flo to congratulate him on his marriage to Billie Burke.
However, I don't believe she should have been nominated as Best Actress. Best Supporting Actress yes...but she was not a lead actress in this film, though her performance did merit an academy award it should have been for best supporting actress.
They should have closed the film with "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody"......but then we would have missed Louise Rainer's heartbreaking scene, wouldn't we??
Movie Review: Feel free to leave at Intermission
Summary: 3 Stars
The first half of this film is exciting--as Florenz Ziegfeld creates his Broadway reputation, woos Anna Held to the stage, and mounts his "Follies." There is a thrilling backstage atmosphere, and a beautiful recreation of the era (at least 1936's view of it--as stills from the original follies prove they weren't nearly as stupendous, how could they be?). But then, after the centerpiece "Melody" number (in a word--wow), the movie slips into a sleepwalk, tries to create drama where there isn't any, and commits felonies like cutting away from Fanny Brice while she's singing "My Man." There is also a ballet number with Harriet Hoctor that is a horror, and is what fast forward buttons were invented for. Essential viewing for those interested in 30s cinema--it truly is a gigantic movie. But you should brace yourself for that last hour. (See also "Rosalie," a Ziegfeld show MGM turned into a film the following year, for more of the studio's crazy "bigger is better" mentality. That film, written by the same writer and almost topping this one in scale, is catastrophically bad.)