The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Robert Z. Leonard

Writer:

William Anthony McGuire (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 April 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

10 Big Shows In 1

Plot:

This biography follows the ups and downs of Florenz Ziegfeld, famed producer of extravagant stage revues.

Plot Keywords:

Revue | Sideshow | Florenz Ziegfeld | Composer | Broadway New York City

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

William Powell	...	Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
Myrna Loy	...	Billie Burke
Luise Rainer	...	Anna Held
Frank Morgan	...	Billings
Fanny Brice	...	Fannie Brice (as Fannie Brice)
Virginia Bruce	...	Audrey Dane
Reginald Owen	...	Sampston
Ray Bolger	...	Ray Bolger
Ernest Cossart	...	Sidney
Joseph Cawthorn	...	Dr. Ziegfeld (as Joseph Cawthorne)
Nat Pendleton	...	Sandow
Harriet Hoctor	...	Harriet Hoctor
Jean Chatburn	...	Mary Lou
Paul Irving	...	Erlanger
Herman Bing	...	Costumer

Runtime:

176 min | USA:185 min (roadshow version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2000) | Canada:PG (video rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | UK:U

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

A.A. Trimble, who portrays Will Rogers in the film, was actually a Cleveland map salesman who frequently impersonated Rogers at Rotarian lunches.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" number incorporates snippets of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", which was premiered circa 1924, but after its performance Anna Held, who died in 1918, is still portrayed as alive and married to Ziegfeld.

Quotes:

Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.: [after he has hired Jack Billings' valet away from him] Gentlemen never argue about gentlemen's gentlemen.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Some of the Best (1949)

Soundtrack:

You Gotta Pull Strings

Jeez Luise

Before anybody goes on for one minute more about how brilliant Luise Rainer is as Anna Held, let's remember that she took the Oscar from Garbo's Camille. I mean, come on. Rainer is pretty and her instincts are right, and her famous "telephone scene" expertly employs the old smiling-through-tears device. But it's hardly as challenging a role as Marguerite, and Rainer's undeniable Continental charm can go only so far.

The movie itself is a corker. William Anthony McGuire's screenplay is far above average for this musical-biography genre; it's full of smart wisecracks, and while it heavily fictionalizes Ziegfeld's life and persona (it makes him much more suave and irresistible than he was), it gets the big things right: his invention of the big musical revue, his obsession with glorifying the American girl, his unparalleled showmanship and eye for talent.

Speaking of talent, you get a full, uninterrupted, great Ray Bolger number, several clever and lavish production numbers, and a snippet of Fanny Brice (but cutting away from her "My Man" is unforgivable). The actors playing Eddie Cantor and Will Rogers are amusingly terrible. And Virginia Bruce is memorably nasty as a temperamental showgirl.

The Academy named this Best Picture of 1936. And you know, it probably was.