The Great Ziegfeld

MGM's epic biopic of theatrical producer Florenz Ziegfeld, starring William Powell in the title role. As with most Hollywood biopics, liberties are taken with the facts. Since this was made in the Golden Age of Hollywood, the intention is to portray Mr. Ziegfeld in the best possible light. If it were made today, the opposite would be true and all his faults would be emphasized (probably to the point of slander). I'll leave it to you to decide which is the better approach. Anyway, the movie covers Ziegfeld's rise as a Barnum-esque showman to becoming one of Broadway's most successful producers with his Ziegfeld Follies show. Along the way he attracts many women and marries two of them (Luise Rainer, Myrna Loy).

It's a spectacle made in the grand Old Hollywood fashion, heavy on melodrama and lavish musical numbers. Powell is fine in the lead. I have no idea how closely he "gets" Ziegfeld here, as he seems very much like William Powell's usual screen persona to me. He would reprise his role as Ziegfeld a decade later in 1946's Ziegfeld Follies (also from MGM). Luise Rainer is terrific in her Oscar-winning role as Ziegfeld's first wife, Anna. Myrna Loy is a little miscast as Billie Burke but it's hard to argue against any opportunity to see Powell and Loy on screen together. The rest of the cast includes solid supporting players Frank Morgan, Virginia Bruce, Ray Bolger, Reginald Owen, and Nat Pendleton. A. A. Trimble does a spot-on impersonation of Will Rogers.

It is a bit overlong. The first half could have done with some trimming. Still, a fine cast keeps things interesting and those musical numbers are dynamite. Dennis Morgan's "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" number is one of the highlights. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards with three wins, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Rainer. Its award wins are the subject of debate for some today, who argue it is one of the least-deserving Best Picture winners. That's kind of laughable when you think about it, as the Best Picture Oscar rarely goes to the most deserving film. That was true then and is even more true today, in my opinion. It's definitely something you'll want to try out if you are a fan of classic Hollywood and all its glitz and glamour. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

Boy, is this movie long......but worth it for the most part. William Powell is, as usual, his urbane, sophisticated self in a romanticized portrayal of Florenz Ziegfeld. Myrna Loy,leaving behind her wisecracking Nora Charles persona, does a fair job as Billie Burke. Burke, whose movie career was based on dithering, silly women, was once a beauty who graced the Follies. Loy doesn't come across as either but she has never given a bad performance so she is believable. But Louise Rainer as Anna Held is the one to watch here. A beautiful doll-like creature, she enchants you with her performance. The famous telephone scene may be overrated somewhat but it worked for me....and obviously for the Academy...it garnered her an Oscar. The music is so wonderful and the "Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" with Dennis Morgan is eye candy. One glaring fault is that there is a very short sequence with the great Fanny Brice in which she is singing "My Man" ( probably one of the greatest torch songs of all times) and it is just cut-off in mid warble as the story goes on to another scene. An unforgivable sin!! There could have been a little less talk and a little more singing/dancing in the movie but since it is a biography and not primarily a musical, all, except for the Brice faux pas, is forgiven!

Like some huge, lumbering, Paleozoic beast with a heart, nothing like this film has existed in a long time. And I doubt that there will be anything like it again. "The Great Ziegfeld" is a grandiose, three hour, B&W cinematic opus that chronicles the true story (more or less) of the professional life of legendary producer/showman "Flo" Ziegfeld, played convincingly by William Powell. It is an interesting, lovable film because it is so historically ... quaint.

Structurally, the narrative takes a chronological approach. However, except for the film's starting year of 1893 and the ending soon after the 1929 stock market crash, no dates are given, a shortsighted flaw in the screenplay. But during this roughly forty-year period we see Ziggy's ambition unfurl into a successful career of producing some of the most extravagant musical shows in history. And throughout, the theme remains the same: to "glorify the American girl", that is to say to glorify the early twentieth century stereotyped image of the American girl.

Despite his success as a showman, Ziggy was constantly plagued with financial problems, and embroiled in relations with women, the two most important being: the humorously indecisive Anna Held, and the lovely Billie Burke.

More interesting to me than the biography is the lavish, grandiose production numbers. In the most grandiose of all, Dennis Morgan sings "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody", as the camera ascends a slowly revolving spiral staircase adorned with "Ziegfeld girls" in outlandish costumes. The set, resembling a wedding cake, is about as tall as it is wide, with the stage curtain rising to what seems like stratospheric heights.

The film's strengths are its humorous script, the dazzling sets, the glamorous costumes, the music, a cameo appearance by Fanny Brice, and a great tap dance routine by Ray Bolger. My main complaint is the film's length. Also, I find it curious that this big budget beast with its theme of wealth and beauty came out right in the middle of the Great Depression. MGM must have been on a colossal ego trip.

Overall, "The Great Ziegfeld" is fun, and definitely worth watching, especially as a time capsule to an entertainment era that is gone forever.

Like its subject, this movie is interesting and generally entertaining, but often overblown. It's well worth seeing, although it could also have been whittled down by a good portion of its running time without losing anything important. It does present a believable and entertaining look at Ziegfeld's shows and personality, along with some good scenes and some good performances that keep it going.

William Powell was a pretty good choice to play Ziegfeld, since he has the knack of making a character eccentric and distinctive without having it come across as too forced or unnatural. And Myrna Loy is always a charming co-star, for Powell or anyone else. Yet it is Luise Rainer who delivers by far the most memorable performance - she makes her character temperamental but endearing, unpredictable but completely sympathetic. The best parts of the movie come when she is a big part of the action, and when her character slips into the background in the second half, the movie loses something. The rest of the large cast does get some good moments, and it's fun to see a couple of performers playing themselves, although some of them don't get nearly enough to do. The many production numbers contain some very good ones, but there are others that aren't worth the amount of time they were given, and that could have been cut down considerably without losing anything.

You can see why this impressed a lot of viewers in its time, and it's still pretty good entertainment. It could have been better, though, with a little more restraint. But then, its excesses are rather in keeping with its subject, and at any rate they don't keep it from being worth seeing.

This movie is worthwhile viewing for any fan of classic cinema or William Powell, but over 73 years later it's hard to see why this film won Best Picture of 1936 and a film like "Dodsworth" lost. Today it does seem overly long on musical numbers that could have been cut and short on storyline. There are probably several reasons that the picture could have been better and wasn't, the primary reason being that at the time the film was made Ziegfeld had only been dead four years and was thus still fondly and recently remembered. Also, according to the little featurette that comes with the DVD, Ziegfeld's widow Billie Burke was heavily involved in the making of the film and wouldn't allow anything in it to besmirch his memory. Finally, the production code had just begun to be sternly enforced in 1934, making a true accounting of Ziegfeld's personal life pretty much impossible. As a result Ziegfeld is portrayed as just the unluckiest of fellows who is always being wrongly perceived as a ladies' man just because his business involves large numbers of chorines.

In fact, Ziegfeld cheated on both wives incessantly, and Ziegfeld never even formally married Anna Held to begin with - instead they had a common law marriage according to the statutes of New York. However, none of these other factors can account for the complete lack of chemistry between Powell (Ziegfeld) and Loy (as Billie Burke) in the film. Considering how the two had already been in several movies together by the time this film was made, and that they never failed to sparkle on screen together in the other movies, there must have been either a complete lack of direction or over-direction to wind up with the rather wooden performance that results whenever the two are in scenes together.

This movie would probably rate only about 6/10 if it wasn't for William Powell's performance. Marvelous as always, he was at least allowed to portray Ziegfeld as the cagey trickster and gambler with tremendous class that he was, and he absolutely makes the film. I can't think of any other actor of that time period who could have done as good a job.