Ziegfeld Follies

source: Ziegfeld Follies

If you have never seen a musical revue in the old style this is a great start. Part vaudevillian, part burlesque. It is vintage NY. Its in gorgeous color for 1946 and its wonderful. Revues were made to appeal to a wide range of viewers. Fanny Brice is excellent as a slapstick comedienne and she hearkens back to the old tent show days of the 20's, the skits are funny for the time period and quite risqué. The movie glorifies the beauty of women which was Ziegfelds trademark. Remember actresses like Billie Dove, Bilie Burke, Mae west got their start in the Ziegfeld and will rogers revues of a day gone by. this IS GREAT even the great Lena Horne, The first black star of the MGM lot is on hand to do her jungle skit (ala the old cotton club revue style production)

Any fan of musicals or dance has to see this movie for one number: Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly do their only on-screen dance number together, and it's a stunner. They're both at the top of their form, and the rivalry for the title of Best Male Dancer in Hollywood makes for some pretty impressive moves. Other than that, it's mainly enjoyable as an example of unrivaled kitsch than as a good movie. Former set decorator Vincente Minelli was never very restrained in his taste, and he goes way overboard on some of the numbers here. I mean, Kathryn Grayson singing some song about clouds while walking through 20-foot high mounds of soap bubbles lit with orange lights? Lucille Ball in a black leather outfit *whipping* a bunch of chorus girls on a moving merry-go-round? I swear, I'm not making this up. I'm afraid with all that going on, even the magnificent Judy Garland gets lost in the shuffle. You hardly notice "The Great Lady Gives An Interview".

I have enjoyed reading the various postings about this movie, but found it somewhat depressing to find so many viewers have been obviously conditioned by present day "standards of talent." (and by that I mean there is no one today to fill the shoes of these musical giants). Speaking for myself, this was quite an amazing achievement in the form it was meant to be -- a "Review" -- not a musical with a storyline -- and I think it is only fair to judge it on those terms, rather than what you wished it would be. My opinion: most of the comedy numbers were OK, but one should remember that these numbers were directed at a 1946 audience, who appreciated this kind of gentle humor more than present day viewers. As for the musical numbers -- I don't think MGM ever mounted anything as lavish and, in particular, "This Heart of Mine". One posting said the storyline didn't make any sense (it certainly did to me), and more than one decried the inadequacy of Lucille Bremer as a dancer. Lucille Bremer was not only beautiful, but was an excellent dancer and for me, they were perfect together. "Limehouse Blues" (filmed on the "Dorian Gray" set) is one for the history books. Judy Garland looked beautiful and, in an early example, showed what a terrific range she possessed. The Technicolor was magnificent. By the way, contrary to what was posted, this was one of MGM's highest grosses of he 1940s.

I missed this film when it was first released just after the war ended, but I noted the incredible array of stars featured and decided to watch it whenever a suitable opportunity offered. However it dropped out of attention before this occurred, and it was only very recently that I noticed it was scheduled to be screened again by TCM on television. I therefore took the opportunity to see it at last. After watching for a few minutes I felt I knew exactly what was being shown - it was an overlong and very tedious T.V. advertisement for MGM Studios that took the form of unrelated sequences featuring the various stars they had under contract. Whether it was more acceptable on the big screen I do not know as I never saw it there, but even if it were to be shown in a local cinema again I would certainly not be prepared to pay good money in order to find out. On television, the longer it ran the clearer it seemed that my initial impression was precisely correct. The only link provided between the various sequences was the attempt to parade them in the form of a Broadway show devised in Heaven after his death by Ziegfeld himself - presumably so that we were encouraged to think of him as remaining an honorary member of the MGM Studio team. The various stars who were "encouraged " to take part in this travesty of a film probably felt quite ashamed of their part in it. It was nominally directed by Vincente Minnelli, but history appears to indicate that he should not be too severely blamed. I understand that he had no part in directing the totally disastrous first segment, and he was only responsible for some of the others, even during these he has been reported to have been on a very tight rein. He too I am sure would prefer his no doubt enforced role in this film to be quickly forgotten. Out of kindness to the talented and hardworking participants who clearly tried very hard and deserved much better, I will rate this at 3. For a film buff this is almost certainly justified by the sequence starring Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly dancing together. I believe this is the only film in which this occurs and, apart from the great opportunity to admire the incredible timing they both showed, it was extremely interesting to be able to compare their very different techniques at such close quarters. But the rest is best quickly forgotten.

Given how much I love musicals, this was disappointing. It's a mish-mash of musical numbers and comedy routines from an all-star MGM cast, and it's only really worth watching for a couple of segments. The comedy bits are awful. I ended up skipping through the Red Skelton bit because I found it all so annoying. I watched the film primarily to see Kelly and Astaire dance together, and I'm glad I did, but it's an odd number. Neither look entirely comfortable throughout. Out of all the big name players, Astaire gets the most screen time in this, although he is partnered with Lucille Bremer in two of them, who is clearly far beneath him as a dancing partner. Her dancing lacks any personality or passion, and she's very limited (a debuting Cyd Charisse, dancing with the bubbles, would have been much better!). But the numbers are exquisitely staged, and the Technicolour is lovely. Garland's number is okay, because she has a great talent for comedy, but she never gets to belt it out so she's wasted. The less said about the pretty, pleasant-to-watch-when-she's-not-screeching Kathryn Grayson, the better. Her hymn to "Beauty" closes out the film, and it's hardly a winner. Esther Williams gets to show off her water skills, but it's all a bit so-so. A crazy bit is when Lucille Ball appears to be dominatrix to a bunch of cat women. Overall, it's hardly the great stuff you would expect from MGM

If you ask me - I'd say that Ziegfeld Follies was a perfect example of just how much Hollywood was so blindly in love with itself in the year 1945. This gaudy, garish, and clunky, post-WW2 time-waster could only appeal to the most die-hard fans of pure Tinseltown schmaltz, and no one else. Incompetently directed by that silly, flamboyant queen, Vincente Minnelli, Ziegfeld Follies was an unbelievably irksome mess of 15 short acts which either consisted of comedy, dance or song. Even though this utter piece of junk featured such big-name stars as Lena Horne, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland and Red Skelton, it was truly some of the absolute worst entertainment I've seen from that era of movie-making in a mighty long, long time.

What has an all star cast, including Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Lucille Ball, Esther Williams, Fanny Brice, William Powell, Lena Horne, Red Skelton, and a myriad of great MGM supporting players, yet still has all the entertainment value of an Army training film? Why it's "Ziegfeld Follies," an overblown, pretentious, ineptly executed and tedious sketch musical/comedy, the worst musical I've ever seen. For those who are not familiar with them, sketch musical comedies are a serious of musical interludes and comedy sketches connected by the thinnest of plot devices. Here, the late Florenz Ziefeld (William Powell) plans a new musical follies from his mansion in heaven. Perhaps what best sums up the ineptitude of "Follies" is having Fred Astaire, arguably the world's greatest dancer, perform with Louise Bremer, who can't dance a lick(!) The director must resort to having Ms. Bremer on a rotating platform during one of the numbers. Perhaps it's not fair of me to review this film, because my wife and I gave up after the first hour of tedium, having fast forwarded through the stale comedy sketches. Nonetheless, I believe viewers should be forewarned. If you don't like the first ten minutes, you won't like the first hour and you have been forewarned.

Ziegfeld Follies, seeing it again takes me back to the first time I did see it. At the old Ziegfeld Theater now converted to a movie house where for $2.00 I could spend the day with Ziegfeld. A triple feature ran that day. The Great Ziegfeld, Ziegfeld Girl, and Ziegfeld Follies ran back to back. Things started around 10:30 am. and I didn't leave the theater until 7:30 pm. This film was MGM's attempt to create the Ziegfeld Follies and what it was like to see it on stage. At a time when every studio was creating all star musical films as morale boosters for the war, Ziegfeld Follies is the only one of the whole bunch that has absolutely no mention of the war. In fact it's a one and only throwback to the all star musical films that sprouted out at the beginning of the sound era. It more properly belongs with films like Paramount on Parade, Fox's Movietone Follies, and The King of Jazz. MGM had more musical talent at its studio than any other and in Ziegfeld Follies they used it all and then some. The introduction is provided by William Powell reprising his role as Florenz Ziegfeld. He's in his heavenly digs now, reminiscing about the great times on earth and the great shows he put on. If he were doing a show today, he'd first begin it with a great star like Fred Astaire. Then Fred takes over and the show begins. Arthur Freed who also contributed some lyrics here as well, produced Ziegfeld Follies and under his banner various directors and writers and performers all got to do their thing. Two performers Fanny Brice and Victor Moore got to do some of the comedy they did back on the stage and for Ziegfeld. It's a pity Eddie Cantor who was still alive and very much active couldn't be brought in. He's only seen at the beginning in an animated version. W.C. Fields who also starred in the Follies as well on stage probably was in bad health, bad temper or both. I'm sure that Ziegfeld would have loved the talent assembled here. It ranges from the Metropolitan Opera's James Melton to vaudeville's Red Skelton. In fact my favorite comedy number from the film is Red Skelton doing the Guzzler's Gin Program and lamenting the fact that next time he gets oatmeal for a sponsor. My favorite musical number is Lena Horne singing the song Love in a Caribbean setting. One of Ziegfeld's famous headliners was the famous black comedian Bert Williams. To not have a black performer in this cast would have been an insult to Ziegfeld's memory as well as a whole race of people. Lena Horne's act isn't exactly the same as Bert Williams's, but her singing of Love is the musical highlight of the film. Until That's Entertainment II, Ziegfeld Follies was the only film in which Fred Astaire got to dance with Gene Kelly. Although Astaire has a few numbers here, this is Kelly's only appearance. They do George and Ira Gershwin's The Babbitt and the Bromide which Astaire did with his sister Adele back in the Twenties. It's not the best work for either of them, still it's a twice in a lifetime treat. Films like Ziegfeld Follies can never be done again because the studios that had all that talent under contract are gone. But Arthur Freed shot almost double the amount of numbers and many things were cut. I think it would be great if we could get the footage restored if MGM bothered to save it. A director's cut Ziegfeld Follies. To really fill your day with the magic of a Ziegfeld show.

When I first heard about this movie, & saw that the real Fanny Brice, Red Skelton, Judy Garland, & all the other greats from this era were in this, I knew I had to see it. I only wish the whole film lived up to the sum of its parts. The star power in this movie would blow anything over. I think the fault here is that the film comes off as a lot of dis-jointed performances which while well-staged & good, have nothing to tie you to the film & stay interested in it. The great musicals such as 2006's DreamGirls have that kind of thing. As a result, the main interest for someone watching this is to take a DVD of it with a scene menu & go to you favorite performers part in it. After seeing Streisand play Fanny Brice, it is interesting to see the real woman as she was versus Bab's portrayal of her. This film is lavish & MGM's Technicolor is great as usual. The film just doesn't flow very well which is a shame. It looks like no one wanted to hire good writers for a script. MGM made this on the presumption that just the stars would put people in the theater seats. I bet it did in it's time, but I only wish it had been done better now.