1936--The Great Ziegfeld, Robert Z. Leonard

1936--The Great Ziegfeld, Robert Z. Leonard
Nominated: Anthony Adverse, Dodsworth, Libeled Lady, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Romeo and Juliet, San Fransisco, The Story of Louis Pasteur, A Tale of Two Cities, Three Smart Girls
Should have won: Modern Times
Be sure to see: The Golem, My Man Godfrey, Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor, Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
"I've seen the flies on the flypaper and it seems to me they stick very well,"--Anna Helm

     At the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, Florenz Ziegfeld  is promoting the world's strongest man (right across from a belly dancer named Little Egypt who is billed as the 8^th wonder of the world; I guess she didn't watch King Kong three years earlier). His rival, Billings (played by the Great and Powerful Oz himself, Frank Morgan), owns the Little Egypt act. Billings tells Ziegfeld he intends to sign French actress Anna Helm but Ziegfeld wants her to join his act. Ziegfeld devises a plan that will include numerous beautuful women (it is no secret Ziegfeld is a ladies man) and calls it the Ziegfeld Follies. Many acts besides the women take place including an amusing number by a stagehand played by, Ray Bolger, who plays himself in this movie. You might remember him as the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.  Things seem to go well, and then the stock market crash occurs. 

     The Great Ziegfeld is an intereging movie because it isn't a musical but it could have been. When I watch a traditional musical, the other storylines are just filler until the next dance sequence starts; in this film, the musical numbers drag it slightly. I cared more about Zieglfeld and his relationships with his acts or rival. Some of the musical acts are good though, particuarly the dance with all the girls and the collies and ponies (though some of the dancing is a little sloppy and not polished) and I especially enjoyed Ray Bolger's tapdance. He does the splits in a way that seems impossible. He is not' the best dancer I've ever seen but might possibly be the fastest. I found it funny he says to Ziegfeld that he's been a prop boy for five years and wants to tap because his heart isn't in sweeping. Three years later he would be asking the Wizard of Oz for a brain. Another act is one of those blackface racist acts called“If you knew Susie” ala Al Jolson. 

     It is an interesting movie because it is true. Like any true story, the movie takes on liberties but there really was a Florenze Ziegfled and he really did put on the follies. But his place of death is changed. I didn't mind because most movies need to change some aspects of true stories for dramatic purposes. And on top of that, I wasn't familiar with the backstory anyway. .

     My favorite performance is certainly William Powell as Ziegfeld but Luise Rainer won the Oscar for her portrayal of Anna Held. She would also nab the award the following year for The Good Earth and was the only actress to win two years in a row until Katherine Hepburn won in 1967 and '68. It should also be noted that, as this review is being posted, she is still alive at age 104. I like Ziegfeld's character though. Even after a downfall, he overhears men in the barber shop talking about how his shows stink, not knowing he was there the whole time. He then becomes determined to have four hits on Broadway.

     The Great Ziegfeld was okay. Enjoying the non-musical acts more than the musical ones sort of kill the mood for a movie like this, but it worked in a sense. It was way too long though. Some of the dialogue sound as if the Marx Brothers had written it. “Do you realize you gave me five pounds?” “Yes I'm trying to lose weight” or “This cheese is so strong it could walk over and say hello to your coffee” “Well it had better not, this coffee's too weak to answer it.” Leave that stuff up to Chico and Groucho, it didn't work here.

     The final line in the film, when Zieglfeld's health is declining, sums up his character perfectly. “I've got to have more steps. I need more steps. I've got to get higher. Higher.” Even at his lowest point she showman in him shines through. The movie is pretty decent but nothing to shout about. The actor who played Florenz Ziegfeld is William Powell and if you'd like to see him in an amusing comedy, watch My Man Godfrey made the same year.