The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

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

Director:

Robert Z. Leonard

Writer:

William Anthony McGuire (screenplay)

Stars:

William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer

Won 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Powell	...	Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
Myrna Loy	...	Billie Burke
Luise Rainer	...	Anna Held
Frank Morgan	...	Jack 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	...	Herself
Jean Chatburn	...	Mary Lou
Paul Irving	...	Erlanger
Herman Bing	...	Costumer

Storyline

At the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, sideshow barker Flo Ziegfeld turns the tables on his more successful neighbor Billings, and steals his girlfriend to boot. This pattern is repeated throughout their lives, as Ziegfeld makes and loses many fortunes putting on ever bigger, more spectacular shows (sections of which appear in the film). French revue star Anna Held becomes his first wife, but it's not easy being married to the man who "glorified the American girl." Late in life, now married to Billie Burke, he seems to be all washed up, but...

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Plot Keywords:

revue | florenz ziegfeld | sideshow | show business | telephone | 

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Taglines:

10 Big Shows In 1

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 April 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

El gran Ziegfeld

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

176 min 185 min (roadshow)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Luise Rainer was the first actress in Academy history to win back-to-back Oscars for Best Actress, for this film in 1936 and The Good Earth in 1937. Katharine Hepburn repeated the trick in 1967/68.

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Goofs

At the Chicago World's Fair, as the Great Sandow (Nat Pendleton) lowers the barbell with the ladies inside, it lowers at a controlled rate, rather than as if a man was actually handling it.

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Quotes

Little Egypt: Oh, Jack, is Ziegfeld a friend of yours?
Jack Billings: Yes, we've been pals for years, but you wouldn't like him.
Little Egypt: No?
Jack Billings: No, he's up one day and down the next. If he got $10,000 tomorrow, he'd spend it on the girl he happened to like tomorrow night. You wouldn't want to waste your time meeting a felloe like that.
Little Egypt: Oh, not if I met him on the right night.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits display the title of the film and the names of the stars in marquee lights, as they would be on Broadway.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood - The Second Step (1936)

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Soundtracks

"Entry of the Gladiators"
(1897) (uncredited)
Written by Julius Fucík
Played and sung at the beginning of the circus sequence

User Reviews

Ziegfeld: The Collossal Showman

THE GREAT ZIEGFELD (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1936), directed by Robert Z. Leonard, and choreography by Seymour Felix, stars William Powell as the legendary Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. (1869-1932), in a fact-and-fiction musical biography that can be summed up from its opening credits, "suggested by romances and events." From the very start, with its very impressive theatrical lighted title credits lasting over two minutes, one would expect this to be a lavish scale production, and it is. So lavish that it leaves the impression the initials of MGM actually stands for Mighty Grand Musical, considering its great length of three solid hours (180 minutes), or two movies for the price of one. What an impression THE GREAT ZIEGFELD must have made in 1936, becoming an Academy Award as Best Picture for that year. Since the Ziegfeld name was still in recent memory, it assured box office appeal. The name of Anna Held (1873-1918) might be one for the history books. Because of Luise Rainer's carnation of this popular actress whose fame was the early part of the twentieth century, the Held name is most associated with Rainer than as the first Mrs. Ziegfeld.

The plot traces the career of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. (William Powell), starting as a carnival barker at the 1893 Chicago Fair, his discovery and exploitation of Sandow, the Strong Man (Nat Pendleton); his departing for Europe where he competes with his best friend and rival, Jack Billings (Frank Morgan), for not only obtaining the services of his servant, Sidney (Ernest Cossart), but beating him to the punch by signing a popular French actress named Anna Held (Luise Rainer), to a performing contract with him back in America. To be sure he wouldn't lose his prize star, Ziegfeld marries her. During their somewhat stormy marriage, Florenz Ziegfeld stages extravagant shows that makes him world famous. Constantly surrounded by gorgeous show girls, Ziegfeld has his share of problems, especially with Audrey Dane (Virginia Bruce), a temperamental showgirl responsible for his divorce from Anna. Ziegfeld later meets and later marries Billie Burke (Myrna Loy), an accomplished actress in her own right, who not only bears his a daughter, Patricia (Jean Holland), but stands by him during his theatrical downfall and setback after the 1929 Stock Market Crash.

On the musical program combining old and (new songs by Walter Donaldson and Harold Adamson), features: "I Wish You'd Come and Play With Me," and "It's Delightful to Be Married" (both sung by Luise Rainer); "If You Knew Susie" (sung by Buddy Doyle imitating Eddie Cantor in black-face); "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" by Irving Berlin (sung by Dennis Morgan/voice dubbed by Allan Jones); "You Gotta Pull Strings" (sung by chorus girls); "She's a Follies Girl" (sung and danced by Ray Bolger); "You" (sung by chorus); "You Never Looked So Beautiful Before" (sung by Virginia Bruce/chorus); "Yiddle in the Fiddle" by Irving Berlin; "Queen of the Jungle" and "My Man" by Channing Pollack and Maurice Yvaine (all sung by Fannie Brice); "Look For the Silver Lining" by Jerome Kern; and "A Circus Must Be Different in a Ziegfeld Show" (sung by chorus, performed by Harriet Hoctor), Montage score to Broadway shows: RIO RITA, WHOOPEE, THE THREE MUSKETEERS and SHOW BOAT (briefly playing "Ol Man River" on the soundtrack). "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody," an authentically reproduced eight minute musical segment is certainly the film's true highpoint.

The "granddaddy of all Hollywood's musical biographies, THE GREAT ZIEGFELD is a very impressive film with an impressive cast. While consisting of Ziegfeld headliners as Fannie Brice, Ray Bolger and Harriet Hoctor appearing as themselves, it also features A.A. Trimble and Buddy Doyle authentically duplicating Will Rogers and Eddie Cantor at best. This doesn't go without some regrets by not having the likes of W.C. Fields or Marilyn Miller recreating what they did best under Ziegfeld. Another letdown is having Fanny Brice singing her signature torch song, "My Man," in incomplete form while the story moves to another scene. Rainer's role of Anna Held did win her an Academy Award as Best Actress for her performance based of her famous "telephone scene" congratulating ex-husband on his marriage to Billie Burke as she holds in her true emotions. While Billie Burke (1885-1970), then currently a well known film actress, could very well have portrayed herself Myrna Loy steps in for box office appeal. Frank Morgan, the fictional Billings, gives a performance worthy for Best Supporting Actor category while William Powell, the main focus from start to finish, was strangely overlooked by the academy.

In 1978, there was another tribute to Florenz Ziegfeld, a TV movie titled ZIEGFELD: THE MAN AND HIS WOMEN, starring Paul Shenar as Ziggy, but it failed to live up to the expectations to the 1936 original. At 156 minutes, it seemed longer than the original. Unlike the Powell version, the 1978 bio-pic remains forgotten.

Unlike similar musical biographies of this nature made popular in the 1940s, THE GREAT ZIEGFELD captures the spirit of its time frame, with costumes and women's hairstyles being historically accurate. A movie at this extreme length tends to have its slow spots, which it does, but overall, a large scale production that only MGM can recreate.

Distributed to home video by MGM/UA in the late 1980s, the roadshow version consisting of entrée and closing music, deleted scenes and intermission title has been inserted into the 2005 DVD release. THE GREAT ZIEGFELD can also be found on Turner Classic Movies, especially during its annual "Thirty Days of Oscar." (****)