The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

The ups and downs of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., famed producer of extravagant stage revues, are portrayed.

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...

---

Plot Keywords:

character name as title | florenz ziegfeld character | billie burke character | fanny brice character | say bolger character | 

---

Taglines:

The Sensation of the Century!

---

Genres:

Biography | Drama | Musical | Romance

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 April 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Great 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

In the film, Anna Held is said to be French, but she was actually a German Jew born in Warsaw, Poland in 1872. The family fled to France in 1881.

---

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.

---

Quotes

Hotel doorman: Do you realize you gave me five pounds?
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.: Yes, I'm trying to lose weight.

---

Crazy Credits

An actor portraying composer Jerome Kern is seen in an office playing "Look for the Silver Lining" on the piano, but he is not mentioned on any cast list for this film. He is simply called "Jerry" by the other characters in the scene.

---

Alternate Versions

The DVD release runs 185 minutes, and includes the overture, entr'acte and exit music, as presented in the original "road show" version of the film.

---

Connections

Featured in The 40th Annual Academy Awards (1968)

---

Soundtracks

The Old Gray Mare
(uncredited)
Traditional
Played during the 'Paul Jones' dance

User Reviews

One of the Greatest Musicals Ever

Sometimes you see classic films and they disappoint. I had the opposite reaction here, it far exceeded my expectations.

I had seen "Ziegfield Follies" and I thought it was a great variety show, but nothing much more than what you could have seen on television in any week in 1963 when Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Ed Sullivan, Jerry Lewis, Danny Kaye, Jackie Gleason and Judy Garland all had weekly variety shows.

I was expecting "The Great Ziegfeld" to be on the same level. It is not. The staged musical numbers are as spectacular as anything Busby Berkeley ever did and it is an absorbing biographical story with many excellent performances.

The movie has a great deal in common with "Wizard of Oz." Frank Morgan, who played the Wizard" plays Ziegfeld's rival and friend "Billings" with the same warmth he put into the Wizard character. Ray Bolger who played the "Scarecrow" does an incredible Scarecrowesque dance number. We have Myrna Loy doing a nice turn as "Billie Burke" who played "Glenda the Good Witch." It would have been nicer to have had the real Billie playing herself, but she apparently did a lot of behind the scenes work to insure that Ziegfeld (her late husband) was treated well in the bio. The art director Cedric Gibbons and costume designer Adrian Greenberg also did Wizard of Oz.

It is delightful seeing Fanny Brice in a small ten minute part. Virginia Bruce does a surprisingly good mean-girl gold-digger role. William Powell plays Ziegfeld with a charming light humorous touch.

However actor honors has to go to the amazing Louise Rainer, who won the Academy Award for her performance as Anna Held, Ziegfeld's French common-law wife. It is a performance that looks back to the expressionist performances of German cinema and looks forward to the naturalistic method acting performances of the 1950's. This performance is a link. Despite it only being a relatively small part of about 25 minutes, she did deserve the Academy Award for it. (Incidentally, Ms. Rainer turned 101 this year.)

Each of the dance numbers are fanciful and extravagant, capturing hopefully the actual stagings of Zeigfeld's shows. At least they seemed authentic to me. There is one number "Pretty Girl" that is done in one take and involves a revolving stage for about 10 minutes. Apparently, it cost $200,000 and took months to film. It is one of the great shots-dance numbers in cinematic history. It has an hypnotic effect.

To sum up, a witty, intelligent script, great art direction, great costumes, a dozen excellent dance numbers with one fantastic one and half a dozen fine performances and one amazing one.

The Great Ziegfeld is great and a must see for any real film buff. I would put it in the top ten of all time film musicals and right next to "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "Golddiggers of 1933" and "SwingTime" as the best of the golden age of Hollywood.