THE GREAT ZIEGFELD
US, 1936, 185 minutes, Black and white.
William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer, Frank Morgan, Fanny Brice, Virginia Bruce, Reginald Owen, Ray Bolger, Ernest Cossart, Nat Pendleton.
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard.
The Great Ziegfeld won the Oscar in 1936 for best film. Luise Rainer also won the best actress award for her performance as Ziegfeld’s wife, Anna Held. She was to win the Oscar the succeeding year for The Good Earth. (She is praised especially for the phone sequence towards the end when she rings her ex-husband and congratulates him on his new marriage. Other nominees that year included Carole Lombard for My Man Godfrey, Greta Garbo (whose acting style Luise Rainer seemed to parallel] for Camille and Irene Dunn for Theodora Goes Wild.)
The film is a huge and long extravaganza. The TCM version includes the music for the overture, for the intermission (entre’act) and the exit music. The film is a loose biography of the famous entrepreneur Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. It begins with his life in carnivals in 1893, his work with the strong man Sandow (Nat Pendleton) and his rivalry with the fictional entrepreneur Billings (a typical Frank Morgan). Over the years, Ziegfeld’s ambitions increased, always getting illuminating ideas for grand productions but generally being broke. He seems to rely very much on Billings, however initially unwilling, over the years to supply money, especially when he partnered the entrepreneur, Erlanger.
One of Ziegfeld’s ambitions was to glorify the American Girl, and the creation of the Follies. The first half of the film builds up to quite an extravaganza in the musical ensemble based on Irving Berlin’s A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody, along with other melodies, and inclusion of brief excerpts from musical classics. Dennis Morgan (voiced by Alan Jones) is at the centre of this extravaganza. There is lush production, lots of curtains, lots of showgirls in feathers and other exaggerated costumes. In the second part, this is compounded by the rooftop performance.
The film features quite a number of songs including I Wish You’d Come and Play With Me and It’s Delightful to be Married, which was sung by Luise Rainer. If You Knew Suzie is sung by an actor imitating Eddie Cantor in blackface. Other songs include You Gotta Pull Strongs, She’s a Follies Girl, You, You Never Looked so Beautiful Before, Yiddle in the Fiddle, Queen of the Jungle and My Man (all sung by Fanny Brice) and Look for the Silver Lining as well as A Circus Must Be Different in a Ziegfeld Show. There are also melodies from Ziegfeld’s last famous successes, Rio Rita, Whoopee, The Three Musketeers and Show Boat (with some themes from Ol’ Man River).
William Powell is William Powell as always on screen, not different but always persuasive, as Ziegfeld. Luise Rainer is very much in the European style as Anna Held. Myrna Loy appears only in the last forty minutes as Ziegfeld’s second wife, the actress Billie Burke (who was to appear as the Good Witch Glenda in The Wizard of Oz – as did Frank Morgan as the Wizard and Ray Bolger (who was introduced in this film) as The Scarecrow).
While the film is conventional in its presentation of the biography of Ziegfeld, the ups and downs of his career, his ability to contract stars out of the clutches of rival entrepreneurs, and his investment and suffering in the crash of the 1929 stock exchange debacle, there is also the background of the development of Broadway in the first decades of the 20th century.
Ray Bolger does a fine song and tap-dance routine, Virginia Bruce is the hard-drinking, difficult chorus girl. Fanny Brice (and it is interesting to see how well Barbra Streisand imitated her in Funny Girl and Funny Lady) does some comedy routines as well as some songs.
In the mid-1930s, Warner Bros had the hold on musicals, with stars like James Cagney, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler and the Busby Berkeley choreography. This was a major breakthrough for MGM who then tended to dominate musicals for the next twenty years. This same year Universal made James Whale’s version of Show Boat. The colour confections from 20th Century-Fox? with Alice Faye and Betty Grable and others were soon to come on the scene. The second Oscar for best film was won by The Broadway Melody of 1929. Later Oscars, especially in the 60s, gave awards to musicals like West Side Story, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music. In 2002 the musical Chicago won the Oscar for best film.
1. An Oscar-winning entertainment? Lavish MGM values? 1936, the style, an extravaganza?
2. Black and white photography? The biographical background, Chicago, New York, American cities, the Broadway theatre, carnivals?
3. The music: the overture, the entre’act, the exit music, the effect of the background score?
4. The score, the songs? The range of songs and the performers?
5. The staging, the climax of the first part in the grand and grandiose Follies presentation? The staging for Anna Held’s songs?
6. The performance on the roof? The incidentals, Sally, Look for the Silver Lining, Whoopee, Show Boat, The Three Musketeers, Rio Rita? The songs for Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice?
7. The guest performers, the actors for Eddie Cantor and Will Rogers, Ray Bolger and Fannie Brice, Harriet Hoctor performing their own numbers?
8. Ziegfeld and his life, the film spanning almost forty years? His having died recently for 1936? His place in American theatre history, reputation, contribution?
9. The film as a biography, his life, character, career, the breaks, his personality, business sense, risk-taking, his loves, his vision? A conman, generally successful?
10. Chicago in the 1890s, the fair, Billings as his rival, as his friend? The crowds, Little Egypt, Sandowl? Ziegfeld’s scheme that they should be married – or at least the media think they should? Promotion? The woman touching Sandow’s muscles? Ziegfeld’s idea, success, the media, on tour, the fights, the fizz of the fight with the lion, the denunciations?
11. Travels to New York, to Europe, to London? Billings and his plan to contract Anna Held? Ziegfeld, borrowing the money, getting the information of Billings’ destination, going to the theatre, the flowers, meeting Anna Held, very direct in his comments on her performance, her reaction, change of heart, his being persuasive? Her contract? Her initial failure and comments in New York? The delivery of the milk, the rumours about her bathing in milk? Her anger and frustration? People curious, the papers, the success? The marriage?
12. Anna Held in herself, her talent, performing in France, London? Very continental in style? Her maid? The Americans not understanding her accent? The encounter with Ziegfeld, her falling for him going to the US, the final success, the show, the jewels, showing them to the girls, Audrey’s reaction? The marriage, the anniversary, her happiness? Attending the other shows? Her seeing Audrey and her embrace of Ziegfeld, leaving, no explanations? Her later commenting that she hoped the divorce would bring him back to her? The famous scene of the phone call, her tears, saying goodbye to Ziegfeld and wishing him well in his new marriage?
13. Audrey, rivalry with Anna, hard, drinking, with the girls, her performance, the drunken speech, Ziegfeld’s dignified reaction, her not becoming a star, her anger with Ziegfeld, the divorce, leaving him?
14. Ziegfeld, his relationship with his father, contact with him, the little girl learning the piano, wanting to marry Ziegfeld, her turning up, Ziegfeld getting her the job? Ziegfeld and his eye for talent, the young actress, getting her to sign the contract, Look for the Silver Lining?
15. The Follies, the money needed to produce them, Billings and Erlanger and supplying the money? The costumer and his wanting his money, Ziegfeld’s bluff, twisting it back on the costumer who allowed his costumes to be used?
16. The extravaganza in the theatre, the extravaganza on the roof?
17. The decline in Ziegfeld’s fortunes, the flops, his being in the barber’s, hearing the men criticise him, borrowing the money, promising four successes, a year later and his getting the police to find the men and bring them to his office – and give them free tickets?
18. Billie Burke, her reputation, going to the dance with Billings, not knowing Ziegfeld in person, the dance, Ziegfeld engineering the whistle to be blown whenever he was with Billie Burke, their talking on the balcony, her discovery of the truth, their later meeting, against the wishes of her entrepreneur, their secret marriage, her continuing to act, the years passing, their daughter, Ziegfeld ageing, settling down?
19. Ziegfeld and his investment in stocks, Billings and his stocks? The news of the stock exchange crash, their both losing their money? Billings laughing that he could not give any money if Ziegfeld wanted to borrow from him?
20. Ziegfeld’s age, illness, Sidney as his servant (and having poached him from Billings as well)? Billings’ visit, trying to encourage him for a new show, his sitting in his chair, his death?
21. The film as a tribute to Ziegfeld? The brief summary of his career at the end? Ziegfeld’s continuing reputation?
