Ziegfeld Follies (DVD)

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Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. (1867/69-1932) was an American theatrical producer of the early twentieth century, possibly the most-famous theatrical producer of all time. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, he "brought the revue to spectacular heights under the slogan 'Glorifying the American Girl.'

In 1896 he turned to theatrical management. His promotion of a French beauty, Anna Held, with press releases about her milk baths brought her fame and set a pattern of star making through publicity. In 1907 he produced in New York City his first revue, 'The Follies of 1907,' modeled on the 'Folies-Bergère' of Paris but less risqué. The revue's combination of seminudity, pageantry, and comedy was repeated successfully for twenty-three more years, until the advent of the Great Depression ended the annual spectacles. Four other editions appeared after his death, the last in 1957.

Among the stars developed by Ziegfeld were Marilyn Miller, Will Rogers, Leon Errol, Bert Williams, Fanny Brice, and Eddie Cantor. In addition to the 'Follies,' Ziegfeld also produced the stage successes 'Sally' (1920), 'Show Boat' (1927), 'Rio Rita' (1927), and 'Bitter Sweet' (1929)."

With the coming of sound in the late 1920s, motion pictures tended to pick up where the late Mr. Ziegfeld left off, and audiences of the Depression enjoyed a series of filmed stage revues--musical numbers, songs, dances, and comedy routines. But the movie musical evolved over time, and by the late 1930s came changes in things like plot and character; namely, they began to have them. It was a little odd, then, that in 1946, MGM would mount an extravagant new musical picture starring all of its top musical stars based on the old Ziegfeld revue concept. Basically, "Ziegfeld Follies" is simply an elaborate showcase for the exceptional musical and comedy talents of MGM's biggest stars, with no messy story line or characterizations getting in the way. Interestingly, the revue concept was one of the first things early television adopted in the late 1940s and early '50s in things like "The Colgate Comedy Hour," "The Red Skelton Show," "The Jackie Gleason Show," "Your Show of Shows," and many others.

So, for folks today who object to people in motion-picture musicals suddenly jumping up and singing and dancing at the drop of a note, "Ziegfeld Follies" may be just the ticket. It stars practically everybody who was anybody in the musical world of 1946, and it cost $3,000,000 to make, a whopping big number in those days. But it returned over $5,000,000 for the MGM studios, so it was one of their biggest moneymakers of the year.

In the only thing resembling a story line, the movie begins with a framework that sets up the singing, dancing, and comedy routines to follow. The great man, Flo Ziegfeld (played by William Powell, reprising his role from the 1936 film "The Great Ziegfeld"), has died and gone to heaven, where he's got everything, especially his wonderful memories. But he dreams of putting on one more "Follies," one more grand show using all the top names of the present day, and he does, orchestrating it from on high. There follows a series of thirteen segments, each lasting about eight-to-ten minutes, highlighting the talents of MGM's biggest attractions. The overall concept was directed by Vincente Minnelli, with individual segments ofttimes directed by other people. The songs and music are by Harry Warren and Arthur Freed, George and Ira Gershwin, Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin, and Kay Thompson and Roger Edens.

The first number is a big dance extravaganza approximating the kind for which Ziegfeld was so famous, namely Ziegfeld girls. It features Fred Astaire in "Here's To the Beautiful Girls," and it probably would have taken two Broadway stages to fully accommodate. It's unfortunate that widescreen movies would not be introduced for another half a dozen years, because this number cries out for a really wide lens. The sequence is followed seamlessly with "Bring on Those Wonderful Men."

Next up is a graceful underwater ballet with swim star Ether Williams, very imaginative, followed by a comedy skit with Keenan Wynn, "Number Please," that is cute but goes on too long. For a change of pace, the next segment has James Melton and Marion Bell singing "Brindisi (Libiamo ne' lieti calici") from Verdi's "La Traviata," with sumptuous sets.

Then, there's another comedy sketch, this one the funniest of the bunch, "Pay the Two Dollars" with Victor Moore and Edward Arnold as a client and his lawyer. It's basically an extended lawyer joke that makes a simple two-dollar fine into a federal case.

After that it's Fred Astaire again and Lucille Bremer in a dance number, "This Heart of Mine," that is one of the highlights of the show. It's followed by yet another comedy skit, this one with Fanny Brice, Hume Cronyn, and William Frawley about a winning Irish Sweepstakes ticket.