The Great Ziegfeld.

Review #1344: The Great Ziegfeld.

Cast: 
William Powell (Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.), Myrna Loy (Billie Burke), Luise Rainer (Anna Held), Frank Morgan (Billings), Fannie Brice (Herself), Virginia Bruce (Audrey Dane), Reginald Owen (Sampson), Ray Bolger (Himself), Ernest Cossart (Sidney), Mae Questel (Rosie), Joseph Cawthorne (Dr. Ziegfeld), Nat Pendleton (Sandow), Harriet Hoctor (Herself), Jean Chatburn (Mary Lou), and Paul Irving (Erlanger) Directed by Robert Z. Leonard.

Review: 
I did not foresee a thousand word review that took longer to write than it did to get through the film. And yet, here we are.

One needs a bit of history now and then. Or at the very least needs a big show to really drive up attention. This is a film based on the life of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr and his Ziegfeld Follies, which made numerous productions from 1907 to 1931 (with two further revivals after Ziegfeld's death). There were numerous entertainers that appeared in the show over the years, ranging from W. C. Fields to Will Rogers to Louise Brooks to Fanny Brice. Who else to deliver a film with elaborate costumes, dances and sets but Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with the most notable set being for the set for "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody", which spent roughly $220,000 on a 100 ton, 175 spiral stepped towering rotating volute. The music for the film was done by Walter Donaldson, Irving Berlin, and lyricist Harold Adamson, while Seymour Felix did the dance direction, and William Anthony McGuire wrote the film. I suppose it shouldn't have proved a surprise that this won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It happened to be one of the highest grossing films of the year, right next to another fellow MGM Best Picture nominee with San Francisco. Of course it also shouldn't be surprising that this is a tremendous long spectacle, running 176 minutes (185 for roadshows). One expects a veteran director to serve as a reliable hand for a big production, which is the case with Robert Z. Leonard. He had studied law at the University of Colorado before moving to Hollywood to start his film career acting in various short subjects in 1908. Five years later, he would take up directing the subjects to go alongside his career. It was not long before he got into directing feature-length films, starting with the mostly lost serial The Master Key (1914). In his five decade career, he directed two films nominated for Best Picture and Best Director (this and The Divorcee from 1930). He is known for his association with MGM, where he made most of his features for (starting with their predecessor Metro Pictures) from Peacock Alley (1922) to The King's Thief (1955).

One thing that is easy for me to say is that I don't know too much about the life of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. After this film, I still don't think I really know much about the man that seems substantial. Even his death is wrongly depicted, as if him dying of pleurisy in Hollywood didn't seem impactful enough to depict for film. It all seems carefree, where the ups and downs seem more catered for its audience to escape with than something that presents anything other than bloated lavishness. In trying to cover all the bases of production value, it soon becomes a hollow experience that seems dated more than anything, although I suppose big-budget effects extravaganzas have some sort of link with this film in attempts at trying to hide hollow plots with some sort of flash. One seems to feel the passage of time of this film like it is taking 30 years rather than three hours. Powell does seem like the man for a role like this, having risen from heel roles in his early years since starting a career in Hollywood in 1922 to leading man roles, most notably with The Thin Man (1934). He starred in five further films in that series, each with Myrna Loy (they appeared in 14 total features together). He received three nominations for Best Actor (1934, 1936, 1947), and although he never won an Oscar, he cultivated a 33-year career with class and charm. I like seeing him here, even if he is playing a role that begs to have at least one flaw show itself on screen. He seems like a nice rogue, but he almost seems lost in a sea of pep and convenience. Loy has the disadvantage of time, since she doesn't show up until over two hours in. In that sense, she pulls off an okay performance playing a living actress (after Ziegfeld's death, she had sold off the film rights to try and pay off his debts and subsequently worked as technical consultant for this film), where one will say it has some stature but not too much else. Rainer (who aspired to be an actress at 16) was in her fifth role in film, having moved from the theatre to film after seeing A Farewell to Arms (1932), describing it as "beautiful". She moved from her native Germany to Hollywood three years later, signing with MGM, with her first American feature being Escapade, which also happened to have Powell and Leonard. She had a peak like no other actress, being the first actress to win back-to-back Academy Awards (Spencer Tracy would do the same for actors for 1937 and 1938), having won for this and The Good Earth (1937). She made fifteen film appearances in her career, owing to the pressure in living up to audience expectations along with dissatisfaction with MGM head Louis B. Meyer with getting roles she found to her liking (as opposed to the other way around). The one highlight scene for Ranier is the phone sequence, a heartbreaker that likely gave her the edge in winning an Academy Award for Best Actress. She does fine with delivering vulnerability, but the film's melodramatic approach does tend to make some of her scenes a bit over-the-top. The others prove hit and miss. Morgan and Brice deliver a bit of levity, but the rest seem to get a bit lost in the shuffle.

There would be further ventures with the Ziegfeld name by MGM, who released Ziegfeld Girl (1941, also directed by Leonard), and Ziegfeld Follies (1946, directed by Vincente Minnelli), which was composed of musical numbers and sketches. At the end of the day, this could prove a curiosity, for either the right or wrong reasons. One could hold up the musical pieces and its designs with some respect, alongside its boundless optimism in the face of marginalizing some of the facts. Or perhaps one could find it to be an overlong affair that can't quite satisfy in every department that creaks with age. I wish I liked this better than I did, because there is some entertainment value present in the film. Its a film that aspires to be the cream of the crop and instead seems to have a bit too much sugariness to really get there and stay on top. 

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.