The Great Ziegfeld (1936): A Review (Review #50)

THE GREAT ZIEGFELD (1936)

Ziggy Star Maker...

The Great Ziegfeld is a most curious case in my reviews. I initially hated it but opted to give it a second try. I found myself reversing, somewhat, my views on it. The first time I hated it, the second time I warmed up to it though still found major flaws. Perhaps I enjoyed it more this time was because I knew what to expect. I think that in retrospect, I might have been too harsh the first time. It could also be that I have mellowed to The Great Ziegfeld's grandiose aspirations that mirror the grandiose aspirations of Florenz Ziegfeld himself. Add to that how I opted not to watch all three hours of it in one sitting. 

Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. (William Powell) is above all else a showman of the first order. We get this right away when we see him at the Chicago World's Fair as he manages Sandow the Strongman (Nat Pendleton). Sandow's sideshow is unsuccessful until Ziegfeld adds an element of sex to it. From his time with Sandow, Ziegfeld learns the importance of showmanship in his productions.

Ziggy has a lifelong rivalry with fellow impresario Jack Billings (Frank Morgan), but it is a friendly rivalry. The original frenemies are there for each other, though mostly it is Jack who is there for Ziggy, bailing him out whenever Ziegfeld has money problems. Why he actually does this, usually befuddled himself, Billings cannot answer. 

We go through Ziegfeld's lavish life and career. There is his wooing and winning of French star Anna Held (Luise Rainer) and the various lavish productions of various Ziegfeld Follies; along the way, we see that Ziegfeld discovered of Ray Bolger and Fanny Brice (playing themselves) as well as Eddie Cantor and Will Rogers (interpreted by Buddy Doyle and A.A. Trimble respectively). Professionally, Ziegfeld has mostly successes though at times he struggles. Personally, his flirtation with women leads to his divorce from Held, a longtime romance with tempestuous Ziegfeld girl Audrey Dane (Virginia Bruce) before finding love and contentment with his second wife, Broadway star Billie Burke (Myrna Loy). The highs and lows of a theatrical life, metaphorical and literal, finally catch up with Ziggy, who dies overlooking the Broadway he changed forever.

Perhaps the popularity of The Great Ziegfeld when it premiered had to do with Ziegfeld having died in 1932, so his name was still very fresh in the minds of the American public in 1936. He represented the ultimate in theatrical production, a byline for "Grand Epic Spectacle". The film certainly does his memory honor by staging grand musical numbers befitting The Great Ziegfeld. These musical numbers culminate with the A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody number that ends the first part of the film.

Even today, A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody is still a wildly extravagant number that astounds. It is hard not to be impressed by the sheer spectacle of A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody; in one take, we get a touch of opera, some Gershwin, and girls: beautiful girls, endless visions of girls, all going around a set that keeps going up and up and up. About three minutes in length, A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody builds and builds to where it looks like it is about to reach Heaven itself. 

Lavish, frankly, is too small a word for the number, and it rightly won the Oscar for the now-defunct Best Dance Direction category. 

The Great Ziegfeld offers up a grand vision of what many audiences could only hope to see: an actual Ziegfeld Follies show. Therefore, a paying public would certainly get its money's worth.  If nothing else, The Great Ziegfeld doesn't skimp on the opulence and lavish nature of a Ziegfeld production.

I also have to acknowledge the great performances in the film. William Powell is perfect in the title role. He has a marvelous charm to his Flo, a man who is the living embodiment of someone who could charm the birds from the trees and sell ice to the Eskimos. We see this in the first few minutes, when after failing to attract audiences from Billings' dancer, the erotic "Little Egypt", he takes Sandow to dinner. Though he's on the verge of getting thrown off the fair's midway, Ziegfeld still insists on spending what little money he has to put up appearances and charm Billings' companion away from him.

We should dislike Ziegfeld for being so irresponsible with money and cooking up all sorts of outrageous publicity to attract audiences. However, we end up loving him for those qualities. Powell's Ziegfeld may be a bit of a confidence man, but one full of confidence in himself and unwilling to let details such as paying his costumers prevent him from creating more elaborate shows. Again and again, he is beset by financial problems, but again and again, he goes ahead with his plans, knowing full well that everything will turn out his way. Ziegfeld is a True Optimist and perhaps the reason we like him, apart from Powell's first-rate characterization, is that we like Ziegfeld's unfailing confidence and joy. Florenz Ziegfeld is an American original: brash, a bit of a rascal but a charming rogue whom you end up wanting to succeed or even join in his latest harebrained scheme.

There is also in William Powell's performance a sweetness and vulnerability to his Ziegfeld. The scene when he is proposing to Billie Burke is very gentle and touching. He and Myrna Loy are beautiful together. While The Great Ziegfeld may not be as well remembered as their collaborations in the Thin Man series, The Great Ziegfeld shows what an excellent screen pairing they made.

They made a beautiful couple, and Loy was wise not to try to capture the real Burke's unique voice style. She is Powell's equal, making her Burke an intelligent woman who is also supportive of her man through thick and thin.

Now, as for Luise Rainer. Dear me but I cannot say I think well of her in The Great Ziegfeld; perhaps I don't have a good handle on her interpretation of Anna Held, but I still think her performance was very fluttery and mannered, full of hand-wringing and exaggerated posing. Her temperamental outbursts: one minute demanding Ziegfeld leave, then demanding he stay within the same minute in her French accent, was getting a bit difficult to endure at times.

Rainer was very pretty but her Anna came of as slightly dumb. When told Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. wants to see her in her dressing room, she asks her maid, "Why is he Junior? Is he a little boy?" Frankly, I don't know what to make of that line: was it meant to be witty or was it meant to show how dumb Anna Held was supposed to be? Her delivery makes it sound like the latter. I have heard people credit her final telephone scene as what won her the Best Actress Academy Award. For my part, I tend to believe the stories that acting classes were shown that scene to show students what not to do. 

The Great Ziegfeld has some unexpected surprises, delights, and a few shockers. A.A. Trimble did such a spot-on impression of Will Rogers that the first time I saw the film, I thought it was the Will Rogers in a cameo. On reflection, this would have been impossible given that Rogers had died in an airplane accident a year before The Great Ziegfeld was released. However, it is to Trimble's credit that his Rogers was very credible. It's hard to make the same claim for Doyle's Cantor, since "Eddie Cantor" was seen performing in blackface (it should be remembered that this was part of Cantor's act and acceptable at the time). 

Ray Bolger shows what a marvelous dancer he was, and Brice's appearance was delightful, bringing her Yiddish humor to her brief role as herself. Her scene where she doesn't realize that THE Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. is inviting her to join his Follies is very funny, showing off the real "Funny Girl" as a talented comedienne.

Unfortunately, her signature song, My Man, was abbreviated in the film, which is tragic considering its three-hour length. My personal thinking is that in 1936 the majority of the audience would have known the song so there was no thought of including the entire number in the film when the audience could have just heard it on radio or records. On a personal note, this might be my imagination, but I always got the sense that Brice and Bolger were glad to appear as themselves in The Great Ziegfeld and that they had a great fondness, affection and appreciation for the man who gave them their big break.  The Great Ziegfeld was their way of paying tribute to him, and their appearances in it certainly enhanced the film as a whole.

I have a weakness for lavish musicals and near-forgotten films. After watching The Great Ziegfeld, I think it would be a great film if it were a half-hour to full hour shorter. We also have to remember that the stars that appear either as themselves or performed by others we big, big stars in 1936: Cantor, Rogers, Brice and Bolger were names the public knew, though tragically they aren't as well-known today. These factors, along with the sheer lavish nature of the film, might be why The Great Ziegfeld won Best Picture. I think it is one of the weaker Best Picture winners, but any hate against it for winning is in my opinion misguided. 

When it comes down to it The Great Ziegfeld has two strikes against it: at three hours it's still too long to watch without a break (there is an intermission in the film), and Rainer's performance (while being a Best Actress Oscar-winning one for that year) is by today's standards the most unrealistic and exaggerated of the top three billed actors. Still, it has great musical numbers, and great performances by Powell & Loy, which make up for some of the film's flaws. It in the end is perhaps not The Great Ziegfeld but the Very Good Ziegfeld.

1867-1932

DECISION: C+

1937 Best Picture: The Life of Emile Zola

For the complete Best Picture Winners reviews, please visit the Best Picture Winners Catalog.