name | The Great Ziegfeld |
---|---|
director | Robert Z. Leonard |
producer | Hunt Stromberg |
writer | William Anthony McGuire |
starring | William PowellMyrna LoyLuise Rainer |
music | Walter DonaldsonIrving Berlin |
distributor | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
released | |
runtime | 185 minutes |
language | English |
Country | |
budget | }} |
The film, which premiered in Los Angeles at the elegant Carthay Circle Theatre, was the first musical film in history for which one of its cast members won an Academy Award - Luise Rainer received the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Ziegfeld's first wife, Anna Held.
Featured in the film are William Powell as Ziegfeld, Myrna Loy as Billie Burke, Luise Rainer, Nat Pendleton, and Frank Morgan. Real-life Ziegfeld performers Fanny Brice and Ray Bolger play themselves. Dennis Morgan, in an uncredited role, performed "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" (dubbed by Allan Jones). The film was originally developed at Universal Pictures in late 1934 and in their 1935 development book appears as a pre-production, to star Powell. Due to financial problems at the studio at the time, the entire production, including some already constructed sets and musical arrangements were sold to MGM. Universal retained the services of Powell however, which ultimately resulted in his appearance in the classic screwball comedy My Man Godfrey the same year as The Great Ziegfeld.
Later, on an ocean liner to England, Flo runs into Billings again and discovers that he is on his way to sign a beautiful French star, Anna Held (Luise Rainer), to a contract. Despite losing all his money gambling at Monte Carlo, Flo charms Anna into signing with him instead.
At first, Anna is not a success. However, Flo manages to generate publicity by sending many gallons of milk to Anna every day for a fictitious milk bath beauty treatment, then refusing to pay the bill. The newspaper stories soon bring the curious to pack his theater. Flo and Anna then get married.
However, one success is not enough for the showman. He has an idea for an entirely new kind of show, one that will "glorify" the American woman. Thus, the Ziegfeld Follies is born, a lavish production filled with beautiful women. This makes Anna very nervous, as she is still performing in her own show and will be unable to keep an eye on her husband. It is a smash hit, and is followed by more versions of the Follies. Soon Flo hires Fanny Brice (playing herself) away from vaudeville and gives stagehand Ray Bolger (also playing himself) his break as well.
He also tries to make a star out of Audrey Dane (Virginia Bruce), but alcoholism turns out to be her downfall. However, a short time before, Anna becomes jealous of the attention Flo pays to Audrey and divorces Flo. Afterward, Flo meets Broadway star Billie Burke (Myrna Loy) and marries her. When she hears the news, a heartbroken Anna telephones Flo and pretends to be glad for him. Flo and Billie eventually have a daughter named Patricia.
Flo has more hits, but after a while, the public's taste changes, and people begin to wonder if the times have not passed him by. Stung, he vows to have four hits on Broadway at the same time. He achieves his goal - one of those four hits being Show Boat - but then the stock market crash of 1929 bankrupts him, forcing Billie to go back on the stage. Shaken by the reversal of his financial fortunes and the growing popularity of movies over live stage shows, he becomes seriously ill. In the final scene, in a half-delirium, he recalls scenes from several of his hits, exclaiming, "I've got to have more steps" (a remark he made several times when examining the set designs of his Ziegeld Follies) before slumping over dead in his chair.
The film also gives the impression that the successful original production of Show Boat, which Ziegfeld produced, closed because of the Great Depression, when in fact Show Boat ended its original 1927 run in the spring of 1929 (the stock market crash did not occur until October of that year). It was the 1932 revival of the show, not the original production, that was affected by the Depression.
It was nominated for an additional four:
Category:1936 films Category:1930s drama films Category:1930s musical films Category:American biographical films Category:American musical drama films Category:Black-and-white films Category:English-language films Category:Best Picture Academy Award winners Category:Films directed by Robert Z. Leonard Category:Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award winning performance Category:Films set in New York City Category:Films set in Chicago, Illinois Category:Films set in San Francisco, California Category:Films set in the 1890s Category:Films set in the 1910s Category:Films set in the 1920s Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Category:Musical films based on actual events
ca:The Great Ziegfeld de:Der große Ziegfeld el:Ο μέγας Ζίγκφελντ es:El gran Ziegfeld fr:Le Grand Ziegfeld it:Il paradiso delle fanciulle nl:The Great Ziegfeld ja:巨星ジーグフェルド no:The Great Ziegfeld pl:Wielki Zegfield pt:The Great Ziegfeld ru:Великий Зигфелд sr:Велики Зигфилд fi:Ziegfeld, naisten kuningas sv:Den store Ziegfeld vi:The Great ZiegfeldThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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