list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around The Great Ziegfeld on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/The_Great_Ziegfeld/14193/default.aspx Title: The Great Ziegfeld
Year: 1936
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Plot: In MGM's three-hour-plus The Great Ziegfeld, William Powell stars as the titular theatrical impresario, whose show business empire begins when he stage-manages a tour for legendary strongman Sandow (Nat Pendleton). With nary a penny in the bank, he charms European stage star Anna Held (Luise Rainer) to headline his "Follies", and later marries the luscious Ms. Held. From 1907 onward, Ziegfeld stages annual editions of Broadway's most fabulous revue, dedicated to "Glorifying the American Girl" but also giving ample time to develop the comic talents of Fanny Brice (played by herself), Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor and many others. Eventually, Ziegfeld abandons Ms. Held in favor of other beauties, setting the stage for the "telephone scene" which won Luise Rainer the first of her Oscars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 4
Number of Lists: 7
Number of blog posts: 1
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:03:31 GMTThe Great Ziegfeld1936Robert Z. LeonardIn MGM's three-hour-plus The Great Ziegfeld, <a href="/players/P____57536/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>William Powell</a> stars as the titular theatrical impresario, whose show business empire begins when he stage-manages a tour for legendary strongman Sandow (<a href="/players/P____55898/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Nat Pendleton</a>). With nary a penny in the bank, he charms European stage star Anna Held (<a href="/players/P____58527/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Luise Rainer</a>) to headline his "Follies", and later marries the luscious Ms. Held. From 1907 onward, Ziegfeld stages annual editions of Broadway's most fabulous revue, dedicated to "Glorifying the American Girl" but also giving ample time to develop the comic talents of <a href="/players/P_____8403/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Fanny Brice</a> (played by herself), <a href="/players/P___129720/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Will Rogers</a>, <a href="/players/P____10700/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Eddie Cantor</a> and many others. Eventually, Ziegfeld abandons Ms. Held in favor of other beauties, setting the stage for the "telephone scene" which won <a href="/players/P____58527/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Luise Rainer</a> the first of her Oscars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide4Slightly Tagged (1-5)713http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t37872d0mb1.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/The_Great_Ziegfeld/14193/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/cinemarian/archive/2008/5/13/28972.aspx Post By: CinemaRian
Post To: CinemaRian Blog
Post Date: 5/13/2008 7:51:11 PM
Body: There is only one reason that I, and I suspect most cineastes today, would want to check out The Great Zigfeld- it won the Academy Award for the Best Picture of 1936. Charles Matthews, the author of Oscar A to Z called the award a travesty in any year, and it while the movie is not awful, its hard to believe that a hokey, three hour backstage biopic could triumph when Modern Times was not even nominated. Despite its length, the film has a really simple storyline- the rise and fall of Broadway producer Florence Zigfeld (William Powell), and his many love affairs, interspersed with performances of highlights from Zigfeld shows, some of which performed by the original actors, others with impersonators (oddly enough, Zigfelds second wife, actress Billie Burke, does not play herself, although she sold the rights to MGM for big bucks and was a contract player at that studio). Part of the problem with the movie is that Zigfeld is and probably was in real life a chauvinist jerk- he mostly values women for their physical appearance, and also is a bit of a greasy con man. The film could have been interesting as a creepy psychological portrait if directed by someone like, say, David Lynch, but Leonard goes out of his way to show his flaws as endearing and charming, which is a problem. The other big flaw of the film is its midsection, where most of the songs are. The musical numbers are boring and grind the movie to halt. Up until this point, the movie had been fun in a stupid kind of way, but scene after scene of dialogue like: Crony: Hey, Mr. Zigfeld, you gotta see Jimmy sing! He's amazing! Zigfeld: Well, why don't you sing your song, Jimmy?! gets grating really fast. The songs may have been hits in the olden days, but have not survived. In fact, The Great Zigfeld was really a nostalgia trip even back in 1936. Now that most of stars of the producers shows are long forgotten, there is not a lot of modern audiences to grasp onto. The movie is not a total wash, however. At the beginning and especially towards the end we get melodrama that is pleasant in the cheesy, old movie sense, and while Powell fails to make the character likable, he certainly has a strong screen presence. The other acting highlight is French actress Luise Rainer, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as Zigfelds first wife, Anna Held. Rainer is not pitch perfect in all scenes, but the camera loves her, she has a presence that would not be found in film until the French New Wave in the early 60s. I am not sure if she deserved the Oscar, but it was not outrageous for her to receive one. But its certainly not an understatement to say that despite its highlights, the film is not worth the investment of the time it takes to watch it. This might have been okay a ninety minuets and mediocre at two hours, but at three, its hopeless bloated. Oddly enough, the documentary on the DVD stated that the Best Picture award was an upset, and its telling that Leonard lost to Frank Capra for what is almost certainly a better movie, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. Unless you, like me, love Oscar trivia, you can skip this one. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
]]>Tue, 13 May 2008 23:51:11 GMTCinemaRianCinemaRian Blog5/13/2008 7:51:11 PMThere is only one reason that I, and I suspect most cineastes today, would want to check out The Great Zigfeld- it won the Academy Award for the Best Picture of 1936. Charles Matthews, the author of Oscar A to Z called the award a travesty in any year, and it while the movie is not awful, its hard to believe that a hokey, three hour backstage biopic could triumph when Modern Times was not even nominated. Despite its length, the film has a really simple storyline- the rise and fall of Broadway producer Florence Zigfeld (William Powell), and his many love affairs, interspersed with performances of highlights from Zigfeld shows, some of which performed by the original actors, others with impersonators (oddly enough, Zigfelds second wife, actress Billie Burke, does not play herself, although she sold the rights to MGM for big bucks and was a contract player at that studio). Part of the problem with the movie is that Zigfeld is and probably was in real life a chauvinist jerk- he mostly values women for their physical appearance, and also is a bit of a greasy con man. The film could have been interesting as a creepy psychological portrait if directed by someone like, say, David Lynch, but Leonard goes out of his way to show his flaws as endearing and charming, which is a problem. The other big flaw of the film is its midsection, where most of the songs are. The musical numbers are boring and grind the movie to halt. Up until this point, the movie had been fun in a stupid kind of way, but scene after scene of dialogue like: Crony: Hey, Mr. Zigfeld, you gotta see Jimmy sing! He's amazing! Zigfeld: Well, why don't you sing your song, Jimmy?! gets grating really fast. The songs may have been hits in the olden days, but have not survived. In fact, The Great Zigfeld was really a nostalgia trip even back in 1936. Now that most of stars of the producers shows are long forgotten, there is not a lot of modern audiences to grasp onto. The movie is not a total wash, however. At the beginning and especially towards the end we get melodrama that is pleasant in the cheesy, old movie sense, and while Powell fails to make the character likable, he certainly has a strong screen presence. The other acting highlight is French actress Luise Rainer, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as Zigfelds first wife, Anna Held. Rainer is not pitch perfect in all scenes, but the camera loves her, she has a presence that would not be found in film until the French New Wave in the early 60s. I am not sure if she deserved the Oscar, but it was not outrageous for her to receive one. But its certainly not an understatement to say that despite its highlights, the film is not worth the investment of the time it takes to watch it. This might have been okay a ninety minuets and mediocre at two hours, but at three, its hopeless bloated. Oddly enough, the documentary on the DVD stated that the Best Picture award was an upset, and its telling that Leonard lost to Frank Capra for what is almost certainly a better movie, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. Unless you, like me, love Oscar trivia, you can skip this one. The Great Ziegfeld (1936) http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Great/MemberTagFilms.aspxGreat
Number of films tagged: 231

Number of people who tagged: 202

Number of times used: 371

]]>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:11:49 GMT231202371Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/marriage/MemberTagFilms.aspxmarriage
Number of films tagged: 3471

Number of people who tagged: 67

Number of times used: 267

]]>Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:39:11 GMT347167267Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/divorce/MemberTagFilms.aspxdivorce
Number of films tagged: 1042

Number of people who tagged: 45

Number of times used: 121

]]>Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:35:44 GMT104245121Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/gambling/MemberTagFilms.aspxgambling
Number of films tagged: 1082

Number of people who tagged: 38

Number of times used: 81

]]>Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:03:25 GMT10823881Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Best-Picture/MemberTagFilms.aspxBest-Picture
Number of films tagged: 83

Number of people who tagged: 26

Number of times used: 118

]]>Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:16:34 GMT8326118Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/rival/MemberTagFilms.aspxrival
Number of films tagged: 1620

Number of people who tagged: 19

Number of times used: 53

]]>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:02:59 GMT16201953Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/carnival/MemberTagFilms.aspxcarnival
Number of films tagged: 372

Number of people who tagged: 15

Number of times used: 19

]]>Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:03:15 GMT3721519Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/strength/MemberTagFilms.aspxstrength
Number of films tagged: 387

Number of people who tagged: 13

Number of times used: 17

]]>Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:07:10 GMT3871317Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Best-Actress/MemberTagFilms.aspxBest-Actress
Number of films tagged: 82

Number of people who tagged: 11

Number of times used: 99

]]>Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:09:54 GMT821199Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/dance-art/MemberTagFilms.aspxdance-art
Number of films tagged: 1505

Number of people who tagged: 10

Number of times used: 12

]]>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:13:22 GMT15051012Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/songwriter/MemberTagFilms.aspxsongwriter
Number of films tagged: 1690

Number of people who tagged: 9

Number of times used: 15

]]>Tue, 05 May 2009 13:12:46 GMT1690915Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/showbusiness/MemberTagFilms.aspxshowbusiness
Number of films tagged: 419

Number of people who tagged: 4

Number of times used: 4

]]>Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:12:01 GMT41944Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/barker/MemberTagFilms.aspxbarker
Number of films tagged: 29

Number of people who tagged: 3

Number of times used: 7

]]>Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:02:59 GMT2937Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/opal/MemberTagFilms.aspxopal
Number of films tagged: 650

Number of people who tagged: 2

Number of times used: 3

]]>Tue, 04 Jul 2006 09:06:30 GMT65023Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/musical-extravaganza/MemberTagFilms.aspxmusical-extravaganza
Number of films tagged: 1

Number of people who tagged: 1

Number of times used: 1

]]>Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:03:31 GMT111Tag