Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9442 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-02-16
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Black & White, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 177 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Winner of three Academy Awards including Best Picture, 1936's The Great Ziegfeld stars William Powell in a biopic "suggested by romances and incidents in the life of America's greatest showman, Florenz Ziegfeld Jr". With admirable accuracy, the film follows Ziegfeld's career from small-time sideshow barker to creator of the famous Ziegfeld Follies, the collection of singing, dancing, and comedy vaudeville acts that launched the careers of such luminaries as Fanny Brice, Ray Bolger and Harriet Hoctor--all of whom play themselves in the film.

In the title role Powell offers a believable combination of ambition and hucksterism, and his Thin Man costar Myrna Loy makes a late appearance as his second wife, but it's large-eyed Luise Rainer who has the showier role (and won an Oscar) as Ziegfeld's first big star and first wife. The musical numbers, however, don't hold up quite as well as the plot, and at some three hours the film is overlong. It's fascinating, though, to see the vintage stars performing and the eight-minute spectacle "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" is an eye-popper with an elaborate revolving set supporting a large cast singing and dancing to the Irving Berlin tune while throwing in some Puccini, Strauss, Leoncavallo and Gershwin for good measure. --David Horiuchi

Synopsis
This movie still sets the standard for what musicals should be. The larger-than-life career of stage genius Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. is aptly celebrated in this marvelous musical biography. As if the big story and all-star cast weren't enough, they threw in such unforgettable tunes as "If You Knew Susie", "Shine on Harvest Moon", and "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody". Winner of 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Dance Direction.

Customer Reviews

Staggering production values are a mixed blessing
Weighing in at nearly three hours and with lavish production standards to match this is cinema writ large.

The screenplay is good and the actors rise to the occasion, William Powell bursting with energy and creativity as Florenz Ziegfeld and an Oscar winning performance by Luise Rainer as his first wife and great star Anna Held. Also a great joshing rivalry with Jack Billings (Frank Morgan).

But the everlasting musical numbers take ones attention away from the story (after all this is a biopic) and I presume were staged to replicate Ziegfeld's original, but the large numbers of dancers crowding the screen and nearly always filmed in fairly long shots with intricate costumes that just maze together (even on a 32 inch LCD). Even the superb choreography and staggering set for "A pretty girl is like a melody" seems shot from one static camera position (apparently it was filmed in one take - almost unbelievable) with its hundreds of dancers all crowded together does not have the impact it should.

Well worth viewing to see what was possible seventy years ago, but probably best rented before purchasing.

Old Hollywood at its best
This is one of those biopics that the studios used to churn out and is a superior example of the genre with good performances all round, and a better than good one from Louise Rainer as an actress called Anna Held, one of the great man's lovers. The film suggests they married, which is not true. Myrna Loy, who went on to better things opposite William Powell, who plays Ziegfeld, is his wife, Billie Burke. She is best remembered from The Wizard of Oz as Glinda and Ms Loy is not really much like her, but she is always worth watching. Various real Ziegfeld stars such as Fanny Brice, not much like Streisand either, also appear. It was hugely successful in its day and has worn not all that well - but it is well worth watching. They don't make them like this any more.

The Great Ziegfeld
This was a wonderful film from the thirties which I had in my film collection,unfortunately when I came to transfer it to DVD, I found the tape copy had deteriorated quite badly with crackling and other noises on it. You can't imagine my relief when I found that I was able to purchase a copy from Amazon, and at a very fair price too.