The Great Ziegfeld

The Great Ziegfeld
1936 - MGM
Directed By Robert Z. Leonard



SYNOPSIS

The film chronicles the life of theater impresario Florenz Ziegfeld (William Powell,) from his days managing Sandow the Strong Man (Nat Pendleton) to producing lavish Broadway shows starring his wife Anna Held (Luise Ranier) and his triumph, the Ziegfeld Follies... which starred his future wife Billie Burke (Myrna Loy.)



MY THOUGHTS

A loose biopic of the life of a stage legend may have won a Best Picture Oscar... but it doesn't age as gracefully as others of the era.

MGM threw all it had at this film and it shows. Several popular stars of the day are on hand like the stars of the big Thin Man series (Myrna Loy and William Powell) along with others playing themselves like Fannie Bryce and Ray 'Scarecrow' Bolger. The film's nearly 3-hour run-time is nearly twice as long as the average movie of the era and tries to cram as much of the impresario's life in as possible, though not all of it was historically accurate.
It would probably be a better film if it lost at least 30 minutes. The musical numbers, though scant, add nothing to the film (odd for a musical.) Most of them are forgettable. I can't recall one song title while writing this, immediately after viewing the film.
In losing 30 minutes, the film would lose it's epic feel, but it would definitely give it a more personal feel.

William Powell provides a solid center for the actors. He really doesn't shine as Ziegfeld, but does an adequate job. His on-screen chemistry with Myrna Loy completely lacks any of the spark that their paring does in the Thin Man films (maybe the booze was the spark?)
Luise Rainer does shine and she won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Anne Held. (She's currently the oldest living Oscar winner at 99.)

Overall, it's not a bad piece of cinema, though it is certainly locked into the period it was created, and is very dated.