OK well this is the Year of the Musical and I decided I would work my way through my collection. I have a huge amount of musicals on DVD some of which are well loved and have been watched many many times, previously in VHS format, and some I have yet to see. I have been collecting for a while and have been stock piling for the days which are now here - days of leisure and choosing what I want to do.
So last night I popped in this DVD of The Great Ziegfeld and really I have to say it was pretty dire. The acting and pace was positively funereal and as this film weighs in at nearly three hours long, I was beginning to wilt by the time I got to the end. I think I got this film mixed up with the Ziegfeld Follies which has a huge cast list, was made by MGM, and has the only time Astaire and Gene Kelly danced together. Sadly, it is not available here in the UK so I will have to just be patient and see if it turns up one day.
Flo Ziegfeld of course was the one who discovered Fanny Brice and put her on Broadway (see Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl - a great musical bio of her life), and was responsible for huge and lavish productions and his Ziegfeld Girls were well known. The most famous scene in this movie is the big production number, A Pretty Girl is like a Melody, filmed on a revolving set. Totally kitsch, over the top and quite mind boggling, it is stunning and, apparently, was filmed in One Take which is pretty hard to beat. Worth having just for this alone and being able to watch this on a 32" wide screen TV was pretty good I can tell you.
But apart from the musical numbers, cannot recommend this movie. As I said, slow and some of the acting quite cringe worthy. OK it was made in 1936 and I should not be overly critical. It is of its time and the set pieces well worth watching.
The Stephen Sondheim musical, Follies, was based on the life of Ziegfeld and this is a show well worth seeing. My ex was in it back in the 90s when it was revived and brought to London and there were huge show stopping numbers a la Ziegfeld which just took one's breath away so I can imagine the impact they must have had back in the 1920s.
Not sure what musical to watch next - I have a Doris Day box set awaiting me so perhaps I will choose one from there.


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