From his early days pimping out a by-today's-standards-not-too-muscular but-perfectly-beefy-for-1893 Sandow ("The World's Strongest Man") to his final moments -- broke, withered, alone, and pathetically but not tragically plotting out his next big hit -- we are given a huge window through which we see Ziegfeld in his glory and his misfortune. Adoring of many women and adored back by some of them, Ziegfeld, portrayed with great vigor and charm by William Powell, is an interesting figure, because his success in both romance and show business depended much less on his actual talent than it did on his simple charm and his almost superhuman ability to manipulate, cajole, charm, and buy his way into excellence. Which is not to say that he was a horrible person. His loyalty to his friends, his love for his wives, and his utter stamina shine through his weaker moments.
As a film, the 3 hour production is simply phenomenal. Although it drags a bit in the third act, I was absolutely hooked for the entire film. I was thinking that the brilliant, lavish, and probably expensive as all hell setpieces and recreations of the trademark spiral staircases and multilayered sets were Busby Berkeley-esque, but then I realized that there would be no Busby Berkeley without Florenz Ziegfeld. This man pretty much invented stage spectacle, and the constant onslaught of eye candy was breathtaking at times. At several points in the movie, Shira and I both had our mouths completely agape.
The film is definitely intelligent, exciting, emotionally powerful, and visually eye-popping. I dreaded watching it, and now I realize that this is probably one of the great underrated and little-watched gems of the 1930's. I give it a 7/10.
P.S. TWENTY GALLONS OF MIIIILKKKK
P.P.S. How could you NOT flip out while watching this:
2 comments:
Always like a good William Powell film.
That staircase musical number did make my jaw drop... But I found the film really, really long!
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