The Great Ziegfeld (1936): Shira's Take

Soon before we started the movie (which feels like years ago, because the movie was over 3 hours long), I said to Eitan, "I hope this movie is all that Broadway Melody wished it was." My hopes, good friends, were beyond met. Through its three hours, there were maybe five minutes that dragged. It was constant entertainment, either with great dramatic plot, silly comedic bits, or amazing musical revue numbers, all of which were completely visually stunning. From the very start, The Great Ziegfeld was entirely enjoyable. I loved the friendly rivalry between Flo Ziegfeld (William Powell) and Billings (Frank Morgan). It was sort of reminiscent of the dogs with the hats in Go, Dog. Go! (every time Billings was interested in a woman, Ziegfeld would charm her into working for him instead). Anna Held (Luise Rainer, Ziegfeld's wife #1) was a classic drama-queenish French girl in the style of Greta Garbo. Billie Burke (Myrna Loy, Ziegfeld's wife #2) touchingly gave up the diamonds Flo bought her so that he could afford to finance four new shows. One slightly cheesy bit was when Ziegfeld said he invested all his money in the stock market. His valet said something along the lines of, "The market's been a bit unstable lately," which was of course followed by a phone call to Ziegfeld letting him know the stock market crashed and he lost all his money. Still, really great movie. Notes to myself: 20 gallons of milk song! Sandow the strongest man's muscle jiggles will live in my mind forever. 8/10

The Great Ziegfeld (1936): Eitan's Take

I'm not sure how much of The Great Ziegfeld is true, but I'm sure much of it is; regardless, it is entirely accurate to call Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. a truly Great man. I was seriously not looking forward to diving into this 3 hour epic mess of a biopic, but I leave it thoroughly impressed by the care and sophistication with which director Robert Z. Leonard examined the life of one of America's greatest showmen. Unlike The Aviator and Citizen Kane, which are truly meditations on fame, fortune, success, ego, and the American Dream, The Great Ziegfeld never really rises above the level of outsider examination, but slowly and patiently we really begin to understand the man -- "Ziggy" to some, "Flo" to others, and all in all one of the most ambitious guys to ever slap his name on a Broadway revue.

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: