The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

A Best Picture decision that hasn't held up over time
This movie is worthwhile viewing for any fan of classic cinema or William Powell, but over 70 years later it's hard to see why this film won Best Picture of 1936 and a film like "Dodsworth" lost. Today it does seem overly long on musical numbers that could have been cut and short on storyline. There are probably several reasons that the picture could have been better and wasn't, the primary reason being that at the time the film was made Ziegfeld had only been dead four years and was thus still fondly and recently remembered. Also, according to the little featurette that comes with the DVD, Ziegfeld's widow Billie Burke was heavily involved in the making of the film and wouldn't allow anything in it to besmirch his memory. Finally, the production code had just begun to be sternly enforced in 1934, making a true accounting of Ziegfeld's personal life pretty much impossible. As a result Ziegfeld is portrayed as just the unluckiest of fellows who is always being wrongly perceived as a ladies' man just because his business involves large numbers of chorines. In fact, Ziegfeld cheated on both wives incessantly, and Ziegfeld never even formally married Anna Held to begin with - instead they had a common law marriage according to the statutes of New York. However, none of these other factors can account for the complete lack of chemistry between Powell (Ziegfeld) and Loy (Billie Burke) in the film. Considering how the two had already been in several movies together by the time this film was made, and that they never failed to sparkle on screen together in the other movies, there must have been either a complete lack of direction or over-direction to wind up with the rather wooden performance that results whenever the two are in scenes together.

This movie would probably warrant only about three stars if it wasn't for William Powell's performance. Marvelous as always, he was at least allowed to portray Ziegfeld as the cagey trickster and gambler with tremendous class that he was, and he absolutely makes the film. I can't think of any other actor of that time period who could have done as good a job. As far as video quality, I was surprised at the scratchiness of the video portion of the transfer. There are numerous artifacts in the video that can be quite distracting at times, and at other points the video looks nearly perfect. There are only two extras features. One is a featurette lasting under ten minutes on the film and Ziegfeld's life with Luise Ranier, Ziegfeld's daughter, and others. The other feature is an unedited movietone newsreel of the grand opening of the film with short greetings from Harpo Marx, Ed Sullivan, and other celebrities.

This new DVD release of "The Great Ziegfeld" is just being done for the sake of repackaging. If you are satisfied with the last release and its packaging there is nothing new about this release that should cause you to double dip.

A Best Picture decision that hasn't held up over time
This movie is worthwhile viewing for any fan of classic cinema or William Powell, but over 70 years later it's hard to see why this film won Best Picture of 1936 and a film like "Dodsworth" lost. Today it does seem overly long on musical numbers that could have been cut and short on storyline. There are probably several reasons that the picture could have been better and wasn't, the primary reason being that at the time the film was made Ziegfeld had only been dead four years and was thus still fondly and recently remembered. Also, according to the little featurette that comes with the DVD, Ziegfeld's widow Billie Burke was heavily involved in the making of the film and wouldn't allow anything in it to besmirch his memory. Finally, the production code had just begun to be sternly enforced in 1934, making a true accounting of Ziegfeld's personal life pretty much impossible. As a result Ziegfeld is portrayed as just the unluckiest of fellows who is always being wrongly perceived as a ladies' man just because his business involves large numbers of chorines. In fact, Ziegfeld cheated on both wives incessantly, and Ziegfeld never even formally married Anna Held to begin with - instead they had a common law marriage according to the statutes of New York. However, none of these other factors can account for the complete lack of chemistry between Powell (Ziegfeld) and Loy (Billie Burke) in the film. Considering how the two had already been in several movies together by the time this film was made, and that they never failed to sparkle on screen together in the other movies, there must have been either a complete lack of direction or over-direction to wind up with the rather wooden performance that results whenever the two are in scenes together.

This movie would probably warrant only about three stars if it wasn't for William Powell's performance. Marvelous as always, he was at least allowed to portray Ziegfeld as the cagey trickster and gambler with tremendous class that he was, and he absolutely makes the film. I can't think of any other actor of that time period who could have done as good a job. As far as video quality, I was surprised at the scratchiness of the video portion of the transfer. There are numerous artifacts in the video that can be quite distracting at times, and at other points the video looks nearly perfect. There are only two extras features. One is a featurette lasting under ten minutes on the film and Ziegfeld's life with Luise Ranier, Ziegfeld's daughter, and others. The other feature is an unedited movietone newsreel of the grand opening of the film with short greetings from Harpo Marx, Ed Sullivan, and other celebrities.

The Great Ziegfeld
Top MGM musical recreates the glory days of the musical theatre, before movies overtook Broadway as our primary form of entertainment. The ever-charming, debonair Powell is perfect casting for Zeigfeld, and frequent co-star Myrna Loy is also on hand playing second wife Billie Burke. Winner of that year's Best Picture Oscar, Luise Rainer also won a statuette for her portrayal of "Ziggy"'s first wife Anna Held (her culminating phone scene is justly famous). Long but dazzling, "Ziegfeld" combines backstage drama with on-stage spectacle-in particular, don't miss that "Pretty Girl" musical number.