Stevecorp
Don't listen to the negative reviews
Roman Sampson
One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Edison Witt
The first must-see film of the year.
TheLittleSongbird
There is a lot of talent on display in Ziegfeld Follies, including some of MGM's finest, and while it is a very uneven film there's a lot to enjoy. Those expecting a good story or comedy that makes one laugh will be disappointed, but those who love great production values, even better music and dancing and some great performances will find a lot of pleasure.Ziegfeld Follies is practically plot less(being more of a comedy and musical revue and nothing else), and does suffer from some uneven pacing. Most of the time the film zips along nicely, but some segments like Love and the La Traviata segment I wish were longer(lovely, beautifully performed scenes but too short) and a lot of the comedy sketches do go on for too long, which sags the pacing. Most of the comedy scenes don't work, with the exceptions of the amusing if slightly over-the-top Fanny Brice sketch and Pay the Two Dollars. Keenan Wynn's however is grating and embarrassingly out of place and Red Skelton's is a little overplayed and goes on for too long.However, the Technicolor is glorious and the costumes and sets dazzling in rich colour. Limehouse Blues and especially This Heart of Mine, with its beautiful framing, are particularly strong in this regard. The film is very charming and was clearly done with a lot of heart and affection, and while it's uneven a lot of it entertains. It's solidly directed, the songs are spirit-rousing and exquisitely beautiful, Love and This Heart of Mine being the standouts. The choreography has a lot of energy and very accomplished in moves and execution. Esther Williams' water ballet while not one of the film's most memorable moments is very nicely done, but the heart-stopping Pas De Deux for This Heart of Mine and the amazing energy of The Babbitt and the Bromide.Of the numbers, while Limehouse Blues was fun, Lucille Ball's number was interesting and Ball is more tolerable than usual and Love was beautiful, three stood out. One was Judy Garland's very witty The Great Lady has an Interview, which shows that Garland had some good comedy acting chops. Two was The Babbit and the Bromide, interesting for being the first time for Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly to dance together, and while it doesn't see either man at their best it's a superbly danced and exuberant routine. The third one, and my personal favourite, is the heavenly This Heart of Mine, a perfect marriage of visuals, music and dancing.In conclusion, patchy, with the lack of story, uneven pacing and flat comedy, but very enjoyable, thanks to how good it looks and sounds and how well it's performed on the most part. Not a must see, but definitely worth a look at least once. 7/10 Bethany Cox
bmbdsm
The motto for the MGM studios was: "Do it big, do it right, and give it class!" MGM also boasted that it had "more stars than there are in the heavens!" This 1946 musical certainly lives up to both of those statements. A film without plot, ZIEGFELD FOLLIES is more of a film revue, which has been organized from the legendary Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld (William Powell) from Heaven, who, yearning for the good old days of Broadway, wishes to put on just one more of his legendary Follies. The segments mix both comedy and music, with so many great MGM stars. Fred Astaire stars in four segments; in "The Babbitt and the Bromide," he shares the screen with Gene Kelly, then an MGM newcomer, and it's a treat to see these two dance legends in one of only two screen pairings. In "The Interview" (my favorite segment), Judy Garland proves what an expert comedienne she is when she plays an actress grandly giving a press conference. Lena Horne sings a stunning and sensuous performance of the song "Love." Hilarious comedy is provided by Fanny Brice, Keenan Wynn, and Red Skelton, among others. In addition to the performers, the film is a showcase for the technical elements, with rich Technicolor, and lavish sets and costumes. The music is beautifully played by the MGM orchestra (brought to life by a gorgeous stereophonic soundtrack on the DVD). Think of this as a live-action FANTASIA (Disney's 1940 classic). For those who want a sampler of what MGM could do, this is a good start. Recommended.
mark.waltz
When you open up a movie musical revue with William Powell repeating his "The Great Ziegfeld" role of Flo ("What mother calls a boy Florenz?", to quote Kay Medford in "Funny Girl") imagining from heaven what he could do in cinema with his glorious glorification of the American girl. He brings out Fred Astaire, who ironically never appeared on Broadway in the "Follies" but was a stage star at the time none the less, and the "Bring on the Beautiful Ladies" is so gloriously filmed in Technicolor, the show is off to a sizzling start, whip cracking when all of a sudden Lucille Ball appears. Then, comic deadpan Virginia O'Brien burlesques it with her search for "those glorious men". Comic routines, operetta numbers and a few big song and dance numbers follow, many mediocre but a few classic.The highlights for me are Fred joining Gene Kelly for "The Babbit and the Bromide", Lena Horne with "Love" and "This Heart of Mine" with Lucille Bremer whom Astaire had scored artistically with, if not financially with, in the underrated "Yolanda and the Thief" (actually filmed after this). An Asian themed number with the two of them is not as successful, and Judy Garland's "The Great Lady Has an Interview" is unfortunately extremely dated and sometimes rather aggravating. Moments of it shine, but it takes a long while for the number to get rolling.The comedy routines are not for today's audiences unless they are into nostalgia, as I am. Red Skelton's "Guzzler's Gin" will bring on as much of a gag reflex for some as the gin did for him, but there are moments of it that are truly hysterical. "The Lottery Ticket" routine features Fanny Brice in her only film after "Everybody Sing" and teams her with dramatic Hume Cronyn and funny man William Frawley. "Pay the Two Dollars" is the nadir of the comic routines, even if it has the adorable Victor Moore, another veteran star of the Broadway musical.The controversial "There's Beauty Everywhere" had director Vincent Minnelli exclaiming, "You Can't Direct Bubbles!", and sure, that is definitely true, but it is gorgeous to watch, and Kathryn Grayson sings it beautifully. Ms. Grayson once told a story to an audience (where I was present) about making this number where she explained how she was crying after watching the dailies and all of a sudden heard the buzz-saw voice of Katharine Hepburn telling her that it wasn't all that bad. And that it isn't, certainly not something you would have seen in an actual "Ziegfeld Follies", but worthy of MGM's Freed unit, and a camp classic to boot.
writers_reign
Let's start with the negatives; arguably the weakest songs ever written by les freres Gershwin and Harry Warren; 'comedy' sketches that are just not funny - even in the mid forties I doubt anyone would have found the Keenan Wynn sketch funny, Red Skelton just about gets away with his Guzzler's gin routine, whilst Victor Moore and Fanny Brice respectively verge on the embarrassing. However, what we DO have is the brilliant Fred Astaire who shines in all four of his numbers. Astaire can make anything or anyone, a song, a dance partner, look good and he is called upon to do both in The Babbit And The Bromide, enhancing one, The Gershwin's weak song and two, Gene Kelly; while he actually makes Kelly look good he still leaves him for dead. Another plus is Virginia O'Brien, who, like Astaire, enhanced everything in which she appeared. The Harry Warren-Arthur Freed number Beauty Is Everywhere is total garbage and it doesn't help having Kathryn Grayson perform it - to be fair to her she knew it was garbage and initially refused to sing it. Even Judy is mediocre in her only appearance. Why they didn't use Sinatra, who was at the studio, is a mystery, so what we're left with is Astaire and O'Brien but luckily they are worth the price of admission alone.
