Ziegfeld Follies (1946)

75% of critics liked it
(8 reviews)
64% of users liked it
(2,737 ratings)

The presence of William Powell as legendary showman Flo Ziegfeld at the beginning of Ziegfeld Follies might lead an impressionable viewer from thinking that this 1946 film is a Technicolor sequel to the 1936 Oscar-winning The Great Ziegfeld. Not so: this is more in the line of an all-star revue,… More The presence of William Powell as legendary showman Flo Ziegfeld at the beginning of Ziegfeld Follies might lead an impressionable viewer from thinking that this 1946 film is a Technicolor sequel to the 1936 Oscar-winning The Great Ziegfeld. Not so: this is more in the line of an all-star revue, much like such early talkies as Hollywood Revue of 1929 and Paramount on Parade. We meet a grayed, immaculately garbed Ziegfeld in Paradise (his daily diary entry reads "Another heavenly day"), where he looks down upon the world and muses over the sort of show he'd be putting on were he still alive. Evidently Ziegfeld's shade has something of a celestial conduit to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, since his "dream" show is populated almost exclusively by MGM stars. Vincente Minnelli is given sole directorial credit at the beginning of the film, though many of the individual "acts" were helmed by other hands. The Bunin puppets offer a tableau depicting anxious theatregoers piling into a Broadway theatre, as well as caricatures of Ziegfeld's greatest stars. The opening number, "Meet the Ladies", spotlights a whip-wielding (!) Lucille Ball, a bevy of chorus girls dressed as panthers, and, briefly, Margaret O'Brien. Kathryn Grayson and "The Ziegfeld Girls" perform "There's Beauty Everywhere." Victor Moore and Edward Arnold show up in an impressionistically staged adaptation of the comedy chestnut "Pay the Two Dollars". Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer (a teaming which evidently held high hopes for MGM) dance to the tune of "This Heart is Mine." "Number Please" features Keenan Wynn in an appallingly unfunny rendition of an old comedy sketch (performed far better as "Alexander 2222" in Abbott and Costello's Who Done It?) Lena Horne, strategically placed in the film at a juncture that could be edited out in certain racist communities, sings "Love". Red Skelton stars in the film's comedy highlight, "When Television Comes"-which is actually Skelton's classic "Guzzler's Gin" routine (this sequence was filmed late in 1944, just before Red's entry into the armed services). Astaire and Bremer return for a lively rendition of "Limehouse Blues". Judy Garland, lampooning every Hollywood glamour queen known to man, stops the show with "The Interview". Even better is the the historical one-time-only teaming of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in "The Babbitt and the Bromide". The excellence of these sequence compensate for the mediocrity of "The Sweepstakes Ticket", wherein Fanny Brice screams her way through a dull comedy sketch with Hume Cronyn (originally removed from the US prints of Ziegfeld Follies, this sequence was restored for television). Excised from the final release print (pared down to 110 minutes, from a monumental 273 minutes!) was Judy Garland's rendition of "Liza", a duet featuring Garland and Mickey Rooney, and a "Baby Snooks" sketch featuring Fanny Brice, Hanley Stafford and B. S. Pully. A troubled and attenuated production, Ziegfeld Follies proved worth the effort when the film rang up a $2 million profit. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 49 min.
Directed By: George Sidney II
Written By: Guy Bolton
Genres: Musical & Performing Arts, Classics

On DVD: Apr 25, 2006
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
A spangled hodgepodge, conjured up for the benefit of Powell-Pressburger and Ken Russell
Michael E. Grost, Classic Film and Television
Uneven anthology with some great Minnelli musical numbers.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Though not one of Minnelli (or MGM's) best musicals, this pastice is worth seeing for the dancing of Astarire and Kelly (the first and only time), Fanny Brice's shtick, and Judy Garland satirizing Greer Garson
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
Befitting a big, fancy motion picture, WB have packed it (the DVD) with a passel of extras.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
...an elaborate showcase for the exceptional musical and comedy talents of MGM's biggest stars, with no messy story line or characterizations getting in the way.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Some of the performances are standouts, but just as many are utter duds.
Mark Bourne, DVDJournal.com
Technically it's magnificent overkill, from Minnelli's swooping crane shots to the turning, floating 'Hello Dali!' carnival-wedding-cake scenic design to the intense Technicolor that burned holes in retinas.
Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International
Large-scale musical with hit or miss tunes

Read all 8 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Fernando Rafael Q

As it says in the movie, "Ziegfeld never cared so much about villains, plot, stories. The Ziegfeld Follies was itself a story of an era". So, while it doesn't offer anything in terms of narrative, this is a priceless document that gathers some of the biggest stars of… More
As it says in the movie, "Ziegfeld never cared so much about villains, plot, stories. The Ziegfeld Follies was itself a story of an era". So, while it doesn't offer anything in terms of narrative, this is a priceless document that gathers some of the biggest stars of the 40's, luminaries who have become celluloid icons. Sadly, the real star power (Judy Garland, Gene Kelly) appears too late into the picture, after an hour and a half of random musical numbers, dance sequences and comedic skits. So much style and so little substance does get tiresome after a while and, while the film's visually dazzling, it's also unbearably campy and over-the-top. Of course it didn't seem that way 60 years ago, but some bits are incredibly racist and/or offensive. See only for Garland's "The Great Lady Has An Interview" number and the amazing pairing of two of dance's biggest legends, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire in "The Babbitt And The Bromide". Then again, you could watch those two clips on YouTube and save yourself the boredom.
AJ V

This movie doesn't exactly have a story, it's more of a showcase of song and dance numbers starring many great actors. A nice picture of the Ziegfeld Follies.
jay n

watch the musical numbers, skip the rest

Cast

            Fred Astaire as Fred Astaire/Raffles/Tai Long

            Lucille Ball as The Princess

            Lucille Bremer as Princess/Moy Ling

            Fanny Brice as Norma

            Judy Garland as Herself

            Gene Kelly as Gene Kelly

            Kathryn Grayson as Guest

            William Powell as The Great Ziegfeld

            Lena Horne as Singer

            James Melton
            
            Victor Moore as Himself

            Red Skelton as Announcer/J. Newton Numbskull

            Esther Williams as Guest

            Edward Arnold as Lawyer

            Bunin's Puppets
            
            Cyd Charisse as Ballet Dancer

            Hume Cronyn as Monty

            William Frawley as Mr. Martin

            Robert Lewis as Chinese Gentleman/Telephone Voice

            Virginia O'Brien as Singer

            Marion Bell as Soprano

            Helen Boice as The Countess

            Karin [Katharine] Booth
            
            Elise Cavanna
            
            Feodor Chaliapin Jr. as The Lieutenant

            Naomi Childers as The Duchess

            Charles Coleman as The Major

            Joseph Crehan as Judge

            William B. Davidson as Judge

            Eddie Dunn as Policeman

            Jimmy Durante
            
            Rex Evans as The Butler

            Sam Flint as The Flunky

            Ziegfeld Girls
            
            Harry Hayden as Warden

            Van Johnson as Guest

            James King
            
            Peter Lawford as Phone

            Avon Long
            
            Eugene Loring as Costermonger

            Noreen Nash
            
            Garry Owen as Policeman

            Elaine Shepard
            
            Grady Sutton as Texan

            Ray Teal as Policeman

            Audrey Totter as Operator

            Arthur J. Walsh as Telegraph Boy

            Robert Wayne as Old Man

            Eve Whitney
            
            Jack Regas
            
            Lucille Casey
            
            Natalie Draper
            
            Kay Williams as Woman

            Aina Constant
            
            Aileen Haley
            
            Helen O'Hara
            
            Count Stefanelli as The Duke

            George Hill as Policeman

            James King (III)
            
See full cast