Ziegfeld Zagfeld

During my recent obsession with actress Luise Rainer, I rented the 1936 film THE GREAT ZIEGFELD, a biopic in which William Powell plays the great entertainer/producer/glorifier-of-the-American-girl Florenz Ziegfeld. Previews on that DVD included two other MGM films about Ziegfeld and his follies, ZIEGFELD GIRL from 1941 and ZIEGFELD FOLLIES from 1946.

A collection of unrelated musical, comedy and dance pieces reminiscent of Florenz Ziegfeld's stage productions from the early 20th century, ZIEGFELD FOLLIES quickly became one of my favorite film oddities with its wildly fantastical sets, lavish costumes and tons of MGM talent from the mid-1940s. This spectacular movie includes many wonderful segments that showcase the beautiful and the bizarre: Lucille Ball whips a litter of dancing black kittens into shape; Virginia O'Brien presents a horse-riding parody of the Ziegfeld Girl (pretty much forgotten nowadays, O'Brien first impressed me with her weird and hilarious bit in The Marx Brothers' 1941 film THE BIG STORE, see here); Judy Garland gives a dazzling press interview for her upcoming biopic (the critics are all in accord, she's gonna' win the next Academy Award); Lena Horne sings all about "Love" in a smokey Southern cantina; Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer dance together even as they drift apart on hidden conveyer belts moving in opposite directions; Esther Williams performs an underwater ballet while somehow grinning the entire time and the finale involving Cyd Charisse, Kathryn Grayson and large clusters of airborne soap suds is out of this world. While it's true that the film screeches to a halt during some horribly dated comedy routines by Red Skelton, Fanny Brice and others, even those are so completely over-the-top and fascinatingly unwatchable that my eyes were glued to the screen. Anyone who enjoys the music and fashions of the 1940s should see this film, pronto. Here are some nice ZIEGFELD FOLLIES stills I've stolen from Carline's terrific Hollywood Musicals blog:

[ Lucille Ball is the icing on the cake. ]

[ Lucy's got a kitty whip and she's not afraid to use it. ]

[ "Line up!" bark the eyes of Lucille Ball. ]

[ Virginia O'Brien, devoured by chiffon while riding side-saddle. ]

[ Esther Williams briefly entangled in red MGM seaweed. ]

[ Esther Williams is wearing waterproof makeup. ]
 

[ Marion Bell sashays down a heavenly corridor lined with debonair gents. ]

[ Blair Witch 3: Dance of Shadows ]

[ Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire dance together... gaily. ]

[ Fred Astaire is sometimes Asian. ]
 

[ Judy Garland at one of the "Friends of Dorothy" board meetings. ]

[ Cyd Charisse on tippy-toe with tutu. ]

[ A spectacular, sensational, slippery finale. ]

For this mix, I basically tried to make my own ZIEGFELD FOLLIES-like variety show, featuring several numbers from the film's soundtrack and adding a bunch of other songs and bits that Florenz Ziegfeld would surely have included in one of his follies if only he'd had the chance.

side one:
01. Ziegfeld Follies—Main Title - Conrad Salinger and Wally Heglin
02. Cow Cow Boogie - Ella Mae Morse
03. Dancing Guitars - Billy Mure's Supersonic Guitars
04. Housework - Carol Channing
05. When Doves Cry - Prince
06. Vivacita Polka - Dominic Cortese
07. Bring On Those Wonderful Men - Virginia O'Brien
08. Triángulo - Los Tres Reyes
09. Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey - Betty Grable
10. Unathletic Me - Julie Wilson
11. A-Two-At-A-Time - Luther Henderson & His Orchestra
12. The Interview - Judy Garland and the MGM Studio Chorus
13. Royal Hawaiian Hotel - Linda Dela Cruz
14. I Wish't I Was In Peoria - Mr. Osie Johnson
15. If You're Tired of Loving Me - Bela Babai & His Cigany Zenekara
16. Beadcraft - Phyllis Diller
[ listen ]

side two:
01. The Babbitt and the Bromide - Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly
02. The Lonely Man - Tennessee Ernie Ford
03. How Long Will It Last - Joan Crawford
04. The Well - His Name Is Alive
05. Baile Por Alegrias - Pedro Del Valle and Heredia
06. Love - Lena Horne and the MGM Studio Chorus
07. The Kiss In Your Eyes - Dick Kesner
08. Tales of Wells Fargo - Mitch Miller and Friends
09. Ugly People - Flip Wilson
10. Hard Hearted Hannah - Dorothy Provone
11. There's Beauty Everywhere - Kathryn Grayson and the MGM Studio Chorus
12. Boat Song (The Hahn River) - Korean Children's Choir
13. Chopin - Mike Nichols and Elaine May
14. I Wanna Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart - Patsy Montana
15. Adieu Ciao Ciao Goodbye - Horst Jankowski
[ listen ]

[ Florenz Ziegfeld, circa 1910 ]