''Ziegfeld Follies'' is a 1945 American

musical comedy film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, primarily directed by Vincente Minnelli, with segments directed by Lemuel Ayers,

Roy Del Ruth Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893, Delaware – April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker. Early career Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) ...

, Robert Lewis, and George Sidney, the film's original director before Minnelli took over. Other directors that are claimed to have made uncredited contributions to the film are

Merrill Pye Merrill Pye (August 14, 1902 – November 17, 1975) was an American art director. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film ''North by Northwest''. Selected filmography * ''North by Northwest'' ...

, Norman Taurog, and

Charles Walters Charles Powell Walters (November 17, 1911 – August 13, 1982) was an American Hollywood director and choreographer most noted for his work in MGM musicals and comedies from the 1940s to the 1960s. Early years Charles Walters was born in Pasad ...

. It stars many MGM leading talents, including Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer,

Fanny Brice Fania Borach (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951), known professionally as Fanny Brice or Fannie Brice, was an American comedienne, illustrated song model, singer, and theater and film actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances. S ...

(the only member of the ensemble who was a star of the original Follies), Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson,

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

, James Melton, Victor Moore, William Powell, Red Skelton, and

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

. Producer Arthur Freed wanted to create a film along the lines of the Ziegfeld Follies Broadway shows, and so, the film is composed of a sequence of unrelated lavish musical numbers and comedy sketches. Some of them, such as ''

Pay the Two Dollars ''Pay the Two Dollars'' is a vaudeville sketch in which a man is subject to increasingly draconian and unnecessary legal jeopardy because of his lawyer's unwillingness to pay a two-dollar fine. The catchphrase of the sketch has entered the popular ...

'', originated in '' George White's Scandals''. Filmed in 1944 and 1945, it was released in 1946 to considerable critical and box-office success. The film was entered into the

1947 Cannes Film Festival The 2nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 12 to 25 September 1947. The new building that was meant to host the festival, the Palais du Festival, was still not ready, and the festival was held amid many technical and financial problems. In 1947, ...

Plot summary

The movie opens with the camera panning over a Heaven somewhere beyond the sky. The residences of great showmen gone to their eternal reward are shown: Shakespeare, whose home looks like the

Globe Theater The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...

; P.T.Barnum, whose residence in the afterlife resembles a circus Big Top; and

Florenz Ziegfeld Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), inspired by the ''Folies Bergère'' of Paris. He also p ...

, whose home's entrance is reminiscent of the theater where he staged the Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway. Talking to the audience, Ziegfeld guides the viewers along a wall with three-dimensional paintings or shadow boxes containing dolls that look like the stars he cast in his Follies over the years. The film dissolves into a

stop-motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

puppet sequence as Ziegfeld provides a voice-over of the opening of one of his shows. Following this, he steps out onto a balcony, musing how he wishes he could stage just one more Follies, with current and past stars in the cast. A Higher Power causes a cigar-sized crayon and a sheet of parchment to appear, and Ziegfeld begins to write. As he does so, the skits and performance numbers appear on the screen.

Cast

* Fred Astaire as Fred Astaire * Lucille Ball as Lucille Ball * Lucille Bremer as Princess *

as Norma Edelman * Judy Garland as The Star * Kathryn Grayson as Kathryn Grayson *

as Lena Horne *

as Gentleman * James Melton as Alfredo * Victor Moore as Lawyer's Client * Red Skelton as J. Newton Numbskull *

as Esther Williams * William Powell as Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. * Edward Arnold as Lawyer * Virginia O'Brien as Virginia O'Brien

Key songs/dance routines

Dance director was Robert Alton, Astaire's second-most-frequent choreographic collaborator after Hermes Pan. All of Astaire's numbers were directed by Vincente Minnelli. The movie's opening featured William Powell as Ziegfeld, who does the prologue. * "Here's to the Girls/"Bring on the Wonderful Men": by Roger Edens and Arthur Freed. Sung by Astaire with a short solo dance by Cyd Charisse, followed by Lucille Ball cracking a whip over eight chorus-girl panthers, and finally Virginia O'Brien spoofs the previous scene by singing "Bring On Those Wonderful Men". Van Johnson,

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series, in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

and

Mischa Auer Mischa Auer (born Mikhail Semyonovich Unkovsky (Михаил Семёнович Унковский; 17 November 1905 – 5 March 1967) was a Russians, Russian-born American actor who moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s. He first appeared in fi ...

are cited in the song as men she finds interesting. * " This Heart of Mine": classic standard by

Harry Warren Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...

and Arthur Freed and written specially for Astaire who sings it to Bremer and then leads her in an extravagantly romantic dance of seduction and power-play. The choreography integrates rotating floors, concealed treadmills and swirling dance motifs. * "Love": another standard, this time by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, sung by

. * " Limehouse Blues": conceived as a "dramatic pantomime" with Astaire as a proud but poverty-stricken Chinese labourer whose infatuation with the unattainable Bremer leads to tragedy. The story serves as bookends for a dream ballet inspired by Chinese dance motifs in a vast and extravagant setting, as both Astaire and Bremer perform in

yellowface Portrayals of East Asians in American film and theatre has been a subject of controversy. These portrayals have frequently reflected an ethnocentric perception of East Asians rather than realistic and authentic depictions of East Asian cultures, c ...

. * "The Great Lady Has an Interview": written by Kay Thompson and Roger Edens originally for Greer Garson (she turned it down). Judy Garland spoofs a movie star who can only be cast in Oscar-winning dramas, but wants to play "sexy" roles (a la Greer Garson, or

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...

) giving an interview to dancing reporters about "her next picture": a bio-pic of Madame Cremantante (the "inventor of the safety pin"). Originally to be directed by Garland's friend

, Vincente Minnelli ended up directing the sequence (the two were dating at the time), and Walters was reassigned as choreographer. * "The Babbitt and the Bromide": Astaire and Kelly team up in a comedy song and dance challenge in three sections, to music and lyrics by George and

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

. All choreography was by Astaire (third section) and Kelly (sections one and two). This was the only time Astaire and Kelly appeared on screen together in their prime. In spite of efforts by Freed and Minnelli, the two would not partner again on film until '' That's Entertainment, Part II'' in 1976. * "There's Beauty Everywhere": originally filmed as a balletic finale with tenor James Melton singing and Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, and Lucille Bremer dancing in a melange of soap bubbles. But when the bubble machine malfunctioned (leaving only a fragment of the number filmed) and the formula flowed into the hallways of the soundstage, the number had to be restaged and the Astaire and Bremer part of this number was cut out altogether." Kathryn Grayson replaced Melton. Segments of the "bubble dance" with Charisse remain in the final film.

Surviving outtake of introduction

An early concept was to have the film introduced by a stop motion animated puppet of Leo the Lion. Although cut before release, this outtake footage survives today.

Reception

'' The New York Times'': "The film's best numbers are a couple of comedy skits, especially one done by Red Skelton.

plays a Bronx hausfrau quite funnily. Judy Garland is also amusing as a movie queen giving an interview. ''Ziegfeld Follies'' is entertaining – and that's what it's meant to be!" ( Bosley Crowther). ''Newsweek'': "At least three of the numbers would highlight any review on stage and screen. In ''A Great Lady has an Interview'', Judy Garland, with six leading men, displays an unexpected flair for occupational satire. With ''Numbers Please''

Keenan Wynn Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in mos ...

demonstrates, once again, that he is one of Hollywood's foremost comedians. But the dance act for the archives is ''The Babbitt and the Bromide'' Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly trade taps and double-takes to a photo finish."

Box office

According to MGM records, the film earned $3,569,000 in the US and Canada, and $1,775,000 elsewhere - but because of its large cost, it incurred a loss to the studio of $269,000.

Accolades

1947 Cannes Film Festival Best Musical Comedy (Prix de la meilleure comédie musicale) Won The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

in these lists: * 2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals – Nominated

References

* John Mueller: ''Astaire Dancing – The Musical Films of Fred Astaire'', Knopf 1985,

External links

* * * *
The Judy Garland Online Discography "Ziegfeld Follies" pages.

{{Authority control 1945 films 1945 musical comedy films American musical comedy films 1940s English-language films American anthology films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films directed by Vincente Minnelli Films directed by Roy Del Ruth Films directed by George Sidney Films directed by Charles Walters Films produced by Arthur Freed Films scored by Lennie Hayton Films with screenplays by Irving Brecher Palme d'Or winners 1940s American films