The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
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The Great Ziegfeld Movie Review
The Great Ziegfeld is a 1936 musical biopic film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring William Powell, Myrna Loy and Luise Rainer. It’s such a weak Best Picture winner.
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“Tell Mr. Ziegfeld, I’m not in and if I was in,
I wouldn’t see him and if I did see him,
tell him, I wouldn’t buy a thing“
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It follows America’s greatest showman, Florenz Ziegfeld, and the musical Follies he created. Obviously, this subject was close to home for Hollywood as many of the Ziegfeld songs and musicals were prominent in the film musicals as well. And he was simply a highly important figure of Broadway. Some parts of this movie have that grandeur and importance to them, but most of it is bloated and dull.
Yes, this started the tradition of biopics winning Best Picture, especially the weaker ones. It also started the tradition of overlong, epic films winning Oscars. This one had no business being this long, at three hours it felt unnecessary and ultimately tedious.
The main problem connected to the length and the quality of the overall movie lies in the musical numbers. Yes, some of them are very good and memorable. And almost all are technically dazzling, but more on that later.
However, the director and the producer should have decided on just one genre – either a biopic or a musical. You can’t have it both. As a result, the biopic elements were blunted in impact, and the musical elements felt unnecessary and simply way too long. There are some musical stretches here which are never-ending.
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There are some plot points that I very much enjoyed. The romantic parts are pretty solid overall, some songs are great and in particular that ending is so majestic. It was a perfect way to end the picture with a lot of emotion, and a brilliant turn by Powell.
Which brings me to my next point – Paul Muni had no business winning over William Powell at the Academy as his turn in ‘The Story of Louis Pasteur’ is much less memorable. Powell was nominated for ‘My Man Godfrey’, but he should have also been nominated for this film. His performance here is truly remarkable, and he showed how hugely talented he was that he could also play dramatic roles as well as the comedic ones.
As for the women, I did like Luise Rainer quite a bit. I agree with the critics that her telephone scene is probably the scene that brought her an Oscar, and she is magnificent in that scene, but otherwise isn’t as present that much. As for Myrna Loy, she’s as magnetic, and as wonderful as she always is.
The Great Ziegfeld did not deserve to win those Oscars except for dancing, and it especially did not deserve all of those nominations. However, technically speaking, the film is glorious for sure. The production design is particularly dazzling with many gorgeous sets that recreate this era of Hollywood gloriously.
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The same goes for the overall epic, spectacular feel to it that is present throughout, but sometimes to its detriment. The overall direction and editing are very weak, though the dialogue is pretty good. It’s better now than before as before I thought it mediocre, now I deem it passable. But still, it is by far one of the worst Oscar winners from the thirties, and a troublesomely influential movie for the future.
The Great Ziegfeld is a passable movie due to its spectacular production design, some good musical numbers, a great ending and a phenomenal central performance from always terrific William Powell. However, the biographical elements were blunted in impact owing to an excessive emphasis on music with some stretches of numbers feeling never-ending. The whole film is incredibly bloated, dull and artificially epic. It ended up winning Best Picture, unfortunately influencing many similar biopics in its wake.
