| Ziegfeld Follies | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Lemuel Ayers Roy Del Ruth Robert Lewis Vincente Minnelli George Sidney |
| Written by | Charles Walters |
| Produced by | Arthur Freed |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | George Folsey Charles Rosher Ray June (uncredited) |
| Edited by | Albert Akst |
| Music by | Roger Edens Lennie Hayton Conrad Salinger Harry Warren |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Loew's, Inc. |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,403,000[1][2] |
| Box office | $5,344,000[1] |
Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 Americanmusical comedy film released byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), primarily directed byVincente Minnelli, with segments directed by Lemuel Ayers,Roy Del Ruth,Robert Lewis, andGeorge Sidney, the film's original director before Minnelli took over.[3] Other directors that are claimed to have made uncredited contributions to the film areMerrill Pye,Norman Taurog, andCharles Walters.[4][5] It stars many MGM leading talents, includingFred Astaire,Lucille Ball,Lucille Bremer,Fanny Brice (the only member of the ensemble who was a star of the original Follies),Judy Garland,Kathryn Grayson,Lena Horne,Gene Kelly,James Melton,Victor Moore,William Powell,Red Skelton, andEsther Williams.
ProducerArthur Freed wanted to create a film along the lines of theZiegfeld FolliesBroadway shows, and so the film is composed of a sequence of unrelated lavish musical numbers and comedy sketches. Some of them, such asPay the Two Dollars, originated inGeorge White's Scandals.[6] Filmed in 1944 and 1945,[7] it was released in 1946 to considerable critical and box-office success.
The film was entered into the1947 Cannes Film Festival.[8]
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 theGlobe Theater;P.T.Barnum, whose residence in the afterlife resembles a circus Big Top; andFlorenz Ziegfeld, 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 astop-motion puppet sequence as Ziegfeld provides avoice-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.
Dance director wasRobert Alton, Astaire's second-most-frequent choreographic collaborator afterHermes Pan. All of Astaire's numbers were directed byVincente Minnelli. The movie's opening featuredWilliam Powell as Ziegfeld, who does the prologue.
An early concept was to have the film introduced by astop motion animated puppet ofLeo the Lion. Although cut before release, thisouttake footage survives today.[10]
The New York Times: "The film's best numbers are a couple of comedy skits, especially one done byRed Skelton.Fanny Brice plays aBronx 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. InA Great Lady has an Interview, Judy Garland, with six leading men, displays an unexpected flair for occupational satire. WithNumbers PleaseKeenan Wynn demonstrates, once again, that he is one of Hollywood's foremost comedians. But the dance act for the archives isThe Babbitt and the Bromide Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly trade taps and double-takes to a photo finish."[11]
The Babbitt and the Bromide is referenced in a cutaway gag in season 10 episode ofFamily Guy, whenPeter Griffin, Quagmire, and Joe perform a section of the musical, called a "white guy work song" while in a chain gang as a reaction to the black prisoners having their own work song.
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.[1][12]
1947 Cannes Film Festival Best Musical Comedy (Prix de la meilleure comédie musicale) Won[13]
The film is recognized byAmerican Film Institute in these lists:
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