Review of The Great Ziegfeld (1936) by Allison F — 11 Feb 2016

Here's a move we've all heard about but few of us have actually seen. It is mostly noteworthy for winning Luise Rainer her second Oscar, although it's hard to see why. Her small role as Ziegfeld's first wife Anna Held give her little to do except look self-pitying and weepy throughout.

Her Oscar winning scene consists of a telephone conversation in which she bravely smiles through her tears. which may have wowed audiences in 1936 but looks pretty cheesy by today's acting standards.

Otherwise, this Academy Award winning film is strangely lacking in excitement. Here is a movie about Broadway in which there is very little about the theater -- no backstage excitement, nothing of what it takes to put on a show.

Most of the story takes place in living rooms and offices, interrupted too many times by endless, tedious "show girl" routines that add nothing. The introduction of a great song such as "Look For the Silver Lining" is tossed off and the song is not even fully performed, nor is the composer Jerome Kern even named.

Most of Ziegfeld's legendary shows are presented as no more than passing theatre marquees, evoking nothing of the shows themselves. "Show Boat" comes and goes without a whisper of its importance, but we sure do get a lot of Christmas with the Ziegfelds in their luxurious home.

After ditching Anna Held, Ziegfeld marries Billie Burke on her way to immortality as Glinda in "The Wizard of Oz," but otherwise forgettable as portrayed by Myrna Loy. William Powell ages nicely through the film, but there is nothing in the performance that suggest what made Ziegfeld "great," as the title promises.