I've just read the cast list for Ziegfeld follies, and i've seen bits of it on TCM, but i dont really have a good idea about it. Has anyone seen it and can offer and opinion on it. Is it a must-watch or a waste of time? Some details about the plot would be helpful.
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There is absolutely no plot. In fact,at the beginning Fred Astaire says "Ziegfeld never cared about plots or villians. The Follies themselves were the story of an era".
I really like it,because it's such a bright colorful movie. I guess today's Terminator-loving public would probably start screaming for a plot or a some sort of dramatic climax.
The movie is basically a Ziegfeld show put on the screen. I recommend you see it, it's really spectacular.
Btw,Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer dance a number that's set in China town, and they both had to make their eyes look Chinese. There are a couple of close-ups of Astaire staring at Lucille from a distance. I just wanting to prepare for for those shots because his eyes look really really freaky!
Let me know what you think of it, if you ever do get to see it.
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i bought the video tape many years ago...i have to admit, it was pretty interesting to see so many talented stars in one movie (the others are, "till the clouds roll by", "thousands cheer" and "words and music") and yes, indeed, very colourful. but i think it is a movie that you can watch twice the most and eventually you find it a little too tedious (except for a few interesting numbers).
the fred astaire/lucille bremer numbers are good (especially "limehouse blues"), the opening number with lucille ball and cat girls was facinating. "the sweepstake" comedy skit with fannie brice and hume cronyn, carries some chuckles. lena horne's "love" is colourful and the rest are so so.
The main point of interest of this film is that Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly do a duet - The Babbit and The Bromide. It's an OK routine but not the spectacular dance that pairing these two masters should have produced. Somehow it doesn't really showcase either of the 2 dancers talents as it should
shareI saw ZIEGFELD FOLLIES for the first time about six months ago and I really enjoyed seeing every star MGM had under contract in 1946 in the same film. It was quite impressive. There is no plot to speak of. William Powell appears in the beginning playing Ziegfeld planning a new revue which segus to Fred Astaire introducing MGM's greatest stars singing, dancing, clowning, and doing comedy spots. This is the film where you can see Lucille Ball play a sexy lion tamer, the actual Fanny Brice in a comedy sketch with Hume Cronyn, Kathryn Grayson and Lena Horne singing, Judy Garland in a sophisticated specialty number called "The Great Lady Has An Interview" (this segment was directed by Judy's then husband Vincente Minnelli), and above all, this is the only film in which you can see Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly dance together side by side in a number called "The Babbit and the Bromide." They don't and can't make them like this anymore, so it is definitely worth a look.
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I got this movie in a box set for my birthday- I had never seen it before but its quickly become one of my favorite musicals
There's such thing as good grief. Just ask Charlie Brown.
I have the VHS tape years ago. The DVD version I got was from download so I don't really know what others who bought the gift-set think. I love this movie for some of the color sets, especially the Astaire/Bremer, Astaire/Kelly numbers or all the Minnelli designed ones. I recommend this movie for anyone who were keen on visual design or painting.
When focusing on the dance numbers you'll find the camera work were fluent. Another brilliant color set was Minnelli's direction in Yolanda And The Thief, which the VHS is out of stock now. The leading lady Bremer has a strain of fairy tale. I think she's quite fitting for role of a rich heiress on that wonderful film. Of course it was designed to be destined. And the ending of Yolanda And The Thief is a surprising one.
Someone above metioned David Bowie. I don't see any clear relation that the musical film legend Fred Astaire has to do with the rock legend David Bowie. Mmm, the two artists are great talents if they had to put some make-up when they performed their songs or covering other writers'. And each artist has different performing method. Their own personal lifes are very old-fashioned but their public career was big differences. Seeing and listening their film and music if you can.
There's no plot. It's essentially scenes playing one after the other with absolutely nothing to do with each other, like Fantasia.
It's actually quite good and definitely worth watching. It has the same failure as other films of it's kind, some parts are good, some are not and others are unwatchable. Most of the comic routines are horrible, unfunny and a pain to watch. The best one Pay the Two Dollars however makes up for it, being very scary yet very funny.
As for the numbers, four are great - This Heart of Mine where Fred Astair and Lucille Bremer do a number in the style of Fred's collaborations with Ginger Rogers. Limehouse Blues has a bad rap because people think that the Chinese-settings and costumes are offensive and racist. While pretty Orientalist it's actually not any more or any less racist then Broken Blossoms or the ''Shanghai Lil'' number of Footlight Parade! or for that matter Giacomo Puccini's Turandot. The number itself is pretty morbid and beautiful. And the last shot of Fred Astaire lying in his death bed while the woman he has an unrequited love for(Lucille Bremer) takes the fan that he gave his life for is shocking, especially when she throws it away because of the visible bloodstains and runs off with her keeper while Astaire dies. It's really shocking stuff.
The most famous numbers of Ziegfeld Follies are pretty joyous and they are both back-to-back. Judy Garland's send-up/tribute of Katharine Hepburn A Great Lady Gives An Interview had me in splits. The Babbit and the Bromide[i] with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire is not a good song but the number is about two geniuses trading-off each other like jazz musicians in an after-hours jam session.
The rest are okay and interesting here and there. But these four(and "Pay The Two Dollars'') are stand-outs. They work better as short films than when they are paired together with all the rest.
[i]"Ça va by me, madame...Ça va by me!" - The Red Shoes
I found it middling. Basically tries to be a revue show with songs, sketches and dance numbers.
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