Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day Seven: Good golly Miss Folly

Its a weekend of winners in my next two films that I recieve from LoveFilm. The first to arrive is the winner of the 1937 prize, The Great Ziegfeld. It is also the first film that I can compare to another from that year, that being Three Smart Girls. And if it was a two horse race I would have to put my money on Ziegfeld all the way. I have to put my hands up and admit that I didn't really know much about this film coming into it other than I had heard of the Ziegfeld Follies. But I have to say that this is a towering epic coming in at just under three hours, the DVD version also gave you a feel of those early days of cinema by playing the film's oveture and interval music. The film is set over forty years and is partly based on the true life of Florence Ziegfeld Jr. the son of a respected music professor who wants to break into showbusiness from promoting a strongman at the Chicago's World Fair to having his own show on Broadway. Some of the best parts of the film for me were the opening hustle and bustle that were depicted in the World Fair scenes also a joy were the scenes of bickering between Ziegfeld and his long-time rival and later friend Billings. For me I feel that this relationship is the one that underpins the film and lasts a lot longer than any that Ziegfeld has with his leading laidies. The film started to slip for me when Ziegfeld hired and later married Anna Held. I felt that Luise Rainer failed to hold the screen and captivate in a way that others did. I found it completely surprising then that she won the Best Actress picture over Norma Shearer, Irene Dunne and Carole Lombarde. As this was at the height of MGM's Fame it isn't unusual that their big pictue would get such awards glory but there was a rumor that Louis B Mayer bought the Oscar.

The film got going a bit later on with the introduction of Myrna Loy as Ziegfeld's second wife Billie Burke. Meanwhile there were some great cameo appearances from Ray Bolger and Fanny Brice as themselves, Brice particularly lit up the stage in her handful of scenes. The whole thing was an array of musical numbers and this added to the showbiz feel of the whole thing but at times I thought this ran a bit overlong. All in all a great spectacle with some wonderful musical numbers and an overlooked lead performance from William Powell (not even nominated for Best Actor) it also shed a light on the growing trends in the entertainment industry. In the latter parts of the film Ziegfeld is seen as losing his touch as stars from the stage rush to Hollywood he tries to rebuild his reputation but ends up losing all his money in The Wall Street Crash of 1929. I found parts of the film touching and emotional, others grandiose and a few moments of sheer boredom, Ziegfeld certainly was inconsistent but you can't argue with the glamour and stage production of the Follies numbers. There may've been a better film in the 1937 Oscar Best Picture list but I doubt there was one as grand as this.