At three hours in length, this 1936 biopic about Florenz Ziegfeld is true to form for a Ziegfeld related production. It’s extravagant and over the top. It now plays like a historical document of famous entertainers from another time. Included were dancer Harriet Hocter, comedian Franny Brice, an Eddie Cantor look-a-like, a Roy Rogers look-a-like, dancer Roy Bolger (the Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz), Frank Morgan (the Wizard from Wizard of Oz), Myrna Loy (Glinda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz), German born actress Luise Rainer who won an Oscar for this film, and mention of Bert Williams and Lillian Russel.This film needed the right actor to portray Ziegfeld and William Powell was a good mixture of charm and huckster. Powell is given much screen time and he carries his scenes with much aplomb. Production numbers abound, and considering this was long before computer generated effects, the physical effects in many of the scenes is impressive. The numbers are so well presented you would think you were there. They demonstrate what it must have been like to attend one Ziegfeld’s shows. Too bad the film is not in color.The movie does require a time commitment. It starts with overture music and even has an intermission – with Entr’acte music. Eventually exit music will conclude the film. Many of the scenes in the first half are melodramatic. The second half of the movie moves at a brisk pace as more time is given to complete performances, including the famous “wedding cake” sequence for “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody.”Even though this is a movie, it chronicles a time when stage personalities were celebrities. Movies had yet to eclipse live productions. Fans of stage and theater will want to see this film. Make sure you have an extra large bucket of popcorn!

Though I am not normally a fan of musical shows, I have made two exceptions in my sixty-odd years. The first was The Sound of Music, with Julie Andrews which I saw many years ago. Recently I added The Great Ziegfeld to my rather short list. Previous to watching the film (which I first rented), I knew nothing about the title character who, it turns out, is one of the greatest showmen of all time. Though the acting is typical of the 1930s, '40s and '50s, there is nothing stereotypical about some of the great stage shows that Ziegfeld originated and produced before the great financial crash that led to the Great Depression. His shows on Broadway were a drastic departure from everything that had come before, featuring opulent stage dressings, extremely innovative moving stage parts, and sing and dance numbers that put most modern productions to shame. These were all a staple in most of Ziegfeld's productions, but the one that bowled me over would be considered extraordinary even by today's standards. The center stage "prop" was in the shape of a multi-layered cake with a staircase beginning at the bottom and spiraling around and around to the very top. At various stages of the ascent were completely individual companies of performers portraying a specific theme, and it was a glorious extravanganza that left me slack-jawed with amazement. It was like nothing I have ever seen before or since, and impressed me on such a grand scale that I immediately went online and bought the DVD. I happen to be a fan of old movies from the '30s and '40s, but only the really good ones like "To Have and Have Not" with Bogart and Bacall, and "it Happened One Night" with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert find their way to my shelves. Added to my personal collection is "The Great Ziegfeld" for the storyline itself, and the incredible visual feast for the eyes that characterized most of Ziegfeld's stage productions. Do not let the artwork on the cover dissuade you from buying this film; rent it first if you can, then buy it to savor again and again clips of some of the greatest stage shows of all time.

This movie is worthwhile viewing for any fan of classic cinema or William Powell, but over 70 years later it's hard to see why this film won Best Picture of 1936 and a film like "Dodsworth" lost. Today it does seem overly long on musical numbers that could have been cut and short on storyline. There are probably several reasons that the picture could have been better and wasn't, the primary reason being that at the time the film was made Ziegfeld had only been dead four years and was thus still fondly and recently remembered. Also, according to the little featurette that comes with the DVD, Ziegfeld's widow Billie Burke was heavily involved in the making of the film and wouldn't allow anything in it to besmirch his memory. Finally, the production code had just begun to be sternly enforced in 1934, making a true accounting of Ziegfeld's personal life pretty much impossible. As a result Ziegfeld is portrayed as just the unluckiest of fellows who is always being wrongly perceived as a ladies' man just because his business involves large numbers of chorines. In fact, Ziegfeld cheated on both wives incessantly, and Ziegfeld never even formally married Anna Held to begin with - instead they had a common law marriage according to the statutes of New York. However, none of these other factors can account for the complete lack of chemistry between Powell (Ziegfeld) and Loy (Billie Burke) in the film. Considering how the two had already been in several movies together by the time this film was made, and that they never failed to sparkle on screen together in the other movies, there must have been either a complete lack of direction or over-direction to wind up with the rather wooden performance that results whenever the two are in scenes together.This movie would probably warrant only about three stars if it wasn't for William Powell's performance. Marvelous as always, he was at least allowed to portray Ziegfeld as the cagey trickster and gambler with tremendous class that he was, and he absolutely makes the film. I can't think of any other actor of that time period who could have done as good a job. As far as video quality, I was surprised at the scratchiness of the video portion of the transfer. There are numerous artifacts in the video that can be quite distracting at times, and at other points the video looks nearly perfect. There are only two extras features. One is a featurette lasting under ten minutes on the film and Ziegfeld's life with Luise Ranier, Ziegfeld's daughter, and others. The other feature is an unedited movietone newsreel of the grand opening of the film with short greetings from Harpo Marx, Ed Sullivan, and other celebrities.This new DVD release of "The Great Ziegfeld" is just being done for the sake of repackaging. If you are satisfied with the last release and its packaging there is nothing new about this release that should cause you to double dip.