Today starts two consecutive weeks of catching up on my project. I vow to watch at least a film a day to get back on track. I planned on starting light, popping in The Great Ziegfeld, a movie that I didn't know anything about, but judging by the DVD cover, I assumed it was a light film about show business that would be an enjoyable hour and a half spent. 3 and a half hours later, I finally finished the film. It is a "light" film by comparison to other films on my list. It stars William Powell and Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., Who in the early 1900's rose to become one of Broadway's most successful producers. The film marks his highs and lows in show business and includes actual dance numbers from some of his shows, which is what pads the running time to the 3 hour plus mark. It won the Oscar for Best Picture for 1936 and was the first bio-pic to do so. It is not a film that would be nominated today, but it's easy to see why it won back then. It deals directly with the stock market crash and the great depression, both figuring into the films finale. These themes proved to make the Great Ziegfeld very timely. The majority of the film, however, is pure escapism. Powell plays Ziegfeld as a sort of real life Bugs Bunny, always outsmarting his rivals. Ziegfeld is a womanizer and horrible with his money, both traits that help humanize the cartoonish characterization of him. Powell does great in the role and I was surprised that he was not nominated for an Oscar for this film. He is very fun to watch. The film also stars Luis Rainer as his first wife in a role that did win her an Oscar. I, however, find her character in the film to be whiny and annoying. Only in her final scene does she seem to have any acting talent. From what I have read, that scene is what nabbed her the Oscar. I enjoy most of the supporting cast also, especially Frank Morgan as Ziegfeld's rival/financier/friend Billings, The Elmer Fudd to Powell's Bugs Bunny. I wasn't as interested in the musical numbers, though. I felt that they didn't add anything to the story and, like I said earlier, they make the film too long. They are expertly filmed and the costumes/design/choreography are amazing, I just wasn't as emotionally invested in them as I was the story of Ziegfeld's life. There are also a few scenes that do not hold up in this day in age. One is an Eddie Cantor impersonator performing on stage in black face, which was a little shocking to see. I still don't understand how that was entertaining. Was it supposed to be funny? The other was less offensive. It is early in the film and has Powell's character explaining to a little girl that he is a womanizer. It's very creepy. The scene goes something like this:
Zeigfeld( sitting girl on his lap): Some people like pretty paintings.
Girl (pointing): like that one?
Zeigfeld: yes, like that one. And some people like pretty flowers
Girl (pointing): Like those?
Zeigfeld: yes...well...I like pretty girls.
Girl: like me?
Zeigfeld (laughing): Yes, I like pretty girls like you.
The delivery of the line and the fact that the scene takes place with just the little girl and two grown men in the room gives a creepy vibe that is completely unintentional and kind of campy. I'm sure the clip has been used before on some comedy show. All and all, this film was just all right. Not one of the greatest of all time, but a fun time capsule of the time period just prior to World War II
No comments:
Post a Comment