Ziegfeld Girl
by Busby Berkeley, Robert Z. Leonard
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DVD details
Actor: Hedy Lamarr, James Stewart, Judy Garland, Lana Turner, Tony MartinDirector: Busby Berkeley, Robert Z. Leonard
Brand: Warner Brothers
Cinematographer: Joseph Ruttenberg
Producer: Pandro S. Berman
Writer: Annalee Whitmore
Writer: Marguerite Roberts
Writer: Sonya Levien
Writer: William Anthony McGuire
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed)
Format: Black & White, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 132 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-04-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of Ziegfeld Girl
DVD Review: Judy, Hedy and Lana sparkle on the Great White Way...
Summary: 4 Stars
Intended by MGM as a followup-of-sorts to their 1936 smash hit THE GREAT ZIEGFELD, 1941's ZIEGFELD GIRL mixed melodrama and musical comedy to maximum effect, detailing the lives of three new Follies girls and their rocky climb to stardom.
Sparky red-headed lift operator Sheila Regan (Lana Turner), dignified musician's wife Sandra Kolter (Hedy Lamarr) and tenacious vaudevillian Susan Gallagher (Judy Garland) all have the potential of making it big in the Ziegfeld Follies.
Sheila is the girl who wants fame and fortune via the shortest possible route, and if that involves courting the attentions of rich stage-door daddies, and dumping her faithful boyfriend Gil (Jimmy Stewart), that's exactly what she'll do. Sandra is the cultured wife of penniless violin player Franz Kolter (Philip Dorn) and success in the Follies doesn't really matter to her either way; she has her feet planted firmly on the ground and even the attentions of womanising Follies tenor Frank Merton (Tony Martin) will barely register with her. Finally there's Susan Gallagher. "I was born in a trunk but Pop left the lid open!", Susan proudly proclaims. She co-stars with her father (Charles Winninger) in a hammy vaudeville routine and later harbours extreme guilt at having broken up the act to appear in the Follies. Success will only come to one of these girls. The road to Follies stardom will be littered with broken hearts and broken dreams for the other two...
ZIEGFELD GIRL was one of Lana Turner's first major roles for MGM; and she definitely has the meatiest role as Sheila. Hedy Lamarr doesn't really do much except perhaps play a variation of herself but she's a gorgeous presence. Judy Garland, in one of her first "grown-up" roles, is luminous as always and has two brilliant musical numbers in which to shine ("I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" and "Minnie from Trinidad").
The ideal film for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
TRIVIA: The film recycles the "Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" spinning wedding-cake shot from THE GREAT ZIEGFELD for the "You Never Looked So Beautiful Before" finale, by cleverly costuming Judy Garland to look exactly like Virginia Bruce on top of the revolving "cake".
At the same time that he was playing Judy Garland's father in ZIEGFELD GIRL, Charles Winninger was also Deanna Durbin's dad in the "Three Smart Girls" movies at Universal. The ZIEGFELD GIRL connection? Both Garland and Durbin were both under short-term contracts at MGM, but sadly only one could be groomed as the studio's new juvenile star. MGM paired them in a short ("Every Sunday") to decide who would stay. Deanna was dropped but later went on to great success at rival studio Universal where she made over 20 films and happily retired at the age of 27.
DVD Review: 1940's musical
Summary: 2 Stars
We laughed ourselves silly over the outrageous costumes. If this was what busby berkley was famous for, help us all. Even given the year it was made it is comedic. Hedy Lammar looks sinster, Judy Garland looks up usual pilled up self. Lana Turners tried her dramatic skills which are non existent. I'm reminded of a quote from Bea Arthur "There will never be a generation as naive as we were" DVD Review: Great Musical
Summary: 4 Stars
I watched this movie over the weekend and fell in love with it. Hedy Lamarr, Lana Turner, and the great Judy Garland light up the screen. The lavish musical numbers, georgeous costumes, and old Hollywood glamour make this a "can't miss" event.DVD Review: Ziegfeld Girl
Summary: 5 Stars
Great Music. I was thrilled to see the musical dance number 'Minnie from Trinidad'. I have been looking for it for years. It's great you made it available on DVD. DVD Review: Class A Suds
Summary: 4 Stars
Okay, the plot is familiar -- three girls head for stardom in the Follies, one good (Garland), one bad (Turner), and one indifferent (Lamarr), with predictable results. But MGM threw all of its renowned studio craftsmanship into this film, and it makes for a wonderfully satisfying experience. Garland has moxie and talent, so her character makes it -- but only after proving her loyalty to her vaudeville Dad. That's MGM's (read: Louis Mayer's) take on the morality of show business, but it doesn't come across as hokey because Garland makes us believe in it, and her, all the way. Turner's character isn't really bad, just greedy, but she rejects James Stewart's offer of domestic penury and, in MGM's eyes, that's equivalent to Mortal Sin. So she lushes herself to the bottom. The part may be a stereotype, but Turner isn't. For those who've only seen her as a caricature of herself in later roles, this performance is a revelation. And Lamarr -- well, her character leaves her husband (justified, if you ask me; he acts like a jerk about her success) but runs back to him in time for the final number. I can't really get on Lamarr's case for her lack of acting skills since she was (a) drop-dead gorgeous and (b) an electronics wizard in real life, which is about all you can ask of one person. Still, one does get tired of MGM's insistence on pushing her into roles that could have used a real actress.
And yes, this movie is one that cries out for the visual joys of technicolor (The Sea Hawk is another). But perhaps Adrian's gloriously decadent costumes and Busby Berkeley's reliably loony production numbers would have been way over the top in color. In black-and-white they seem just right, an evocation of a bygone era. Ziegfeld Girl is a sudsy but terrifically effective fairy tale that retains its magic even today.
Last word: this may be the only Edward Everett Horton movie in which he doesn't plague the viewer with stupid double-takes, a real plus if you've seen him dithering in RKO movies. Plus his character's name (Noble Sage) is one of my all-time favorites.
Description of Ziegfeld Girl
An elevator operator, a wife of a struggling concert violinist, a born-in-a-trunk vaudevillian: they're three different women on three different paths of life, yet they soon share one dream: to become a Ziegfeld Girl. Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr and Judy Garland play the respective three trying for stardom in this sumptuous extravaganza. James Stewart adds to the star wattage, playing the jilted truck-driving beau of Turner's footlight diva. And legendary innovator Busby Berkeley brings his imaginative camerawork and pacing to numbers that include Garland's massively scaled and calypso-infused Minnie from Trinidad, plus a lavish, showgirl-revue finale that reprises the rhapsodic You Stepped Out of a Dream. Sweet dreams, movie fans.General DVDs
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