Starring Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, and James Stewart
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard
Music and Lyrics by various
MGM wasn't finished making use of the Ziegfeld name and the idea of "Glorifying the American Girl" after the Oscar-winning success of The Great Ziegfeld in 1935. Instead of going the biographical route, they opted to showcase three of their biggest up-and-coming female stars with this tell-all behind-the-scenes melodrama on the lives of three very different showgirls who get that "glorifying" treatment. How does it come off today? Let's begin at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York, where those girls wait to be "glamorized," and find out...
The Story: We follow the lives of three showgirl hopefuls as they're discovered and become famous in the Ziegfeld Follies. Sheila Regan (Turner) is spied by Ziegfeld's right-hand man Noble Sage (Edward Everett Horton) while operating an elevator in Brooklyn. Susan Gallagher (Garland) has been trying to get into the Follies for months, but only makes it in when Sage catches her vaudeville act with her father "Pop" Gallagher (Charles Winninger). Sandra Kolter (Lamarr) takes the job when her violinist husband Franz (Phillip Dorn) is considered to be "too good" for the pit of a Ziegfeld show and they need the money.
All three women attract beaus right away. Susan dates Sheila's brother Jerry (Jackie Cooper), but is worried about her father, especially when he goes on tour without her. Sandra's pursued by lead singer Frank Merton (Tony Martin), but they both have spouses who love them. Sheila rejects her truck driver boyfriend Gil (Stewart) in favor of a wealthy suitor (Ian Hunter). Stung, Gil gives up trucking and becomes a bootlegger. That sends Sheila on a downward spiral of alcoholism and bad decisions that ends in tragedy, even as Susan's star ascends and Sandra realizes whom she really cares about.
The Song and Dance: Not hard to tell Busby Berkeley choreographed this one. His often flamboyant and outrageous dances take flight, even as the melodramatic plot remains earth-bound. I especially appreciate Sandra's story. It's rare to see a woman choose not to go with the life of glamor in a backstage musical. Sandra had a good head on her shoulders, and Lamarr did very well with her.
We also get an early taste of the type of melodrama Turner specialized in later in her career towards the end of the film, when Sheila hits the skids. Look for Dan Dailey as a gambler who comes on to Sheila twice, first when she has money, and later after she becomes a drunk, and for Eve Arden as a supremely sarcastic showgirl who likes to show off the jewelry she got from her five husbands.
Favorite Number: "You Stepped Out of a Dream" would be the last hit song for Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed before Freed switched to full-time producing, and it's a great way to go. Berkeley gives us a full-on view of what a real Ziegfeld glitter-and-staircase number was reportedly like, with Martin crooning the romantic ballad to a gala of ladies in amazingly creative (and brief) costumes representing stars, clouds, and air. Garland and Winninger give us a glimpse at old-time vaudeville with their corny-but-cute dance and joke routine to "Laugh? I Thought I'd Split My Sides."
The costumes are even briefer and wilder - literally, given some are trimmed with tropical birds or aquatic life - in Martin's "Caribbean Love Song." Garland joins the chorus for the rollicking tropical tragedy of "Minnie from Trinidad." Not only does this foreshadow Sheila's eventual fate, it's probably the best number in the movie along with "Dream." Berkley really has fun with the camera here, as the dancers rhumba and wiggle in their odd tan makeup.
Trivia: There was originally one more song for Garland, "We Must Have Music." It was deleted after the film was finished and is mostly now lost. A fragment of it exists in the short A New Romance of Celluloid: We Must Have Music.
If the finale looks familiar, it was recycled from the "Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" cake-tier number from The Great Ziegfeld, dubbed over with new music.
What I Don't Like: There's a reason Ziegfeld himself is never seen. The real Florenz Ziegfeld died in 1932. The Ziegfeld Follies were a regular Broadway attraction from 1907 until 1931. They appeared sporadically thereafter through the 1950's, including a 1943 edition. By 1941, women turned to other media, including movies, to be "glorified." Vaudeville was in heavy decline by this point as well, which is likely why Susan mentions her father is stuck in Omaha.
The biggest problem is the plot. It's mawkish claptrap of the highest caliber, and it goes on for way, way too long. The numbers and the histrionics should have been trimmed way back, especially in the second half. You know darn well where at least Susan and Sheila are going to be by the end of the film, especially after Sheila drops Gil. Sheila's sudden heart problems towards the end and her death nearly fall into camp territory. It doesn't help that Dorn and Stewart are wasted in thankless "love interest" roles.
(This is also the second big 40's musical this week I'm surprised was filmed in black-and-white. Ziegfeld showgirl parades practically shriek for color.)
The Big Finale: Check this one out for the great numbers alone if you're a fan of any of the stars involved and have time on your hands.
Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming.
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