The Great Ziegfeld

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The Great Ziegfeld
original movie poster
Directed by	Robert Z. Leonard
Produced by	Hunt Stromberg
Written by	William Anthony McGuire
Starring	William Powell Myrna Loy Luise Rainer
Music by	Walter Donaldson
Distributed by	MGM
Release date(s)	April 8, 1936 (USA)
Running time	176 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Great Ziegfeld is a 1936 film. Although Florenz Ziegfeld provides a plot thread for this movie, it's really meant to showcase a series of spectacular musical productions. It takes many key liberties with Ziegfeld's life. Florenz and Anna are married when they actually had a common-law relationship, and Anna is a French native when she was actually Polish. The film includes original music by Walter Donaldson and Irving Berlin (whose work was featured in the Follies of 1918, 1919, and 1920.)

The film makes another historical goof: Rhapsody in Blue is heard as part of the 1907 Follies (so dated by fictional cameos of Will Rogers and Eddie Cantor, who first appeared in the 1917 Follies); the song was written in 1924, and was never featured in the Follies.

In its cast were William Powell (as Ziegfeld), Myrna Loy (as Billie Burke), Luise Rainer (as Anna Held), Nat Pendleton (as Eugen Sandow), Frank Morgan and Virginia Bruce. Ziegfeld performers Fanny Brice and Ray Bolger played themselves. Dennis Morgan, in an uncredited role, performed "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" (dubbed by Allan Jones). Yet another goof appears in the famed production number. "Pretty Girl" was written for the 1919 Follies, yet the picture depicts the number being in the first edition of the revue.