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Ziegfeld Follies (MGM) is a 1946 Hollywood musical
Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the fictional character are interwoven into the narrative. The songs are used to advance the plot or develop the film's characters....
 comedy film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
, directed by Roy Del Ruth
Roy Del Ruth

Roy Del Ruth was a Hollywood film director. Del Ruth, who started out as a screenwriter in 1915 writing gags for Mack Sennett, began directing feature films in the 1920s....
 and Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli

Vincente Minnelli was a Hollywood film director and Theatre director. His skilled integration of story, music, lighting, and design elements in a film made him the most critically respected crafter of musical film....
, starring many of MGM leading talents, including Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire was an United States Academy Award-winning film and Broadway theatre dance, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of seventy-six years, during which he made thirty-one musical films....
, Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball was an United States comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model , film industry, and star of the landmark sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy....
, Lucille Bremer
Lucille Bremer

Lucille Bremer was an United States film actor and dancer.Bremer was born in Amsterdam, New York and began her career as a The Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, aged 16....
, Judy Garland
Judy Garland

Judy Garland was an American actress and alto singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage....
, Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson

Kathryn Grayson is an American actress and operatic soprano singer. Trained as an opera singer from the age of twelve, Grayson was contracted to MGM and established a career in films from the early 1940s....
, Lena Horne
Lena Horne

Lena Mary Calhoun Horne is an American singer and actress. She has recorded and performed extensively, independently and with other jazz notables, including Artie Shaw, Teddy Wilson, Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington, Charlie Barnet, Benny Carter, and Billy Eckstine....
, Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly

Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an United States dancer, actor, singer, film director, Film producer, and choreographer.A major exponent of 20th century filmed dance, Kelly was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks and the likeable characters that he played on screen....
, James Melton
James Melton

James Melton was a popular singer in the 1920's and early 1930's who later began a career as an operatic singer when tenor voices went out of style in popular music around 1932-1935....
, Victor Moore
Victor Moore

Victor Moore was a star of stage and screen.He appeared in over 58 films and 21 Broadway theatre shows. He first appeared on Broadway in Rosemary ....
, William Powell
William Powell

William Horatio Powell was a three-time Academy Award-nominated American actor, noted for his sophisticated, cynical roles. He was a major MGM film star and is most widely known for portraying the detective Nick and Nora Charles in six The Thin Man films....
, Red Skelton
Red Skelton

Richard Bernard ?Red? Skelton was an United States comedian who was best known as a top old-time radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway theatre, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, while pursuing another career as a painter....
, and Esther Williams
Esther Williams

Esther Jane Williams is a retired United States competitive swimmer and legendary MGM feature film movie star, famous for her musical films that featured elaborate performances with swimming and diving....
. It also featured Fanny Brice
Fanny Brice

Fanny Brice was a popular and influential United States comedienne, singer, theatre and film actress, who made many stage , radio and film appearances but is best remembered as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series, The Baby Snooks Show....
, the only cast member to have actually starred in the original Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies

The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway theatre in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
.

Producer Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed

Arthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was an United States lyricist and a Hollywood film producer....
 wanted to create a film along the lines of the Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies

The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway theatre in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
 Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
 shows and so the film is composed of a sequence of unrelated lavish musical numbers and comedy sketches.






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Ziegfeld Follies (MGM) is a 1946 Hollywood musical
Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the fictional character are interwoven into the narrative. The songs are used to advance the plot or develop the film's characters....
 comedy film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
, directed by Roy Del Ruth
Roy Del Ruth

Roy Del Ruth was a Hollywood film director. Del Ruth, who started out as a screenwriter in 1915 writing gags for Mack Sennett, began directing feature films in the 1920s....
 and Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli

Vincente Minnelli was a Hollywood film director and Theatre director. His skilled integration of story, music, lighting, and design elements in a film made him the most critically respected crafter of musical film....
, starring many of MGM leading talents, including Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire was an United States Academy Award-winning film and Broadway theatre dance, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of seventy-six years, during which he made thirty-one musical films....
, Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball was an United States comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model , film industry, and star of the landmark sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy....
, Lucille Bremer
Lucille Bremer

Lucille Bremer was an United States film actor and dancer.Bremer was born in Amsterdam, New York and began her career as a The Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, aged 16....
, Judy Garland
Judy Garland

Judy Garland was an American actress and alto singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage....
, Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson

Kathryn Grayson is an American actress and operatic soprano singer. Trained as an opera singer from the age of twelve, Grayson was contracted to MGM and established a career in films from the early 1940s....
, Lena Horne
Lena Horne

Lena Mary Calhoun Horne is an American singer and actress. She has recorded and performed extensively, independently and with other jazz notables, including Artie Shaw, Teddy Wilson, Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington, Charlie Barnet, Benny Carter, and Billy Eckstine....
, Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly

Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an United States dancer, actor, singer, film director, Film producer, and choreographer.A major exponent of 20th century filmed dance, Kelly was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks and the likeable characters that he played on screen....
, James Melton
James Melton

James Melton was a popular singer in the 1920's and early 1930's who later began a career as an operatic singer when tenor voices went out of style in popular music around 1932-1935....
, Victor Moore
Victor Moore

Victor Moore was a star of stage and screen.He appeared in over 58 films and 21 Broadway theatre shows. He first appeared on Broadway in Rosemary ....
, William Powell
William Powell

William Horatio Powell was a three-time Academy Award-nominated American actor, noted for his sophisticated, cynical roles. He was a major MGM film star and is most widely known for portraying the detective Nick and Nora Charles in six The Thin Man films....
, Red Skelton
Red Skelton

Richard Bernard ?Red? Skelton was an United States comedian who was best known as a top old-time radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway theatre, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, while pursuing another career as a painter....
, and Esther Williams
Esther Williams

Esther Jane Williams is a retired United States competitive swimmer and legendary MGM feature film movie star, famous for her musical films that featured elaborate performances with swimming and diving....
. It also featured Fanny Brice
Fanny Brice

Fanny Brice was a popular and influential United States comedienne, singer, theatre and film actress, who made many stage , radio and film appearances but is best remembered as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series, The Baby Snooks Show....
, the only cast member to have actually starred in the original Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies

The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway theatre in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
.

Producer Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed

Arthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was an United States lyricist and a Hollywood film producer....
 wanted to create a film along the lines of the Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies

The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway theatre in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
 Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
 shows and so the film is composed of a sequence of unrelated lavish musical numbers and comedy sketches. Although produced in 1944-45, it was released in 1946, to considerable critical and box-office success.

The film was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film Festival
1947 Cannes Film Festival

The 2nd Cannes Film Festival was held on September 12-25, 1947 in film....
.

Key songs/dance routines


Dance director was Robert Alton
Robert Alton

Robert Alton was an American dancer and choreographer, a major figure in dance choreography of Broadway theatre and Hollywood musicals from the 1930s through to the early 1950s....
, Astaire's second-most-frequent choreographic collaborator after Hermes Pan
Hermes Pan (choreographer)

Hermes Pan was an American dancer and choreographer, principally celebrated as Fred Astaire's choreographic collaborator on the famous 1930s musical film starring Astaire and Ginger Rogers....
. All of Astaire's numbers were directed by Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli

Vincente Minnelli was a Hollywood film director and Theatre director. His skilled integration of story, music, lighting, and design elements in a film made him the most critically respected crafter of musical film....
.

  • Here's To The Girls/Bring On The Wonderful Men: by Roger Edens
    Roger Edens

    Roger Edens was a Hollywood composer, arranger and associate producer, and is considered one of the major creative figures in Arthur Freed's musical film production unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the "golden era of Hollywood"....
     and Arthur Freed. Sung by Astaire with a short solo dance by Cyd Charisse
    Cyd Charisse

    Cyd Charisse was an American dancer and actress.After recovering from polio as a child, and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s....
    , followed by Lucille Ball
    Lucille Ball

    Lucille Ball was an United States comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model , film industry, and star of the landmark sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy....
     cracking a whip over eight chorus-girl panthers, and finally Virginia O'Brien
    Virginia O'Brien

    Virginia Lee O?Brien , was a popular United States singer and actress known for her comedic roles in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals of the 1940s. She was highly regarded for her singing style, as well as her beauty....
     spoofs the previous scene by singing "Bring on those Wonderful Men"
  • This Heart of Mine
    This Heart of Mine

    This Heart of Mine This music standard was written by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Arthur Freed to be featured in the musical film score, Ziegfeld Follies , released in 1946....
    : Classic standard
    Great American Songbook

    Great American Songbook is a term referring to the interrelated music of Broadway theatre musical theater, the Hollywood musical, and Tin Pan Alley, in a period that begins roughly in the 1920s and tapers off around 1960 with the emerging dominance of rock and roll....
     by Harry Warren
    Harry Warren

    Harry Warren was an Italian-American composer and lyricist. Warren was the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film and had more hit songs than any other composer of the 20th Century....
     and Arthur Freed and written specially for Astaire who sings it to Bremer and then leads her in an extravagantly romantic dance of seduction and power-play. The choreography integrates rotating floors, concealed treadmills and swirling dance motifs.
  • Love: Another standard, this time by Hugh Martin
    Hugh Martin

    'Hugh Martin' is an American musical theatre and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He is best known for his score for the classic 1944 MGM musical Meet Me In St....
     and Ralph Blane
    Ralph Blane

    Ralph Blane was an American composer, lyricist, and performer....
    , sung by Lena Horne
  • Limehouse
    Limehouse

    Limehouse is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is on the northern bank of the River Thames opposite Rotherhithe and between Ratcliff to the west and Millwall to the east....
     Blues    : Conceived as a "dramatic pantomime" with Astaire as a proud but poverty-stricken Chinese labourer whose infatuation with the unattainable Bremer leads to tragedy. The story serves as bookends for a dream ballet inspired by Chinese dance motifs in an unfortunate, racially stereotyped setting.
  • The Great Lady Has An Interview: Written by Kay Thompson
    Kay Thompson

    Kay Thompson was an United States author, composer, musician, actress and singer. She is best known as the creator of the Eloise children's books....
     originally for Greer Garson
    Greer Garson

    'Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson', Order of the British Empire was a United Kingdom-born actor who was very popular during the years of World War II. As one of MGM's major stars of the 1940s, Garson received seven Academy Award nominations, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress award for Mrs....
     (she turned it down). Judy Garland
    Judy Garland

    Judy Garland was an American actress and alto singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage....
     spoofs a movie star who can only be cast in Oscar winning dramas, but wants to play "sexy" roles (a la Greer Garson
    Greer Garson

    'Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson', Order of the British Empire was a United Kingdom-born actor who was very popular during the years of World War II. As one of MGM's major stars of the 1940s, Garson received seven Academy Award nominations, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress award for Mrs....
    , or Katharine Hepburn
    Katharine Hepburn

    Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an United States actress of film, television and stage.Acclaimed throughout her 73-year career, Hepburn holds the record for the most Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Awards wins with four, from 12 nominations....
    ) giving an interview to dancing reporters about "her next picture": a bio-pic of Madame Cremantante (the "inventor of the safety pin"). Originally to be directed by Garland's friend Charles Walters
    Charles Walters

    Charles Walters was a Hollywood Film director and choreographer most noted for his work in MGM musicals and comedies in from the 1940s to the 1960s....
    , Vincente Minnelli ended up directing the sequence (the two were dating at the time), and Walters was reassigned as choreographer.
  • The Babbitt And The Bromide: Astaire and Kelly team up in a comedy song and dance challenge in three sections, to music and lyrics by George
    George Gershwin

    George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. He wrote most of his vocal and theatrical works in collaboration with his elder brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin....
     and Ira Gershwin
    Ira Gershwin

    Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
    . All choreography was by Astaire (third section) and Kelly (sections one and two). In spite of efforts by Freed and Minnelli, the two would not partner again on film until That's Entertainment, Part II
    That's Entertainment, Part II

    That's Entertainment, Part II was a 1976 in film motion picture by MGM, and a sequel to the 1974 documentary, That's Entertainment!. Like the previous film, That's Entertainment, Part II was a retrospective of famous films released by MGM from the 1930s to the 1950s....
     in 1976.
  • There's Beauty Everywhere: Originally filmed as a balletic finale with tenor James Melton
    James Melton

    James Melton was a popular singer in the 1920's and early 1930's who later began a career as an operatic singer when tenor voices went out of style in popular music around 1932-1935....
     singing and Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, and Lucille Bremer dancing in a melange of soap bubbles. But when the bubble machine malfunctioned (leaving only a fragment of the number filmed) and the formula flowed into the hallways of the soundstage, the number had to be restaged. Kathryn Grayson replaced Melton and Astaire and Bremer were cut out altogether. Segments of the "bubble dance" with Charisse remain in the final film.


External links