Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard, Busby Berkeley

Film Review

As far as MGM musicals come, that don't come much bigger than Ziegfeld Girl, a lavish, bubbly spectacle with enough star power to illuminate half the galaxy.  Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr and Lana Turner form a legendary line-up in a film that is the perfect vehicle for their respective talents, although it is Turner who most gets the star treatment, MGM's most recent discovery, soon to become one of the studio's most bankable stars.  James Stewart received top billing but his presence in the film is almost incidental - he's only here to help the story along and make the film more appealing to the fair sex.   It is a rare occasion that a film's leading player is reduced to a minor supporting role, totally eclipsed by actors below his name on the billboard.  It could only happen in 1940s Hollywood, and to an actor as accommodating as Jimmy Stewart.

The real star of the film is Busby Berkeley, or rather his eye-popping musical extravaganzas, which are among some of the most ambitious and artistically accomplished ever to grace a Hollywood musical.  Do we care that some of the more spectacular shots were lifted from an earlier film, The Great Ziegfeld (1936)?  Of course not!  Who would ever guess that the girl sitting on top of the gigantic wedding cake in the final shot is not Judy Garland in a blonde wig but Virginia Bruce?   (Oops, that's one illusion spoiled.)

Forget the story - it's pure melodrama hokum whose only purpose is to link the musical numbers.  The only reason why anyone would watch Ziegfeld Girl is to sit and be wowed senseless by the glitter and glamour that gets thrown onto the screen in its flawlessly choreographed song and dance numbers.  A gloriously over-the-top celebration of both the Hollywood musical and female pulchritude (shown off in the most incredible of costumes), the film has plenty to delight anyone who watches it. 

Judy Garland excels with her moving ballad I'm Always Chasing Rainbows, filling every last note with joy and anguish, but the highlight is the calypso-themed Minnie From Trinidad, one of Busby Berkeley's greatest triumphs, which culminates with Judy Garland apparently being lifted high into the air on bamboo poles.  Don't worry, the elevated Miss is a stunt double - MGM were not mad enough to risk losing one of their biggest stars (spoiled illusion number 2).  The humorous Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean number is another unexpected delight, performed with effortless music hall aplomb by Charles Winninger and Al Shean.

Ziegfeld Girl is overblown to the point that it looks as if it might explode through its own bloated ambitions, but it somehow manages to avoid doing so and gels into one of the slickest and most enjoyable of all MGM musicals.  Who can resist the allure of three of the most glamorous gals to shine in Hollywood's golden era, all at their radiant, screen-punching best?   And to think it was all put together during one of the grimmest periods in modern history...  They definitely don't make 'em like this any more - more's the pity.

Film Synopsis

Lift operator Sheila Regan can hardly believe her good fortune when she is invited to attend an audition to become a Ziegfeld girl and appear in the hit show Ziegfeld Follies.  She soon forgets her truck-driving boyfriend Gilbert Young and revels in her new life as a showgirl, gladly accepting handsome gifts from admiring socialite Geoffrey Collis.  Susan Gallagher was less reluctant to give up her old life, especially the vaudeville act she performed with her father, but she is soon the star of the Follies.  Sandra Kolter regrets leaving her poor violinist husband Franz to become a Ziegfeld girl and begins to have second thoughts about her career move.  Meanwhile, Sheila has succumbed to alcoholism and is about to lose everything after her brief moment of glory...