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Ziegfeld Follies | Year: 1946 Directed: - Eugene Loring - Vincente Minnelli - Robert Lewis - Lemuel Ayers - Charles Walters - Roy Del Ruth - George Sidney Actors/Actresses: - Fred Astaire - Lucille Ball - Judy Garland - William Frawley - Lucille Bremer - Fanny Brice - Kathryn Grayson - Lena Horne - Gene Kelly - James Melton - Victor Moore - Esther Williams - William Powell - Edward Arnold - Marion Bell - Cyd Charisse - Robert Lewis - Virginia O'Brien - Keenan Wyann An All-Star cast including Lucille Ball and William Frawley. An All-Star cast and some that will be stars. Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, William Frawley, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, James Melton, Victor Moore, Red Skelton. Esther Williams, William Powell,Edward Arnold, Marion Bell, Bunin's Puppets, Cyd Charisse, Hume Cronyn, Robert Lewis, Virginia O'Brien and Keenan Wyann. Trivia Note: Lucille Ball and William Frawley did this film five years before they did the "I Love Lucy" tv series (1951-1956). They do not share a scene together in this film. This is the movie with Lucille Ball in pink sitting on a white horse. She then is given a white tiger whip where she plays a more dominant role with the other girls. There is a wonderful telephone skit titled "Number Please" with Keenan Wynn. Fanny brice with Hume Cronyn and William Frawley (in color) do a skit titled "A Sweepstakes Ticket". A nice in-joke on the title card. Fanny Brice wins (instead of "in") "A Sweepstakes Ticket". God! Watching William Frawley. Little did anyone know the destiny that William Frawley would have. He went on to play "Fred Mertz" in "I Love Lucy" (1951-1956) and The Lucy-Desi Comdy Hour (1957-1960) and other tv shows including the "I Love Lucy" cast Then he went on to "My Three Sons" tv series. He worked one more time with Lucille Ball on "The Lucy Show" where he made a cameo appearance as a farmhand on the episode "Lucy and the Countess Have A Horse" (aired: Oct. 25, 1965). Lena Horne does a musical number "Love". Red Skelton does the skit "When Television Comes". "Limestone Blues" with Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer has a nice chinese number. Judy Garland does A Great lady Has "An Interview". Another entertaining musical and a nice one is called "The Babbitt and The Bromide". is with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. A beautiful number sung by a beautiful actress is Kathryn grayson who sings "Beauty". This is the one with soap suds. MGM presents the best all-star musical review of the 1940's This 1946 film uses the career of Florenz Ziegfeld as an excuse for an all-star musical review directed (for the most part) by Vincente Minnelli. As he did in "The Great Ziegfeld," William Powell plays the title character who reminiscences on his glory days at his home and imagines putting on one of his shows with MGM's current talent (although Ziegfeld legend Fanny Brice is included as well). The star of the show ends up being Fred Astaire, who has three numbers including "This Heart of Mine" with Lucille Bremer and the celebrated duel with Gene Kelly, "The Babbit and The Bromide." We also get the great Lena Horne singing "Love," comedy skits by Red Skelton and Judy Garland, an excerpt from "La Traviata" with James Melton and Marion Bell, an Ester Williams water ballet and several vaudeville skits. Lucile Ball and Cyd Charisse are part of the show, along with lots of other familiar faces including Keenan Wynn, Kathryn Grayson, Edward Arnold, Hume Cronyn. William Frawley and Peter Lawford's voice. "Ziegfeld Follies" is clearly the best of the 40's all-star reviews and a clear indication of where Ed Sullivan got his idea. Another heavenly day... it's always a heavenly day In this truly delightful MGM production, as others have mentioned, there is no overall plot! The story is held together with the 14 individual numbers. Purely for entertainment, this movie has beautiful dances, great songs, big laughs, lavish costumes, sets, and on top of everything, an all-star cast. What better way to showcase most of the greatest stars of that era than put their numbers into one film. I can honestly say that for lovers of the great musical comedies ranging from the 30's to the 50's will absolutely LOVE this movie! Made in 1946, "Ziegfeld Follies" starts off with William Powell as Florenz Ziegfeld going over his memories while in heaven. He decides to make another play. Here is a list of the different musical numbers and short skits: *BEAUTIFUL GIRLS* - Fred Astaire introduces us to many beautiful girls, including Lucille Ball as a fiery wildcat tamer. Technicolor certainly does a lot of good for her, it's strange not seeing her 'I love Lucy' smile! 5/5 stars *WONDERFUL MEN* - Virginia O'Brien gives a funny parody song, remember her as Kitty in the Marx Brothers movie 'The Big Store'? 5/5 stars *A WATER BALLET* - Called America's Mermaid, Esther Williams dons on her swimsuit as she performs a beautiful water ballet. 4/5 stars *NUMBER PLEASE* - A simply hilarious skit, Keenan Wynn plays a man on the verge of a breakdown as he tries to call 'Plaza 5-5597'. 5/5 stars *TRAVIATA* - I'm not much of a fan of opera music but James Melton and Marion Bell can certainly sing. I love the costumes! 2/5 stars *PAY THE TWO DOLLARS* - Victor Moore wants to pay the two dollars, but his lawyer Edward Arnold won't let him! Unfortunately, though meant to be funny, watching this was a bit frustrating for me. 3/5 stars *THIS HEART OF MINE* - Fred Astaire gets to woo a princess (Lucille Bremer) while having ulteriar motives. Of course, love is unexpected! Nice choreography, it is again proved that Astaire can have a woman fall in love with him just by waltzing together! 5/5 stars *THE SWEEPSTAKE TICKET* - Funny Fanny Brice is priceless in this skit! Hume Cronyn and William Farley (from the "I Love Lucy" show) also star but Fanny Brice steals the whole number. 5/5 stars *LOVE* - Latin love song steamily sung by Lena Horne, don't fast forward! 4/5 stars *WHEN TELEVISION COMES* - Could easily be the best skit in the whole movie, Red Skeleton is one of the greatest comedians out there. SMOOOOOTH! 5/5 stars *LIMEHOUSE BLUES* - Another Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer dance number. Both might have done heavy make-up to have almond eyes, but their dance style is unmistakable. 4/5 stars *AN INTERVIEW* - Judy Garland is given a bit of a corny interview. Listen to her liven up towards the end, her voice is just so powerful and purely divine! 5/5 stars *THE BABBIT AND THE BROMIDE* - Easily the best dance number in the whole movie and the best tap-dancing you'll ever see. I mean, that's what you'll get when you put together the best of the best, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. This number alone will make buying this tape worthwhile. 5/5 stars *BEAUTY* - In one word, beautiful. Kathryn Grayson stuns me every time I hear her voice. Cyd Charisse also gets to do some ballet, though short. 5/5 stars Here's some trivia:<BR>*8 numbers were cut from the film before released and the movie was supposed to be 3 hours long.<BR>*The horse ridden by Lucille Ball is the Lone Ranger's Silver.<BR>*One of only two films in which Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire danced together. The other was "That's Entertainment, Part II (1974)". <BR>*William Powell had played Florenz Ziegfeld already in the 1936 movie, "The Great Ziegfeld". Buy Ziegfeld Follies at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Ziegfeld Follies Search with the Priority Search Engine on Ziegfeld Follies This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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