6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Winner of three Academy Awards including Best Picture, 1936's The Great Ziegfeld stars William Powell in a biopic "suggested by romances and incidents in the life of America's greatest showman, Florenz Ziegfeld Jr". With admirable accuracy, the film follows Ziegfeld's career from small-time sideshow barker to creator of the famous Ziegfeld Follies, the collection of singing, dancing, and comedy vaudeville acts that launched the careers of such luminaries as Fanny Brice, Ray Bolger and Harriet Hoctor--all of whom play themselves in the film.
Starring: William Powell (I), Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer, Frank Morgan (I), Fanny BriceDrama | 100% |
Musical | 44% |
Biography | 31% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A once-heralded Oscar winner that's the unfortunate victim of its own unbridled ambition, Robert Z. Leonard's The Great Ziegfeld crams the life of famed Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. into a three-hour musical melodrama with mixed results. Though not without its merits, including a handful of memorable song-and-dance performances and a solid cast, the cracks in its foundation begin to show before the one-hour mark. While its grandiose nature somehow fits the celebrated showman, compelling subject and compelling biopic are two completely different things.
There's obviously a lot more to Ziegfeld's story (both professionally and personally) including two wives, the second of which is lovely red-haired Broadway sensation Billie Burke (Myrna Loy, whom Powell was paired with in 12 other films including all five chapters of the Thin Man saga). Not surprisingly the end result can't help but feel episodic as it zips through major and minor events in Ziegfeld's life, often doing so with reckless abandon and questionable authenticity. Powell and several members of the supporting cast -- including Frank Morgan, who's always a welcome presence -- are the glue that barely holds this production together, because the train starts going off the rails after about an hour with two more to go. Despite its ambitious running time, The Great Ziegfeld feels more like a forced epic than a full-bodied portrait of an interesting life, yet was still a box-office success and earned Best Picture honors that year.
Needless to say, The Great Ziegfeld was not one of the strongest Oscar winners of that decade, yet Warner Archive's admirable
mission to preserve these early Best Picture recipients, warts and all (see also The Broadway Melody and Cimarron), ensures that it'll live on for a new generation to discover on Blu-ray. It's the kind of
film that's more worth watching for its cast and production design than the story, which admittedly has its moments but inevitably crumbles under
its own weight. By that extension, it's at least worth a once-over for Golden Age Hollywood fans.
Warner Archive's 1080p transfer of The Great Ziegfeld is a solid effort indeed, one that's reportedly built from a recent 4K scan of best-available preservation elements. I couldn't begin to guess which portions of this three-hour production came from what source, but as a whole it doesn't quite reach the dizzying heights of comparative WAC Blu-ray releases from this era. While it certainly has that unmistakable slivery nitrate shine and a good amount of supportive film grain, softness creeps in during many scenes but not enough to hamper details in its lavish costumes and set designs. It's a generally clean image too... almost pristine, but with a few nagging instances of dirt and debris along the way. Perhaps I'm grading a bit too strict under the circumstances; if this came from virtually any other boutique label, I might have given it more leeway in regards to these mild but nonetheless present drawbacks. Yet on the whole this is a suitably satisfying image and undoubtedly the best that The Great Ziegfeld has looked outside of original theatrical showings, with a overall stable and pleasing appearance that's capably encoded on a dual-layered disc.
Comparatively, the DTS-HD 2.0 Master mix offers equal support for its one-channel source, which has obviously been cleaned of most age-related damage but not at the expense of its original dynamic range or fidelity. Unsurprisingly, this is largely a dialogue-driven affair but one that features no shortage of lively musical breaks; right around intermission time, there's well over a half-dozen performances packed together in near-succession. All sound reasonably crisp and bright under the circumstances and serve as the sonic highlights of this otherwise straightforward mix.
Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, not the extras listed below.
This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with vintage poster-themed artwork and no inserts of any kind. The well-rounded bonus features are, for the most part, carried over from Warner Bros.' 2003 DVD edition.
Robert Leonard's The Great Ziegfeld is a fairly lukewarm biopic about an ambitious life, one that covers four decades worth of notable achievements -- some sweetened, some fabricated completely -- with mixed results. It also wears out its welcome long before the end credits, slowed down considerably by numerous scenes and montages that could have easily been trimmed or removed without impacting its overall effectiveness. That's two strikes against this Best Picture winner whose only other drawbacks include dated racial stereotypes... but somehow none are enough to sink the ship, as William Powell's titular performance carries enough weight to drag it through most of the rougher patches. Warner Archive's Blu-ray offers a crucial amount of support, including solid A/V merits and several legacy extras... and at its current rock-bottom sale price, The Great Ziegfeld is worth a look for fans and curious newcomers.
Warner Archive Collection
1937
Reissue
1972
1936
2014
1957
1954
2009
15th Anniversary Edition
1996
Fox Studio Classics
1954
Warner Archive Collection
1955
Warner Archive Collection
1941
2010
Warner Archive Collection
1936
2005
1932
2006
Warner Archive Collection
1933
Special Edition
2004
2006
Warner Archive Collection
1942