7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
This MGM spectacular features many of the greatest stars of the theater and screen. A lavish salute to Broadway's most opulent producer.
Starring: Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy GarlandMusical | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
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: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
MGM's multi-director showcase Ziegfeld Follies is a loving tribute to the lavish Broadway revues produced by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. during the first three decades of the 20th century. Although these hugely popular shows finally stagnated as the 1930s wore on -- not coincidentally, just a few short years after Ziegfeld's death -- this 1946 big-screen tribute was a success in its own right, even though it was shelved for nearly a year after filming wrapped. Starring top-level talent at the time including Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Lucille Bremer, Gene Kelly, Lena Horne, Red Skelton, Kathryn Grayson, Esther Williams, Lucille Ball, and many others, it's a star-studded show full of songs, dance numbers, comedy sketches, and other colorful diversions that will entertain die-hard fans of the cast and format. Not perfect, but still fun.
An early highlight is "This Heart of Mine" with Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer, a smoldering and elaborate song-and-dance number with rotating floors and treadmills adding to the magic. "Love" showcases the colorful vocal talents of Lena Horne set against a jazzy but mostly muted backdrop. Red Skelton gives a smoooooth performance in "When Television Comes" (a variation on his popular "Guzzler's Gin" routine) and "Limehouse Blues", though plagued with laughably bad yellowface, reunites Astaire and Bremer for a dreamy dance-fueled climax. "The Great Lady Has An Interview" serves up one of only a few Judy Garland appearances, but she makes quite an impression spoofing a sexy starlet in a role originally turned down by Greer Garson. Finally, the team of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly light up the dance floor with "The Babbitt And The Bromide" a repetitive but enjoyable piece by George and Ira Gershwin.
All told, it's an energetic, well-paced, and lavishly produced show, and one that supposedly clocked in at roughly three hours before a number of performances had to be trimmed. That might suggest a fat-fee collection of content but there are a few duds in this lineup (mostly of the comedy variety), although I'd chalk their shortcomings up to the passage of time. The great largely outweighs the bad here, with most performances ranging from good to very good in both their artistic merit and on-screen performances; aside from a bit of questionable lip-syncing here and there, it's obviously a product of the studio's top professionals. And while this variety show doesn't reinvent the wheel from any perspective, Ziegfeld Follies still rolls along as a star-studded and entertaining diversion -- exactly what it's supposed to be.
Warner Archive's welcome new Blu-ray combines their usual purist-friendly approach to A/V restoration efforts with a wide assortment of bonus features, including a number of audio-only excerpts of some of that excised material. Even the Overture and exit music are included with their original on-screen title cards, which is a nice touch.
A few clips were uploaded to Warner
Archive's YouTube channel several years ago; while they obviously don't feature the Blu-ray's outstanding new restoration, they at least provide
newcomers with a taste of the show.
Although Warner Archive was uncharacteristically quiet about the specific source material used for this month's batch of releases, fans of the studio can rest assured knowing that Ziegfeld Follies is up to their typical high level of quality. At the time of this writing, all of their catalog titles come from 2K or 4K scans of either the original camera negative or the best surviving elements, including but not limited to interpositives. And while I'm not familiar enough with the show to speak about its source material or film stock, what we see here on the Blu-ray's 1080p transfer is an extremely clean and crisp picture that's free from dirt, debris, major damage, and of course unsightly manipulation including artificial sharpening and excessive noise reduction. Film grain and overall color saturation varies depending on the segment, with some showcasing a tighter grain structure, bolder colors, and stronger detail than others -- perhaps multiple surviving source elements were put to use for this restoration, but it's not specified either way. Either way, nothing stands out here for the wrong reasons: everything looks authentic to the era in which Ziegfeld Follies was originally filmed, right up to a number of ultra-soft focus shots for some of the more glamorous close-ups.
As usual, Warner Archive's Blu-ray is compressed nicely, as this dual-layered disc runs at a very high bit rate with no obvious traces of compression artifacts or banding. In short, it's more of the same great catalog treatment we've come to expect from the boutique label, and it couldn't have happened to a more visually lavish production.
Two separate DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mixes are included here; one is a split mono track and the other offers a true stereo experience. I sampled both during my initial viewing and, not surprisingly, found the latter two-channel mix to be the more engaging and enjoyable presentation overall. The vocals and music feel much more robust in the wider format, with strong but not overpowering channel separation and a nice presence that just feels more at home with the visuals, even though they're Academy ratio. Overall dynamic range is very good and doesn't suffer as much from a thin high end like other musicals from the era. The mono mix is just fine -- maybe even good enough for most ears -- but, while I'm not sure of Ziegfeld Follies' original theatrical format, it's nice to have both options here. Kudos to Warner Archive for making sure both were lossless, too -- other studios might have prioritized one over the other.
Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, but not the extras. This is once again a little disappointing and something I wish WAC would finally change about their otherwise well-rounded releases.
This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with attractive one-sheet poster artwork and no inserts. On-board extras are surprisingly deep; most are ported over from an earlier Warner Bros. DVD release, but the number of audio-only bonus features looks to have been expanded.
MGM's lavish Ziegfeld Follies was the product of dozens -- if not hundreds -- of talented professionals, but two of its driving forces behind the scenes were supervising director Vincente Minnelli and producer Arthur Freed. Armed with a deep roster of the studio's top on-screen performers, the end result wasn't a flawless show but it's still entertaining, even if some of the material hasn't aged particularly well during the last 75+ years. Warner Archive's Blu-ray package offers tremendous support, though, including another top-tier A/V presentation and a wealth of bonus features that carry a lot of added value. It's highly recommended to fans, but outsiders may want to try before they buy.
1947
1945
Warner Archive Collection
1949
Warner Archive Collection
1946
Warner Archive Collection
1943
Limited Edition to 3000
1967
1995
1974
Stephen Sondheim's Company
2007
2005
1967
Warner Archive Collection
1943
1963
Warner Archive Collection
1957
Warner Archive Collection
1964
1973
Universal 100th Anniversary Collector's Series
1941
1979
Warner Archive Collection
1947
Warner Archive Collection
1968