Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Ziegfeld Follies Blu-ray Movie Review

The show must go on.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III June 22, 2021

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.

The usual synopsis doesn't really apply here, as there's basically zero setup for this decidedly non-story-driven show. Thinly preceded by a heavenly introduction featuring William Powell as Ziegfeld himself (whom he also portrayed in 1936's The Great Ziegfeld, but was most famous for the Thin Man series) -- not to mention a curious and kinda creepy stop-motion flashback to the revue's glory days -- Ziegfeld Follies settles into a groove soon enough with a series of back-to-back performances boasting a variety of styles, sets, and speeds to keep things mostly interesting from start to finish, even though the show sags a bit in the middle. Most of these dozen or so acts run 5-8 minutes apiece... meaning that even if a particular bit doesn't tickle your fancy, something new and different is right around the corner.

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.

Ziegfeld Follies Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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.

Ziegfeld Follies Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Ziegfeld Follies Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

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.

• Song Selection - Immediate access to 26 of the film's main song breaks, from the Overture to the exit music. Please note that a few of the main song-and-dance numbers are broken into multiple parts, including "This Heart of Mine", "Limehouse Blues", "A Great Lady Has An Interview", and "The Babbitt and the Bromide".

• Vintage Short: "The Luckiest Guy in the World" (21:09) - An installment from the "Crime Does Not Pay" series (gotta love Hayes-code era mandates), this laughable short delivers a very questionable moral message reassuring us that bad karma will get you even if the law doesn't. I'm glad most of us have moved on.

• Classic Cartoons - Two musical-themed Tex Avery and Tom & Jerry shorts. Both are also available on Tex Avery Screwball Classics, Volume One and Tom and Jerry: The Golden Collection, Volume One.

• The Hick Chick (7:10)
• Solid Serenade (7:25)

• Featurette: "An Embarrassment of Riches" (14:32) - A valuable carryover extra, this piece goes into detail about Ziegfeld Follies' troubled behind-the-scenes production, from non-working bubble machines to difficulty deciding which acts would be left on the cutting room floor. Sadly it seems the filmed footage has been lost, although the next series of extras is a collection of audio recordings of these "deleted scenes".

• Audio-Only Extras - Outlined above, these surviving ten audio clips include a handful of unused performances, alternate takes, a Spanish-language performance, and even a monologue from Leo the Lion.

• Here's To the Girls - Alternate Take with Unused Ending [Fred Astaire] (6:26)
• Liza - Unused Musical Sequence [Avon Long & Co.] (6:14)
• We Will Meet Again in Honolulu - Unused Musical Sequence [James Melton & Co.] (5:33)
• A Cowboy's Life - Unused Musical Sequence [James Melton & Co.] (4:44)
• 'E Pinched Me - Partially used in "Limehouse" Musical Sequence [Kay Thompson vocal] (0:39)
• Look At Me, I'm an Indian - Partially used in opening puppet sequence [Fanny Brice vocal] (0:48)
• You've Gotta Start Off Each Day With a Song - Unused "Pied Piper" sequence [Jimmy Durante vocal] (4:35)
• Leo the Lion Speaks - Unused Sequence (1:46)
• There's Beauty Ev'rywhere - Unused Finale Sequence [James Melton & Co.] (7:51)
• Love - Spanish language performance by Lena Horne (3:37)

• Theatrical Trailer (2:34) - This vintage promotional piece can also be see here.

Ziegfeld Follies Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.