Goldwyn Follies, The (1938) - full review!
Notable for being in Technicolor, this below average Musical was producer Samuel Goldwyn's failed attempt to recreate the kind of revue that made showman Florenz Ziegfeld famous. Years in planning, it was ultimately directed by George Marshall, with writing credits attributed to: Ray Golden, Ben Hecht, Sid Kuller, Sam Perrin, and Arthur Phillips. Richard Day's Art Direction and Alfred Newman's Score, which includes George (and Ira) Gershwin's last song "(Our) Love is Here to Stay", received Academy Award nominations. Hecht’s basic plot actually pokes fun at the legendary producer, Adolphe Menjou plays Oliver Martin, a film producer that falls in love with someone who's unaware of his affections. Goldwyn himself was infatuated to the point of obsession with one of the film's leading performers Vera Zorina, unbeknownst (only) to the ballerina, according to A. Scott Berg's excellent biography. Unless you love ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy, or more improbably the Ritz Brothers (Al, Harry, Jimmy) and their antics, you're unlikely to enjoy much of this movie; both acts are used as filler between the story and its musical performances which include Zorina's stunning Water-nymph ballet, which begins with her rising out of a pool of water and ends with her disappearing down into it. Kenny Baker's radio performance of the aforementioned Gershin brothers song ("It's very clear, our love is here to stay") is also memorable.
Film producer Oliver Merlin (Menjou) is trying to complete his latest picture titled "The Forgotten Dance" on location when he overhears a couple of locals making fun of the ridiculous dialogue spoken between his lead, prima donna actress Olga Samara (Zorina) and an actor. The most outspoken one is Hazel Dawes (Andrea Leeds), whom the producer convinces to become his filter for what is "real", because he'd lost touch with the public; he dubs her Miss Humanity. He brings her to Hollywood and sequesters her in a home so that she doesn't fall under the town's influence and become jaded like he has. Oliver's casting director Basil Crane (Bobby Clark) assigns Hazel a chaperone named Glory (Ella Logan), but she still manages to meet (and subsequently fall in love with) a hamburger slinger, who's also a terrific singer and an ex-wannabe actor Danny Beecher (Baker). Hazel surreptitiously uses her influence to manipulate Oliver into "discovering" Danny and putting him in the production. She also likes an opera singer, Helen Jepson as Leona Jerome, who's added (along with Charles Kullmann) as well. "Comedian" Phil Baker plays accordion playing actor Michael Day, whose part keeps getting changed. Jerome Cowan plays the film's director. Of course, the Goldwyn girls are also featured, though uncredited. Ultimately, Oliver learns that Danny's inspiration, and love interest, is Hazel, when she disobeys the producer and sneaks on to the set for the final shooting day. Then there's a brief, contrived conflict to interrupt the natural flow of things and allow the director (of this film) to wedge in a few more scenes. But everything works out as the audience expects it to, with a sentimental ending and cast party at Oliver's home, which gives all the performers a final "curtain call".
Most Recent Additions:
To Sir, with Love (1967) - full review!
You'll Never Get Rich (1941) - full review!
The Actress (1953) - full review!
Mannequin (1937) - full review!
All My Sons (1948) - full review!
Mourning Becomes Electra (1947) - full review!
State Fair (1945) - full review!
Billy Budd (1962) - full review!
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951) - full review!
The Bachelor Party (1957) - full review!
The Glenn Miller Story (1954) - full review!
The Southerner (1945) - full review!
The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)
Never on Sunday (1960) - full review!
The Arrangement (1969) - full review!
A Summer Place (1959) - full review!
Miracle in the Rain (1956) - full review!
Love Letters (1945) - full review!
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944) - full review!
The Absent Minded Professor (1961)
20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Come and Get It (1936) - full review!
The Prize (1963) - full review!
This Is the Army (1943) - full review!
Home from the Hill (1960) - full review!
Hangmen Also Die (1943) - full review!
The Shop on Main Street (1965) - full review!
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969) - full review!
A Gathering of Eagles (1963) - full review!
This Happy Breed (1944) - full review!
Red-Headed Woman (1932) - full review!
Waterloo Bridge (1931) - full review!
Baby Face (1933) - full review!
Titanic (1943) - full review!
Cover Girl (1944) - full review!
Saratoga Trunk (1945) - full review!
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
The Young Philadelphians (1959) - full review!
Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
Pocket Money (1972) - full review!
Week-End at the Waldorf (1945)
Judge Priest (1934) - full review!
Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) - full review!
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
Angel Face (1952) - full review!
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959) - full review!
Dallas (1950) - full review!
Springfield Rifle (1952) - full review!
Gaslight (1940) - full review!
The Gazebo (1959) - full review!
Passage to Marseille (1944) - full review!
The House on 56th Street (1933) - full review!
Annie Get Your Gun (1950) - full review!
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
Lonelyhearts (1958) - full review!
Good News (1947) - full review!
Wild Rovers (1971) - full review!
Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) - full review!
Topper Returns (1941) - full review!
The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
The Winning Team (1952) - full review!
The Hasty Heart (1949) - full review!
Storm Warning (1951) - full review!
The FBI Story (1959) - full review!
Firecreek (1968) - full review!
The Cheyenne Social Club (1970) - full review!
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
Green Dolphin Street (1947) - full review!
Two Weeks With Love (1950) - full review!
[Home] [Hitchcock] [Oscar's Best] [Essays] [Essential Films] [TCM Picks] [Obscure Films] [Links] [Other Reviews] [Academy Awards] [Silent Films] [Movie Index]
