Ziegfeld Girl
Screening on Film
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard.
With James Stewart, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr.
US, 1941, 35mm, black & white, 131 min.
With James Stewart, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr.
US, 1941, 35mm, black & white, 131 min.
The fortunes of three rising stars of the stage (Garland, Lamarr, Lana Turner) are examined in one of the more lavish WWII-era Hollywood musicals. One of the Ziegfeld girls makes it big, one settles for marriage, and one flops–undoubtedly a narrative inspiration for Jacqueline Susann in Valley of the Dolls. Berkeley choreographs with his usual flair in such standards as “You Stepped Out of a Dream,” “Minnie from Trinidad,” and “You Never Looked So Beautiful Before."