Main Cast: Adolphe Menjou, The Ritz Brothers , Vera Zorina, Kenny Baker, Andrea Leeds
Release Year: 1938
Country: US
Run Time: 115 minutes
Plot
A longtime admirer of Broadway impresario Flo Ziegfeld, Hollywood producer Sam Goldwyn hoped to emulate the success of The Ziegfeld Follies by producing an annual movie-musical revue. Goldwyn's dream began and ended with 1938's Goldwyn Follies, a film centering on Goldwyn-like movie producer Oliver Martin (Adolphe Menjou). It seems that Martin's films haven't been turning a profit lately, and he wants to find out why by eliciting the advice of the average filmgoer. He makes the acquaintance of pretty Hazel Dawes (Andrea Leeds), who tells Martin that the movies suffer from unbelievable storylines, cliched dialogue and wooden acting. Impressed, Martin hires Hazel as "Miss Humanity," allowing her to judge the merits of his latest production and even to select the cast members. Among Hazel's discoveries are singing hash-slinger Danny Beecher (Kenny Baker), opera diva Leona Jerome (Helen Jepson), and prima ballerina Olga Samara (Vera Zorina). Also hoping to appear in Martin's upcoming epic are ventriloquist Edgar Bergan and his wisecracking dummy Charlie McCarthy, and a trio of zany animal trainers who look, sound and act like the Ritz Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
A white elephant in its time, The Goldwyn Follies has improved with age -- but only marginally. Follies is one of those peculiar Hollywood oddities, a film that wants to be a revue but insists on including a wispy storyline to hook the acts together. As in most such cases, the storyline is ridiculous and only serves to bring down the stronger aspects of the film. Unfortunately for Follies, those stronger aspects are not by themselves strong enough to save the whole film. True, there are two gorgeous George and Ira Gershwin classic songs, namely "Loved Walked In" and "Love is Here to Stay," both of which possess truly gorgeous melodies wed to some evocative lyrics. And a couple of other songs are also strong, if not in the same league as those two. There's also the "Water Nymph" ballet, featuring a luminous Vera Zorina, as well as some nifty comedy from Edgar Bergen and puppet pal Charlie McCarthy. But there are also some insufferable antics from the Ritz Brothers, some unnecessary opera segments and lots of wooden acting from Kenny Baker, among others. Throw in that silly plot and the result is a piece that has its high spots, but not enough to make up for its lesser moments. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Richard Day - Art Director, George Haight - Associate Producer, George Balanchine - Choreography, Omar Kiam - Costume Designer, George Marshall - Director, Sherman Todd - Editor, George Gershwin - Composer (Music Score), Richard Rodgers - Composer (Music Score), Alfred Newman - Musical Direction/Supervision, Ira Gershwin - Songwriter, Ray Golden - Songwriter, Sid Kuller - Songwriter, Kurt Weill - Songwriter, Gregg Toland - Cinematographer, Samuel Goldwyn - Producer, Ben Hecht - Screen Story, Ben Hecht - Screenwriter, Arthur Phillips - Screenwriter, Sam Perrin - Screenwriter
The movie, which features Adolphe Menjou, Edgar Bergen (with Charlie McCarthy), Andrea Leeds, Kenny Baker, Ella Logan, Helen Jepson, Vera Zorina, Bobby Clark and the Ritz Brothers, depicts a movie producer who chooses a simple girl to be "Miss Humanity" and to critically evaluate his movies from the point of view of the ordinary person. The style of the film is very similar to other musicals of its era, including the "Gold Diggers" series and others. For the most part, the plot is there to hang songs on instead of for any purpose in and of itself. The film is choreographed by George Balanchine.
