Ziegfeld Girl

USA, 1941. Director Robert Z. Leonard. 133min.

Perpetuating the Ziegfeld Follies mythology, this is Leonard’s second foray into the subject (after the Academy Award-winning The Great Ziegfeld, 1936). The star-studded musical follows the utterly predictable career transformations of three budding Ziegfeld girls as they are ‘processed’ by the showbiz genius. Hoping to out-Ziegfeld the man himself with its special effects, candy-floss sartorial frivolities and celestial cast, the film embraces a glamour that is quintessentially Ziegfeldian with girls parading in outlandish costumes dripping with sequins courtesy of MGM’s star designer Adrian. The number ‘You Stepped Out of a Dream’ recycles from the 1936 film the colossal tiered cake staircase and uses clouds of mist for an added dreamlike effect. The opulence of the Ziegfeld Follies’ costumes and sets has been a life-long inspiration for James Bidgood who has enthusiastically referred to them ever since the days he designed costumes for Club 82 in New York.

With Hedy Lamarr, Lana Turner, Judy Garland and James Stewart.
Costumes by Adrian. Sets by Cedric Gibbons and Merrill Pye. Choreography by Busby Berkeley.

Past screenings

Birds of Paradise – London
Thursday 2 December 2010, 20:15 | The Horse Hospital
Screened alongside Pink Narcissus (1971) as a part of a James Bidgood double bill. With introduction by Ryan Powell.