The Goldwyn Follies (1938) User Reviews

OK, it's not "An American in Paris," but..............

[Django6924 · 5/10 · 19 May 2006]

I would sorely miss not having this Technicolor record of what the old Goldwyn studios and the Santa Monica beach looked like in their heyday. Plus a wonderful cultural record of Jepson's singing (if only Goldwyn had gotten Pinza doing a scene from "Don Giovanni" as well), Zorina's dancing, Balanchine's choreography, and two of Gershwin's finest songs (despite some viewer's comment that "Love Walked In" is insipid, it has always been my personal favorite).

Add to this wonderful sets and costumes, masterfully photographed by Toland (in one of his few efforts in color), and you have a movie that while being a failure as a work of art, is immensely worth seeing as a record of the times.

That said, I wish Kenny Baker had been as good a singer and as personable on screen as Dick Powell, that the dippy story had been jettisoned in favor of a better one (how could Ben Hecht have been a party to this?), and, despite the fact that they were cultural icons (of a sort), that the Ritz Brothers screen time had been in another movie. (Yes, I know there are those who think they're the best thing in the movie, but some people like Martin and Lewis, too).

An amusing mess

[buxtehude99 · 4/10 · 2 January 2006]

I won't be as harsh as the other writer, but this movie is pretty much a mess. It almost looks like a showcase for "up-and-coming" actors, anchored by Adolphe Monjou. I don't know why Andrea Leeds disappeared, she's no better or worse than anyone else from the era, and very pretty besides. Reminded me of Donna Reed. Kenny Baker is doing a great Dick Powell, only a few years too late. His type of part was becoming obsolete. He is very good here and 9 years later in "The Harvey Girls". But musical numbers come out of nowhere, and suddenly you hear Helen Jepson and Charles Cullman from the Metropolitan Opera, and see Vera Zorina the ballerina (quite funny in her comedy scenes). I never got the appeal of the Ritz Brothers. It's nice (and rare) to see Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Bergen's timing is impeccable, and Charlie, is, well, Charlie. I sort of see why they were successful on radio. Monjou is on autopilot, but he can't do much else in this creaky vehicle. Ignore the plot, watch the individual scenes. Pretty to look at, but don't think too much.

Miss "Humanity" Goes To Hollywood

[roddekker · 6/10 · 17 December 2016]

For starters - (If nothing else) - I thought that this 1938 film's Technicolour effects were nothing short of being absolutely astounding to behold. You could clearly tell that great attention to colour co-ordination was very much a major issue in this $2 million production.

Now almost 80 years old - The Goldwyn Follies definitely had its good points, as well as its not-so-good points. Featuring 7 Gershwin songs - This picture's story of comedy, music, and romance was obviously very much a product of its time. And, because of this it did make it difficult for this viewer not to scrutinize it just a little too critically.... (But I still give it a 6-star rating)

And, finally - When it came to watching famed ventriloquist, Edgar Bergen constantly moving his lips whenever it was his puppet/sidekick Charlie McCarthy's turn to speak - I thought that he was one of the most amateurish and unconvincing performers in his specialized profession that I have ever seen.

I agree the film is in many ways a mess, but what grand songs!

[bobj-3 · 5 October 1999]

I agree that the film is in many ways a mess, but what grand songs! Some of the last songs George Gershwin composed (a few actually finished by Vernon Duke). Especially lovely is Kenny Baker slinging hamburgers in a diner, singing "Love Walked In," and later "Love Is Here To Stay." It is also a very early example of a Technicolor film. So although often quite dumb, this film has its moments of fine entertainment.

That's (Not) Entertainment!

[jotix100 · 1/10 · 21 February 2006]

Sam Goldwyn's creative juices must have been frozen when he came with the idea of this film, a bad remake of the more successful "Ziegfeld Follies". This movie shows how imitation was the worst form of flattery. The ingredients that went into this "stew", might have appeared to be right at the super market, but what comes out as a result is an indelible mess.

George Marshall doesn't show any inspiration in the way the material is presented. The timing is off and the movie feels fake from the start.

Giving the film makers the benefit of the doubt, this project appeared to have been doomed from the start. The mere idea of a big Hollywood producer like Oliver Martin relying on the taste of a naive young woman with not an ounce of sophistication, or any idea what the movies were about, is not to be believed. Granted, those were other times, but it asks a lot from the viewer. The other thing that is wrong in the movie is the way the musical numbers are presented. The horrible ballet sequence about Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending and danced by half of the company tap dancing, while the rest are in tutus and toe shoes, is not to be believed, even if the creator was George Ballanchine, himself.

The Ritz brothers are obnoxious every time we see them. That song about the pussy cats has to be one of the worst ever. Kenny Baker singing "Love Walked In" while frying hamburgers is laughable, at best. Vera Zorina's Olga is another annoying figure, as is Edgar Bergen, whose only job is to act as a buffer between numbers. Adolph Menjou does what he can in a thankless job. Andrea Leeds appears as Hazel, who Oliver calls Miss Humanity.

Not even the wonderful Gershwin songs, or the cinematography of the great Gregg Toland can save this pastiche. As Wayne Malin has commented in this forum, "The Goldwyn Follies" turns out to be a camp fest about two hours too long!

Two great Gershwin songs in an amusing razzberry aimed at Hollywood by Sam Goldwyn and Ben Hecht

[Terrell-4 · 7/10 · 15 February 2008]

Probably the only reason for remembering The Goldwyn Follies is that it's the movie George Gershwin was working on when he died at 38 of a brain tumor. In truth, the movie is a mish- mash, although a good-natured one, involving comedy bits, musical numbers and what Goldwyn considered "class." The best thing about the film are two George and Ira Gershwin songs that are as fresh and wise today as when they were written, "Our Love Is Here to Stay" and "Love Walked In." The story line is as thin as a thread, designed to keep the numbers coming and to provide some fun at Hollywood's expense. Ben Hecht is credited with the screenplay. He artfully places some banderillas that probably puckered the skin of several types of Hollywood denizens, from producers to divas to sycophants to...you get the idea.

Hollywood producer Oliver Merlin (Adolphe Menjou) has convinced himself he needs someone to tell him honestly about the new movie he's working on, someone who will represent the big audience out there. On a location shoot he meets a young woman who fits the bill. She's Hazel Dawes (Andrea Leeds), gentle, sincere and honest. "I'm a producer of movies," he tells her. "I get my wagonloads of poets and dramatists, but I can't buy common sense. I cannot buy humanity!" "Well, I don't know why, Mr. Merlin. There's an awful lot of it," Hazel says. Merlin looks at her impatiently. "Yes, I know," he says, "but the moment I buy it, it turns into something else, usually genius, and it isn't worth a dime. Now, if you could stay just as simple as you are, you'd be invaluable to me. I'll put you on my staff. I'll give you a title, 'Miss Humanity.' Don't rush, you can finish your ice cream soda." Merlin brings her to Hollywood and consults her on everything from script changes to plot developments. Of course, she also meets a young man, Danny Beecher (Kenny Baker), who has a great tenor and a way with flipping hamburgers. Merlin makes changes in his movie. There's love, a brief misunderstanding quickly resolved and then a happy ending.

All this is just a clothes line to hang the comedy and musical numbers on. This is a review movie and Goldwyn gives us a lot to watch, including his idea of culture. This has usually meant excerpts from opera, over-produced and sung straight ahead. Here, we get a bit of an aria from Traviata. We also get a genuinely stunning water-nymph ballet danced by Vera Zorina, choreographed by George Balanchine and with music by Vernon Duke. But we also get the Ritz Brothers, frenetic, anarchic and, above all else, loud. They were big stuff in the Thirties. I think nowadays they'd be an acquired taste. Bobby Clark, a great burlesque, vaudeville and stage star, shows up as a casting director, all leers and cigars. Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy make several appearances. I've always been intrigued at how Bergen could maintain such a sharply split personality between himself and his wooden pal. Bergen may be bland but McCarthy really is funny, especially when looking at tall showgirls. Phil Clark, a comic big in vaudeville and radio, shows up in a recurring gag and finally faces off with McCarthy. There's even Alan Ladd in a brief bit as one of several awful singers auditioning for a part in Merlin's movie. Kenny Baker, who was a singer much like a young Dick Powell but without the cockiness, does full justice to the two great Gershwin songs.

The Goldwyn Follies sprawls all over the place, still I like it. First, because it provides a look at some stars we've nearly forgotten, people like Edgar Bergen, Vera Zorina, Phil Baker and Bobby Clark. Even the Ritz Brothers. These were people who knew their stuff. They were professionals and it comes through. Second, those Gershwin songs. They are so good they lift the movie whenever Baker sings them. For me, they create a bittersweet feeling. George Gershwin was at the height of his powers when he wrote them. What on earth could he have created if he'd lived? So here's to George and Ira...

The more I read the papers, the less I comprehend. / The world and all it's capers and how it all will end.

Nothing seems to be lasting, but that isn't our affair. / We've got something permanent, / I mean in the way we care.

It's very clear, our love is here to stay. / Not for a year, but ever and a day.

The radio and the telephone / And the movies that we know, / May just be passing fancies and in time may go.

But, oh my dear, our love is here to stay. / Together we're going a long, long way.

In time the Rockies may crumble, / Gibraltar may tumble, they're only made of clay. / But our love is here to stay.

A witless plot...and a waste of good Technicolor...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 30 January 2007]

The only real compensation for watching THE GOLDWYN FOLLIES is the pleasing Technicolor--but, unfortunately, none of the plot is believable nor are any of the characters likely to resemble anyone in real-life Hollywood.

There are some worthwhile bits. The opera sequence with HELEN JEPSON is well done--including a lovely version of "Siempre Libre"; EDGAR BERGEN and CHARLIE McCARTHY are pros in a few amusing sketches; KENNY BAKER does a professional job on songs like "Love Walked Right In"; VERA ZORINA adds some dancing magic and ANDREA LEEDS lends her bland presence to the role of a naive young girl asked to give ADOLPHE MENJOU pointers on what the public wants. Leeds looks an awful lot like either Donna Reed or Olivia de Havilland in her close-ups.

ADOLPHE MENJOU, too, is professional enough as the producer foolish enough to get ideas from a romantic young girl so he can produce the right kind of movie. Too bad Goldwyn didn't get some advice from good script-writers on how to stage this sort of thing.

Summing up: Noteworthy only for the color cinematography and some of the talented bits, but the script is full of dull clichés, lifeless and unbelievable. I found Bergen and McCarthy gave the film its most enjoyable moments.

So bad it's good

[pizzolato · 7/10 · 28 September 2006]

Some reviewers hated this movie and, admittedly, it is relatively plot-free, but it's such a time capsule of movies, acts, and music of the period that I love it. If you ignore the script and realize you're listening to some FABULOUS Gershwin songs and that you're seeing The Ritz Brothers, Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy and others, it can be pretty great. Unlike the some others, I love the Ritz Brothers' specialty about the cats. Some people just don't appreciate silly. Later on, they get bogged down in the plotlessness, but WOW!! . . the kitty cat number is hilarious!!!!!!!! "Where is the gosh, darn cat?????" Some people just don't appreciate silly. Lighten up, people!!

Face it, the movie studios of the day used to trot out all their stars for these Cast of Several movies. Take it for what it is. It was never meant to be "Gone With the Wind". It's more along the lines of "Hollywood Party" (1934) . . Enjoy!!

Technicolor fiasco

[preppy-3 · 1/10 · 20 February 2006]

Sam Goldwyn did this movie to imitate the Ziegfeld follies and (hopefully) rake in millions. Boy was he WRONG! Adolphe Menjou plays a producer whose movies are failing. He meets sweet, wholesome Andrea Leeds and hires her to be "Miss Humanity" and tell him what the public wants. (No it makes no sense to me either) She tells him all these howlers like "Romeo and Juliet should have a happy ending" and "love is the most important thing". Menjou manages to keep a straight face and says "That's brilliant" to all these pearls of wisdom. One day Leeds goes to a hamburger diner. She walks in to see sweet, wholesome Kenny Baker cooking hamburgers while singing "Love Walked In" (with a full orchestra being heard). Naturally they fall in love. That's when I gave up.

Seriously this movie is just unbelievable. The dialogue was full of campy lines and groaningly bad jokes (my eyes hurt from rolling them so much). This movie is full of "speciality" act: Edger Bergman and Charlie McCarthy manage to get out a few good jokes; The Ritz Brothers (a comedy group that makes the Three Stooges look subdued) throw in some "comedy" bits that will have you gaping (in disbelief)--their "pussy cat" song is truly a jaw-dropper; Romeo and Juliet is done as a ballet--with tap-dancing too; there are THREE musical numbers from "La Traviata" worked in; Phil Baker pops up as a seriously untalented accordionist and a LONG dull ballet is shoved in.

Acting doesn't help. Menjou manages to keep a straight face; Leeds is given nothing to do but look beautiful and wholesome and Baker is SO nauseatingly sweet that you just want to slap him. Beautiful Technicolor photography doesn't help. This is worth watching just for some nice visuals and the hysterically bad dialogue. Example: "Fill my bath with whipped cream" (????). This falls in the so bad it's good area--but still it's just a 1 all the way.

Goldwyn's Hollywood Story

[lugonian · 7/10 · 16 April 2006]

THE GOLDWYN FOLLIES (United Artists, 1938), directed by George Marshall, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, who doesn't appear, is a lavish scale musical revue with a slight plot focused on Oliver Merlin (Adolphe Menjou) a prominent movie producer. While attending a sneak preview of his latest movie, "The Happy Tango" he finds audiences laughing at leading lady Olga Sanava's (Vera Zorina) death scene. On location for his upcoming production, Merlin overhears Hazel Dawes (Andrea Leeds), a simple country girl, watching a rehearsal, telling her friend Ada (Nydia Westman) how movies really need to be more true to life. Because of her honesty about film-making, Merlin takes her back with him to Hollywood, hires her as technical adviser, "Miss Humanity," where she is to watch "The Forgotten Dance," an upcoming production, and offer opinions on what should or should not be done. While incognito with Glory (Ella Logan) acting as her chaperon, she meets Danny Beecher (Kenny Baker), a hamburger flipper in a lunch wagon, with a pleasing singing voice. Hazel succeeds in launching his movie career playing a singing gondolier. After Merlin, who plans on marrying Hazel upon completion of "The Forgotten Dance," discovers her love for Danny, he intends on taking him taken out of the movie unless Hazel agrees on becoming his wife.

On the musical program: "Romeo and Juliet Ballet" (performed by Vera Zorina/American Ballet Company); "Here Pussy Pussy" (by Ray Golden and Sid Kuller, sung by Ritz Brothers); "Love Walked In," "Love Walked In" (by George and Ira Gershwin, both sung by Kenny Baker); La Travita Arias: "Libiam Nei Lieti Calici" (sung by Charles Kullmann and Helen Jepson)/ "Sempre Libra" (Jepson and Kullmann); "Love Walked In" (sung by Baker and Andrea Leeds, singing dubbed by Virginia Verrill); "I Was Doing All Right" (sung by Ella Logan); "Love Is Here to Stay" (Kenny Baker); "La Serenata" (Helen Jepson); "Spring Again" (by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, sung by Kenny Baker); Water Nymph Ballet (performed by the American Ballet, Vera Zorina); "Serenade to a Fish" (The Ritz Brothers); "Spring Again" (Kenny Baker); "I Love to Rhyme" (sung by Phil Baker, Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen); and "Love Walked In" (finale with entire cast).

In spite of Menjou heading the cast (even with his misspelled first name reading Adolph), it's Andrea Leeds who carries the film. With such a fine assortment of talent, lavish Technicolor, with the final score composed by the legendary George Gershwin, this Goldwyn production reportedly flopped, understandably, yet a failure that could have been avoided. A "Ziegfeld Follies" Goldwyn style, his attempt to please the masses with comedy, opera, ballet choreographed by George Ballachine, upscale music and lavish production numbers, doesn't always work. At nearly two hours, the final result is a mixed bag, ranging from entertaining to extremely dull. On my initial viewing of this musical hodgepodge on broadcast television (WPIX, Channel 11, in New York City) back in the 1970s, it was one of the few classic films that had me changing channels or turning off the TV at midway point. With the first 20 minutes being close to perfect entertainment, what drew me away were the ballet numbers; and Kenny Baker's tenor-izing singing. Granted, "Love Walked In" is a wonderful song, but quite corny when sung in the lunch wagon and/ or at the public beach. Sadly, Baker, simply fails to register well on screen. The highlights enjoyed, however, were the ventriloquist act of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy; The Ritz Brothers' running from the studio guards only to return in studio guard uniforms, followed by their wacky audition in Merlin's casting office singing "Here Pussy, Pussy, Pussy" climaxed by an abundance of running kitty kats. This scene is reminiscent to the Yacht Club Boys' audition act for Warren William in STAGE STRUCK (Warner Brothers, 1936), but the Ritz rendition comes off hilariously better, at least in one's humble opinion. Their comedy antics are a matter of taste, yet this is one of the few times these three zanies were in rare form. Their subsequent two comedy acts, however, don't come off as well. Although not an opera buff, "La Traviata" performed by Metropolitan Opera Star Helen Jepson is well done. Bobby Clark, formerly part of the Clark and McCullough team, as a casting director, along with Phil Harris, do provide some amusing moments. For star gazers, try to locate Jerome Cowan playing a movie director and future movie tough guy, Alan Ladd, as one of the audition singers!!!

Although my personal feelings remain basically the same, I'm a bit more tolerable towards THE GOLDWYN FOLLIES than I once was. In spite of its pros and cons, it did enjoy frequent revivals during the cable channel years, first on American Movie Classics (1993-94), and Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: January 1, 2006). It's also available on video and DVD.

Did Sam Goldwyn have his very own "Miss Humanity" before preparing for this one? Hard to say, yet THE GOLDWYN FOLLIES being a Goldwyn folly, had no serious damage done to his reputation as one of the finest Hollywood Moguls of his time, especially with great film hits into his future before retiring in 1959. (***1/2)

A rare misfire from producer Samuel Goldwyn, a Ziegfeld-like musical revue

[jacobs-greenwood · 4/10 · 19 December 2016]

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 Gershwin 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".

A movie about the movie that it's about

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 1 February 2007]

This movies is about itself. It is about a film being made just like the film being made. If that don't make sense: Then you get it. If that statements does make sense, you do not get it. Same thing goes for the whole film, you either get it or you don't and you get it by not getting it. Meaning, if you think about this flick too much you absolutely will NOT get it. Get it? Good.

There is about 5 minutes of a girl-gets-dragged-to-Hollywood-and-meets-guy- who-sings-and-then-becomes-a-big-star story mixed in with, it seems, dozens of vignettes that have little or nothing to do about that plot.

1) This moovie is hilarious.

1.5) The Music is absolutely great, including the score.

2) Being a moovie about a moovie being made, the discordant editing of this film probably is pretty similar the way a Hollywood musical of the 30's was made- Being re-written every few seconds until they ran out of time to film it.

3) People who do not understand what the word "Follies" means ought to not watch Follies.

This apparently was the first really big TechniColour musical Goldwyn produced. As such, this moovie is filled with a lot of great music. "Love Walked In" I understand is the last song George Gerwshin ever wrote, as he died before this film saw the screen. Maybe Goldwyn was asking too much from the guy. But this film gives homage to that song, making it the basic theme of the moovie. Someone complained about the song being overly repeated during the film, I disagree, it is used just enough to plant it in our minds as the musical theme of the film.

Of all the films made in the 30's - This one looks good, sounds good, makes me laugh every time I see it, and is remarkably contemporary even to people watching in the 21st century. The look of our screen couple looks very contemporary, I see people like that on the beach where I live. A remarkable amount of flesh is exposed for a musical follies film of the 30's, but not to a distasteful degree.

What makes this film important is the fact that it chronicles a big shift in Hollywood Musicals, and this is mostly apparent in the music that Gershwin wrote. In Musicals from the early 30's, women were more covered, and the songs lacked what is referred to as a Musical Hook. This film gives us a song with a very pronounced musical hook in "Love Walked In." - But the other Gerswin songs have this element as well including "Love is Here to Stay" I had read that it was Goldwyn's intention to produce one huge technical musical follies film per year... But it was deemed probably cheaper to use Danny Kaye instead, which, I do not have a problem with either.

This is one of my favourite flicks of all time, maybe it is "So Bad it is Good" but maybe it just has a lot of stuff going on. In that respect, it was probably better to pare the format down to the use of 1 Danny Kaye per film compared to using 15 other screen/radio/opera/dance personalities per film.

"Then and there I found a world completely new, when love walked in with you"

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 11 May 2013]

For a film entitled The Goldwyn Follies Sam Goldwyn got some of the very best acts from the opera, the ballet, and the radio to make a nice musical for United Artists to release. A very skimpy backstage plot doesn't get too much in the way. And any film that has everything from the grand opera to the Ritz Brothers has got something for everyone to enjoy.

Truth be told the plot is a bit silly, a kind of modified and lighter version of Maytime. Producer Adolphe Menjou has had a run of bad pictures and he gets the idea that he's losing touch with the public. So fresh and wholesome Andrea Leeds is hired to be his influence with her being attuned to the movie-going public.

Menjou's condition is that she have no contact with other show business entertainers lest she be unduly influenced. But one fine night she finds short order cook Kenny Baker flipping hamburgers and singing to the radio. After that it's Maytime though it ends a lot better for all three of these people.

For ballet you have a couple of numbers choreographed by the immortal Georges Balanchine with his prima ballerina Vera Zorina who was also Mrs. Balanchine. Zorina had just scored very big on Broadway in Rodgers&Hart's On Your Toes and she had a brief Hollywood career as well.

Opera lovers will like hearing Charles Kullman and Helen Jepson singing some selections. The radio furnished us with Phil Baker, Bobby Clark appearing solo for the first time since the death of his partner Clyde McCullough and Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.

Andrea Leeds who was fresh from her Oscar nominated performance in Stage Door also with Menjou does well when she doesn't sing. But with Kenny Baker's tenor and Helen Jepson in the cast her non-singing singing stands out like a sore thumb. As for Baker he was appearing around this time on the Jack Benny Show as Benny's vocalist before Dennis Day came on the scene. Baker introduces those two Gershwin classics Our Love Is Here To Stay and Love Walked In. Those were the last songs composed by George Gershwin who died before seeing this film.

One thing Goldwyn completely ripped off was a sequence with the Ritz Brothers and Menjou. A similar sequence was done in the Warner Brothers musical Varsity Show with Warren William and a quartet of Ritz Brothers like burlesque comedians. Jack Warner could have sued.

The Goldwyn Follies is a fun bit of entertainment fluff with something literally for all kinds of taste.

Goldwyn Follies

[malcolmgsw · 4/10 · 26 October 2016]

I saw this today in a full auditorium at the Regent Street Cinema in London.Although I have this on tape I decided that not having seen this for 30 years it would be good to see this on a cinema screen in a 35mm print.The first reaction is what a beautiful Technicolour film this is.There seems to be a significant use of blue in the decor and clothes.Alas that is the only good thing to report.The film is a mess.Whilst the musical numbers are pleasant singing them continually becomes monotonous.Whilst I can take a bit of The Ritz Brothers this was far too much.Kenny Baker was insipid.Adolf Menjou plays a role that he must have done a dozen times.The opera and ballet sequences left me cold.I am not surprised that this was a turkey at the box office.

Worth Watching for a Few Acts

[drednm · 1 January 2006]

Mostly dreadful and overlong this "Follies" attempt patches together a lame plot with a variety of acts.

Adolphe Menjou is fine as the movie producer who hires Andrea Leeds to give him the "human touch" in his films. He falls for her but she's in love with a hamburger slinger (Kenny Baker) she tricks Menjou into hiring for his new film. Throw into this stew Vera Zorina as a temperamental ballet star and you have the framework for this film.

Edgar Bergen (and dummy) provide some humor, especially in a funny bit with radio star Phil Baker. Helen Jepson sings a few numbers (she's no Jeanette MacDonald), Bobby Clark plays the harried casting director, Ella Logan (trying to be Martha Raye) is the chaperone, Nydia Westman is the friend, Frank Shields (tennis pro and grandfather to Brooke) is the assistant director to Jerome Cowan. The Ritz Brothers (dreadful as usual) have one funny bit and stink in the rest of their appearance. Alan Ladd has a bit as an auditioning singer.

Only for the fan of the 1930's musical revue type movies,

[AlsExGal · 5/10 · 4 January 2015]

One thing you can say about Sam Goldwyn's ventures into musicals. He could either hit them out of the park ("Whoopee", "Palmy Days", "The Kid From Spain", etc.), he could miss completely ("One Heavenly Night"), or he could come up with a film that really is a bit of a mess but enjoyable for the classic film lover. The problem here seems to be that the film is trying to imitate to some degree the Warner Busby Berkeley films of 1933, the problem being that it is five years later. You'd think that of all people Goldwyn would have gotten that, since Busby Berkeley was directing his dance numbers in his Eddie Cantor films before Warner Bros. got a hold of him. Kenny Baker is obviously trying to stand in for Dick Powell, and he's good enough, it's just that musicals were transitioning to a different phase by 1938, the year this film was released. Thus the backstage banter between chorus girls doesn't come off very well after the code. The Ritz Bros. are obviously trying to stand in for the Marx Bros. and they do have a funny routine about a cat, but in the end they do get a bit tiresome. The film does have the dashing Adolphe Menjou, and he improves just about every film he's in including this one. The Technicolor is gorgeous and the Gershwin music is wonderful.

However, the modern viewer has one strategic advantage over the viewer that saw this in the first-run. We're not trapped in the perspective of a 1938 movie-goer so we can enjoy the film for what it is - some great musical numbers with a little good comedy and a lot of silliness.

One thing I don't get. This film first appeared on DVD as part of the giant Hollywood Musicals Collection late in 2008. One of the other films making its debut on DVD was the long awaited "Whoopee" starring Eddie Cantor. Why did this film get an individual pressed release rather than "Whoopee"? Was MGM allergic to money or something? Fortunately Warner Archives came to the rescue and procured the rights to almost everything Goldwyn and did release "Whoopee", although it was burned not pressed.

Not a Folly

[OneView · 6/10 · 28 July 2020]

There is a sense of both hesitancy and confidence in this strange work from Samuel Goldwyn. The former comes through in the need to try and sell the idea of culture in the form of opera and ballet to his audience by having it seen and endorsed through the eyes of Miss Humanity, an honest rural woman hired by studio head Adolphe Menjou to give an average person's perspective on how movies should unfold. This not-so-subtle tool provides something of a gateway for the film to introduce class acts that might have been seen as inaccessible to rural audiences. The confidence lies in the willingness of Goldwyn to throw everything into this production from comedians to a ventriliquist, from ballet to opera and moments of comedy and romance. Many of the early musicals are a mix of skits of one kind or another, from The Broadway Melody (1929) to The Great Ziegfeld (1936). That the very thin narrative adequately supports this approach is to be admired even if individual acts succeed or fail on their own merits. The comedy acts are probably the best elements eight decades later. Edgar Bergen and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy, are examples of the precision of comic timing. Bergen may let his lips move more than any other practitioner of his art but his success as a performer, and on radio, lay in the rapid fire jokes he enunciated for himself and his co-performer. The three Ritz Brothers are a force of nature - and they come on perhaps a little strongly today but it is easy to see they must have been electric on stage. Their song, 'Pussy, Pussy, Pussy' is sung without irony and is also a model for selling comedy. Vera Zorina was brought into the picture primarily as a ballerina and, yes, her controlled movement is impressive but she conveys more as a comedienne, playing a self-obsessed European actress with just a hint of Greta Garbo. Her moments of rejection, fury and ego are all well delineated. For a film made during the latter months of 1937 and released in February of 1938 this must have been a fairly early three-strip technicolor release. It lacks the bright, popping colours of The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) or Gone With the Wind the following year and the subdued pallet is effective in conveying the images without overwhelming the drama. The film within a film is clearly seen being shot with 35mm black and white cameras - clearly they only had one of the massive technicolor cameras of the time at their disposal and not a second one that could be brought into service as an on-camera prop. The dramatic and opera sequences add little and the romantic plot in particular is very conventional with a needless lack of disclosure stopping the relationship from proceeding and another character acting out of character for a moment to provide some fake frisson. This is a generally satisfactory work even if the parts rather than the sum of them is more alluring at this distance from its original release.

Yeah, it's crap,....and not even interesting crap!

[planktonrules · 1/10 · 31 January 2007]

This is one of the movies selected to the FIFTY WORST FILMS book by Harry Medved. And while I agree it is really bad, I'm not sure it reached the level of wretchedness needed to merit inclusion in the book--but it sure is close enough that I can't fault its mention. The only reason that I would not have included it is because although it's very bad, there are SMALL glimpses of actual entertainment scattered about. The problem is, is it worth slogging through all the awfulness and boredom to find it? I say "NO"!!! Avoid this film like the plague! If you don't believe me, read on,....

The film starts with Adolph Menjou screening his latest production to a preview audience. They are laughing convulsively--a real problem since the film is a romantic drama! So, aware that his instincts are failing him, Menjou goes in search of someone to give him advice on what people really like. He picks a lady who has nothing to do with the movie industry and blindly listens to everything she says even though she has no idea what she's talking about. So, in other words, millions and millions of dollars are delegated based on this lady who Menjou nicknames "Miss Humanity". This idea is stupid and the nickname totally annoying. It gets worse, believe me.

Then, the film becomes a giant "everything but the kitchen sink" extravaganza, where every few minutes, the action (such as it is) is punctuated by rather random song, dance, ventriloquism or comedy numbers. Ostensibly, the film is a variety show thinly connected by the plot. Oddly, however, the acts are generally just awful and probably won't appeal overall to anyone! After all, in some segments, there is opera, while in others it's Edgar Bergan and Charlie McCarthy, in another it's ballet or modern dance, and in others it's the incredibly unfunny antics of the Ritz Brothers. I honestly find it very hard to believe that all these incredibly divergent styles of entertainment will appeal to anyone--they may like some but hate the rest. Think about it--is there ANYONE who loves opera and ballet as well as the Ritz Brothers?! Frankly, I hate them all (especially the Ritz Brothers) and doubt if my opinion is much different from the average person. Yet, Miss Humanity seemed to like this and thought the average person would like this hodge-podge! As I mentioned above, the Ritz Brothers play quite prominently in the film. A couple times they were MILDLY funny, but most of the time they were like walking, talking migraines! I am a HUGE fan of silent and early sound comedy and think they were perhaps the most annoying comedy team ever. Their antics were far less funny and sophisticated than the Three Stooges and their act consisted mainly of annoying people! In addition, someone gave them a song to sing that is among the most UNINTENTIONALLY funny and obscene songs ever written--as they repeat the same word AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN--in fact, this is the entire chorus (it's a euphemism for BOTH a cat and part of a female's anatomy).

There's a lot more I didn't like about the film, such as the countless times Menjou said to his talent scout "Basil, drop it" (it was funny the first time but not again and again) and the "Romeo and Juliet" song and dance number. Don't watch this unless you are trying to watch all 50 of the films in Medved's book or unless you are a masochist--it's THAT bad!

PS--A final observation. So far, all but one of the many reviews for this film were either negative or extremely negative--with most scores being in the one to two-star range. So, how does this movie have an overall IMDb rating of 5.4 (as of 1/31/07)?! Occasionally, I think some people are deliberately flooding certain films with overly negative or positive scores to unduly influence the ratings. I observed a BAD Humphrey Bogart recently that actually had a much higher percentage of scores of 10 than CASABLANCA--even though the overall score was still quite low. This doesn't make any sense. Believe me when I say 5.4 is WAY TOO HIGH A SCORE to be believed!

PPS--Look close--it's a very young Alan Ladd who is singing (badly) at the piano in Menjou's office.

producer spots girl, yadda, yadda, yadda

[jpickerel · 6/10 · 21 September 2009]

OK, OK, everyone, save a few, think this movie is a real mish-mosh. The title is misleading, in that you would expect a Broadway type atmosphere to what you are going to see. Not so. You have to think of this effort as a Waldorf Salad. Loved the nuts, hated the raisins. The apples were OK, the dressing, an abomination. Vera Zorina delightful, Kenny Baker pathetic. Andrea Leeds certainly no actress, Menjou could sleep walk (and did) through his part. See what I mean? Pick yer spot. For instance, not many people understand or appreciate the Ritz Brothers today. Me, I think they were super talented, European night club trained comedians with a finely honed edge to their bits, especially the pussy cat number. Edgar Bergen's lips moved. So what? His timing and handling of his partner, Charlie, and his wit are superb. The American Ballet (and I'm no fan of the Ballet) were a treat for the eyes and they certainly knew their craft. There's just enough to make you appreciate it, not enough to make you fast forward. The same goes for the Opera segments, just enough. Forget the story. It's an insult to the intelligence of a 10 year old. A girl gets picked to become an adviser to a movie producer, after he overhears her comments on a movie in progress at a location near her home. Gee, just like real life! Did I enjoy it? Yeah, I guess. Would I buy it to watch again? Probably not.

"Goldwyn's Folly" is more like it...

[DashingD · 2/10 · 8 April 1999]

Whew, what a mess. They don't make 'em like this anymore and we should all be thankful that they don't. Samuel Goldwyn pulled out all the stops to present a movie with a bit of everything and created one heck of a mess. Any film with a talent like Adolf Menjou sharing the bill with an act like The Ritz Brothers should be an indication that something here isn't quite right.

And who are The Ritz Brothers? A weak attempt at imitating the success of the Marx Brother's that failed miserably.

Watch if you're curious but if you're in the mood for the best that era had to offer rent the "That's Entertainment" trilogy from MGM, a studio that really knew how to put on a show.

If only it were not so dull!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 20 October 2017]

Copyright 23 February 1938 by Samuel Goldwyn. New York opening at the Rivoli, 20 February 1938. Released through United Artists. U.S. release: 4 February 1939 (sic.). Australian release: 9 June 1938. 13 reels. 115 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: Harassed film producer seeks a new star.

NOTES: Academy Award, Edgar Bergen "for his outstanding comedy creation, Charlie McCarthy". Bergen received a wooden statuette. Oddly, although The Goldwyn Follies was his first feature film and not released until early 1938, the award was made at the ceremony (on 10 March 1938) honoring the 1937 year. Bergen had made one-reel shorts for Vitaphone since 1930, including Double Talk (1937).

Also nominated (on 12 February 1939) for Art Direction (The Adventures of Robin Hood), and Best Music Score (Alexander's Ragtime Band).

Screen debut of Vera Zorina. George Gershwin died while writing the film's songs (on 11 July 1937).

Negative cost: nearly $2 million.

COMMENT: No-one would say that The Goldwyn Follies is a good film. It is, alas, despite the beauty of its pastel-toned Technicolor photography, often plain dull or even irritatingly banal. Partly despite and partly because of the over-strenuous efforts of its cast, it is at best a mixed blessing.

There are so many things wrong with the movie (flat direction, thin script, over-zealous acting, ho-hum choreography, unfunny comics, a sissy hero, never-never-land sets — have you ever seen a hamburger stand so impossibly squeaky clean?), it's a miracle that the total effect is one of a slightly bemused ennui rather than anger or loathing.

Fortunately, it's impossible to put good tunes down. Both "Love Walked In" and "Love Is Here To Stay" are so delightfully catchy and melodious, we can even excuse the circumstances in which they are introduced. And thanks to Miss Leeds and the decorative Goldwyn girls — and the rewarding efforts of Messrs Toland and Rennahan — the picture is always attractive to look at. And it has a certain nostalgia value.

In fact, if you're prepared to be indulgent and overlook its many shortcomings, The Goldwyn Follies has such undeniable charm it's almost entertaining. If only it were not so dull!

Goldwyn Floppies!

[wishkah7 · 1/10 · 16 September 2006]

This movie should be called The Goldwyn Floppies! It was a lame attempt to present some of George Gershwin's music, shortly after his death, in a plot less musical. The movie itself looks like it was filmed in someone's backyard. The Ritz Brothers were wannabe Stooges. They're skit about them rowing in a boat in a pool was utterly pointless. Also their song about the pussy cat can make a modern audience cringe. The Charlie McCarthy bits were better suited for younger audiences, however, Charlie was no Howdy Doody. Avoid this movie at all costs. If you're a fan of Gershwin, buy his albums or watch the classic movies "Rhapsody in Blue", and "An American in Paris."

Chalk up one for Harry Medved's List

[elvismanson · 1/10 · 24 February 2006]

I've been on the lookout for this film for over 25 years, since it was given the honor of inclusion on the first (and at the time, only) bad movie book, Harry Medved's The Fifty Worst etc. One man's meat can be another man's poison, but a combination of curiosity and masochism has driven me to seek out and view over 30 of the films on Medved's original list. The list doubtless includes films that some do not consider bad (two films on Medved's list are also in Roger Ebert's Great Movies) but I have not disagreed with any of Medved's selections after sitting through them. Individually and collectively they are painful to watch, actually make you either angry or nauseous or some other disagreeable sensation, with a moment here and there of entertainment (taken out of context) not nearly enough to balance the ghastly experience of the remaining bill of fare.

So has Medved's judgment continued to bat 1.000? You bet, the streak continues. This film is chock-a-block with jokes that are not funny, beauty that comes off as ugliness, hopeless misuse of Gershwin material, dancing that comes off as forced, dialog that could have been written by a robot, aesthetic pretension that could provide a textbook definition of inanity. The color photography might look better in black and white (what with the subtle gradations of green clashing all over the costumes and scenery). And yes, there are moments with Charlie McCarthy, and a coloratura Siempre Libre, both done well enough to point up the vivid contrast between truly entertaining and worse than nothing.

Sometimes a kind of negative serendipity is responsible for a bomb of a movie, but there is much premeditation here. George Gershwin was in the process of dying as he worked on this film. Sam Goldwyn, ever understanding, cut him from the payroll when he failed to show up for a couple of days. After George died and there was no original ballet music, Goldwyn passed up on the chance (offered by brother Ira) to film a ballet of American In Paris, instead having hack composer Vernon Duke compose his pale imitation of Ravel's La Valse which became the background for the Water Nymph ballet. So while watching the movie it may appear that Goldwyn had to make do with the likes of Phil Baker and the Ritz Brothers, but in fact he had other available resources which he foolishly chose to employ.

This film is an atrocity. I can only thank Turner Classic Movies for disagreeing long enough to put it on their schedule. And for the scorecard, I've seen one of the two movies that grace both the pages of Medved's 50 Worst and Ebert's Great Movies: "Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia." While I usually see Ebert's point, I must agree with Medved on that one. Some day I hope to see the other homologous entry, "Last Year In Marienbad". Turner Classic Movies, take note.

Gershwin, Vera Zorina... what's not to like about this film?

[DeborahPainter855 · 8 August 2003]

A sweet romance, good character actors, vivid Technicolor, a little behind-the-scenes work at a major studio, and great songs make this a pleasant way to spend two hours. It's also interesting historically because it marks the transition between the end (for only a few decades, thankfully) of tap and the beginning of ballet in film musicals.

How to Succeed in Pretentiousness Without Really Trying

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 17 May 2014]

While there are a lot of things to praise about this Samuel Goldwyn musical extravaganza, the most obvious failure in this overlong attempt to bring the "Ziegfeld Follies" to the movies is its hypocritical fight against its own theme, bringing reality into the movies. Adolph Menjou is cast as a Samuel Goldwyn like film producer who keeps making the most pretentious movies with his temperamental star (Vera Zorina) and searches for reality after a preview goes bad. He happens to overhear two sisters discussing what they witnessed in the filming of his next opus, and hires one of them (Andrea Leeds, "Stage Door") to be "Miss Humanity", to tell him how to alter his plots to be more realistic and acceptable to the average movie goer. What happens then becomes even worse than the tripe he was making before as Leeds even makes him change the ending of "Romeo and Juliet", seen here in a modern ballet that is the epitome of audaciousness.

When Leeds happens to meet a singing fry cook (Kenny Baker), she secretly pushes for him to get an introduction to Menjou in order to become the juvenile in the altered version of the movie she had seen him making before. Baker spends more time singing "Love Walked In" that you get to the point where you want to walk out if he warbles it again. When he breaks into "Our Love is Hear to Stay", he hits the nail on the head of the song you'd rather hear over and over. Both songs are classics in the Gershwin repertoire (two of the last he ever wrote), but in the case of "Love Walked In", less is more.

Broadway legend Bobby Clark gets one of his rare film roles as a casting director who always seems to have future "Finian's Rainbow" star Ella Logan in his lap whenever Menjou calls and is responsible for the parade of buffoons who come in to audition for Menjou while he's looking for a tenor. This audition sequence reminded me of the "Hitler" auditions in "The Producers" with the line-up of high-pitched male voices singing everything with the exception of "The Little Wooden Boy".

The presence of the Ritz Brothers will be a hit or miss with today's audiences. The pop-eyed trio first encounter Menjou with their various animals, and then harass him some more during the tenor audition scene where they sing a song about Old Man Jenkin's cat. Later on, they pop up in a water ballet where they encounter a plastic whale then later turn into mermaids. Some of the humor is silly and dated, yet you'd have to be made out of iron not to laugh at some point, even if you are raising your eyebrows while doing it. Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy have a delightful routine of insults with the character man who keeps being shifted from one part to another, and never getting to play his accordion. McCarthy adeptly notes how the man sings through his teeth, praising his "falsetto". You get the drift of how this routine will play out.

Menjou's character goes a little overboard when the tough producer becomes a bit lecherous towards Leeds, making demands that are totally absurd in nature. The ballet sequences might cause some viewers to hit fast forward, although a brief operatic sequence performed by Helen Jepson is a delight for the ears, even for a non opera buff like myself. I really didn't feel that this film really was made for "the common man", stuffing in several different styles of comedy and music that at times are a bit highbrow when mixed in with the likes of the Ritz Brothers.