Ziegfeld Girl (1941)

Lana Turner, Judy Garland, and Hedy Lamarr star in this showgirl ’sploitation flick that tries to cash in on the glamor and drama of The Great Ziegfeld (it actually recycles footage from that film’s dazzling musical numbers), but ends up a chintzy lurid and poorly-written propaganda piece about what happens to women who dare to abandon their paternalistic yoke and enter showbiz.

The whole plot (or should we just call it the moral) is spelled out 20 minutes into the film in an opening night speech: “…You’re Ziegfeld Girls… Some of you will end up with your name in lights (close up on Judy Garland). Some of you will end up with a husband and kids (close up on Hedy Lamarr). And some of you are going to end up…, well, not so good…. But don’t blame it on the Follies…” Some peptalk!
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