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Norma Shearer plays the semi-historical shallow party girl who comes to a bad end. If you must lose your head you might as well do it in gowns by Adrian. MGM doubled the size of Versailles with a budget of 1.8 million dollars, stopping just short of filming the whole thing in Technicolor — reportedly Shearer’s sumptuous fur coat was dyed blue to match her eyes.
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It’s Zeigfeld’s follies gone Rococo crossed with Vargas pin-ups, all set to big band remixes of Cole Porter tunes (well, just 3 of them. The rest are Arthur Freed…).
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Big colorful sets and fantasy costumes are featured in this hokey update to Alladin’s Lamp that never takes itself seriously. Evelyn Keyes is adorable as the genie that no one but handsome Cornel Wilde can see, but he has eyes only for Adele Jergens as the blonde princess. Sidekick Phil Silvers has his eyes on every jewel in the palace. Of course there’s a scheming Vizir and a Sultan switcharoo. A thief masquerades as a prince, and just about every other Arabian Nights cliché is given some sort of send up.
Most of the comedy involves one of the secondary characters turning to the camera and saying something modern while the leads play it straight. Subplots (and villains) are invented then abruptly dropped, and cultural awareness seems unknown in 1940s Hollywood. If this sort of thing makes you cringe you will hate this film, but if you like pretty musical comedy in gorgeous Technicolor there’s a lot here to like!
…more about A Thousand and One Nights
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Coney Island’s sideshows had PT Barnum… Monte Carlo’s Ballet Russe had Diagalev… and Broadway had Florenz Ziegfeld Jr, a huckster, a gambler, and a womanizer of exquisite taste who introduced his signature showgirls, brought vaudeville comedians uptown, and staged elaborate productions which made legends of composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Jerome Kern. Ziegfeld’s Follies spanned 25 years and were patterned after the Folies Bergère in Paris where sex and exotica were mixed with topical humor, operettas, and gymnastics. The word Follies derives from the Latin word for “leaves” (foliae), connoting the idea of an outdoor venue, so it was fitting that Flo’s annual Follies were originally staged in the rooftop theaters of Manhattan’s growing skyline.
…more about The Great Ziegfeld
all articles and portfolio images copyright Holly Daggers.
Admired works are copyright the original owners and are reproduced to promote awareness.
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