The Great Ziegfeld

The Great Ziegfeld is a 1936 musical drama about the American showman Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., following his career from his early days as a fairground barker to his rise as the producer behind lavish Broadway revues. The film traces his professional rivalry with Billings, a competitor whose success he repeatedly overtakes, and his marriages, including his relationship with the performer Anna Held and later with Billie Burke. His fortunes rise and fall as he stages increasingly elaborate productions.

Robert Z. Leonard directed the film, which sits between The Divorcee (1930) and Susan Lenox (1931) on one side and Pride and Prejudice (1940) and Ziegfeld Girl (1941) on the other in his filmography. William Anthony McGuire wrote the screenplay, and Hunt Stromberg produced it for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. William Powell plays Ziegfeld, with Myrna Loy as Billie Burke, Luise Rainer as Anna Held, Frank Morgan as Billings, Fanny Brice as herself and Virginia Bruce as Audrey Dane. The credited cast runs to 31 performers.

Made for about 2 million dollars, the film took roughly 5 million dollars worldwide, a strong return for its time and enough to establish it as a major studio production. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.6 from around 9,700 votes, and on TMDB 6.3 from 148 votes. The critics' rating stands at 6.2 from 70 reviews, close to the audience scores.