The Goldwyn Follies

Last updated
The Goldwyn Follies
Goldwyn Follies poster.jpg
One of theatrical release posters
Directed by George Marshall
Written by Ben Hecht
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Gregg Toland
Edited bySherman Todd
Music by George Gershwin
Production
company
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • February 4, 1938 (1938-02-04)
Running time
122 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million [1]

The Goldwyn Follies is a 1938 Technicolor film written by Ben Hecht, Sid Kuller, Sam Perrin and Arthur Phillips, with music by George Gershwin, Vernon Duke, and Ray Golden, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Sid Kuller. The Goldwyn Follies was the first Technicolor film produced by Samuel Goldwyn.

Contents

The movie, which features Adolphe Menjou, Vera Zorina, Edgar Bergen (with Charlie McCarthy), Andrea Leeds, Kenny Baker, Ella Logan, Helen Jepson, Bobby Clark and the Ritz Brothers, depicts a movie producer who chooses a simple girl to be "Miss Humanity" and to critically evaluate his movies from the point of view of the ordinary person. The style of the film is very similar to other musicals of its era, including the "Gold Diggers" series and others. The film is an effective satire on Hollywood and has some excellent numbers choreographed by George Balanchine.

This was the last film score written by George Gershwin before his death on 11 July 1937. The Goldwyn Follies was released on 20 February 1938. The movie was nominated for an Oscar for Best Score as orchestrated by Edward B. Powell under the musical direction of Alfred Newman, as well as Best Interior Decoration. [2]

Plot

Cast

Soundtrack

Songs include:

Reception

The film was nominated for the American Film Institute's 2006 list AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals. [3]

However, the film was included in the 1978 book, The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (and How They Got That Way) , by Harry Medved, Randy Dreyfuss, and Michael Medved. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Golden Turkey Awards</i> 1980 book about bad movies

The Golden Turkey Awards is a 1980 book by film critic Michael Medved and his brother Harry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolphe Menjou</span> American actor (1890–1963)

Adolphe Jean Menjou was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's A Woman of Paris, where he played the lead role; Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory with Kirk Douglas; Ernst Lubitsch's The Marriage Circle; The Sheik with Rudolph Valentino; Morocco with Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper; and A Star Is Born with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, and was nominated for an Academy Award for The Front Page in 1931.

<i>The Conqueror</i> (1956 film) 1956 film by Dick Powell

The Conqueror is a 1956 American epic historical drama film, directed by Dick Powell and written by Oscar Millard. It stars John Wayne as the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan and co-stars Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead and Pedro Armendáriz. Produced by entrepreneur Howard Hughes, the film was principally shot near St. George, Utah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ritz Brothers</span> American comedy trio

The Ritz Brothers were an American family comedy act who performed extensively on stage, in nightclubs and in films from 1925 to the late 1970s. A fourth brother, George, acted as their manager.

<i>The Fifty Worst Films of All Time</i> Book by Michael Medved

The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (and How They Got That Way) is a 1978 book by Harry Medved with Randy Dreyfuss. Despite its broad title, it presents the authors' choices for the 50 worst sound films made or distributed in the United States. Each film's entry includes a story synopsis, the authors' opinions of its quality, and a selection of contemporary reviews of the film.

<i>State of the Union</i> (film) 1948 film by Frank Capra

State of the Union is a 1948 American drama film directed by Frank Capra about a man’s desire to run for the nomination as the Republican candidate for President, and the machinations of those around him. The New York Times described it as "a slick piece of screen satire...sharper in its knife-edged slicing at the hides of pachyderm schemers and connivers than was the original." The film was written by Myles Connolly and Anthony Veiller and was based on the 1945 Russel Crouse, Howard Lindsay Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name.

<i>The Milky Way</i> (1936 film) 1936 American film

The Milky Way is a 1936 American comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. Directed by comedy veteran Leo McCarey, the film was written by Grover Jones, Frank Butler and Richard Connell based on a play of the same name by Lynn Root and Harry Clork that was presented on Broadway in 1934.

<i>Three on a Couch</i> 1966 film by Jerry Lewis

Three on a Couch is a 1966 American comedy film directed by Jerry Lewis and starring Jerry Lewis and Janet Leigh.

<i>The Mysterious Island</i> (1929 film) 1929 film

The Mysterious Island is a 1929 American science fiction film directed by Lucien Hubbard, based on Jules Verne's 1874 novel L'Île mystérieuse. It was photographed largely in two-color Technicolor and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a part-talkie feature, with some scenes with audible dialog and some that had only synchronized music and sound effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love Is Here to Stay</span> Song

"Love Is Here to Stay" is a popular song and jazz standard composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin for the movie The Goldwyn Follies (1938).

<i>New Moon</i> (1940 film) 1940 film by Robert Zigler Leonard, W. S. Van Dyke

New Moon is a 1940 American musical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Robert Z. Leonard, with uncredited direction by W. S. Van Dyke.

<i>Parnell</i> (film) 1937 film by John M. Stahl

Parnell is a 1937 biographical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, starring Clark Gable as Charles Stewart Parnell, the famous Irish politician. It was Gable's least successful film and is generally considered his worst, and it is listed in The Fifty Worst Films of All Time. The movie addresses the sex scandal that destroyed Parnell's political career, but its treatment of the subject is highly sanitized in keeping with Hollywood content restrictions at the time.

<i>Brigadoon</i> (film) 1954 film by Vincente Minnelli

Brigadoon is a 1954 American Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical film made in CinemaScope and Metrocolor based on the 1947 Broadway musical of the same name by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli and stars Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, and Cyd Charisse. Brigadoon has been broadcast on American television and is available in VHS, DVD and Blu-ray formats.

Sid Kuller was an American comedy writer, producer and lyricist/composer, who concentrated on special musical material, gags and sketches for leading comics. He collaborated with Ray Golden and Hal Fimberg on the screenplay of the Marx Brothers' vehicle The Big Store, for which he also supplied the lyrics to the musical climax, "The Tenement Symphony". Earlier in their careers, Kuller and Golden wrote comedy songs and special material for the Ritz Brothers. Although he wrote prodigiously and with facility throughout his life, Kuller admitted, "The creation of comedy is a painful experience".

<i>A Place for Lovers</i> 1968 film by Vittorio De Sica

A Place for Lovers is a 1968 French-Italian romantic drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica and written by Brunello Rondi, Julian Zimet, Peter Baldwin, Ennio De Concini, Tonino Guerra and Cesare Zavattini. The film is based on the play Gli Amanti by Brunello Rondi and Renaldo Cabieri and was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>The Proud Rebel</i> 1958 film by Michael Curtiz

The Proud Rebel is a 1958 American Technicolor Western film directed by Michael Curtiz, with a screenplay by Joseph Petracca and Lillie Hayward that was based on a story by James Edward Grant. It is the story of a widowed Confederate veteran and his mute son who struggle to make a new life among sometimes hostile neighbors in the Midwest. Despite the implications of the title, the main character in "The Proud Rebel" does not dwell much on his Southern past, but finds his life complicated by sectional prejudice.

<i>Fashions in Love</i> 1929 film

Fashions in Love is a 1929 American Pre-Code comedy film adapted by Melville Baker, Richard H. Digges Jr., and Louise Long from the play, "The Concert" by Hermann Bahr. It was directed by Victor Schertzinger and stars Adolphe Menjou, Fay Compton, Miriam Seegar, John Miljan, and Joan Standing. The film was released on June 29, 1929, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Twilight on the Rio Grande</i> 1947 film by Frank McDonald

Twilight on the Rio Grande is a 1947 American Western film directed by Frank McDonald, written by Dorrell McGowan and Stuart E. McGowan, and starring Gene Autry, Sterling Holloway, Adele Mara, Bob Steele, Charles Evans and Martin Garralaga. It was released on April 1, 1947, by Republic Pictures.

<i>Thanks for Everything</i> (1938 film) 1938 comedy film

Thanks for Everything is a 1938 American comedy film directed by William A. Seiter, written by Curtis Kenyon and Harry Tugend, and starring Adolphe Menjou, Jack Oakie, Jack Haley, Arleen Whelan, Tony Martin and Binnie Barnes. It was released on December 23, 1938, by 20th Century Fox.

<i>Daughter of the Jungle</i> (1949 film) 1949 film by George Blair

Daughter of the Jungle is a 1949 American adventure film directed by George Blair and written by William Lively. The film stars Lois Hall, James Cardwell, William Wright, and Sheldon Leonard, with James Nolan, and Jim Bannon. The film was released on February 8, 1949, by Republic Pictures.

References

  1. Goldwyn Believes Color Photography Here to Stay; Budgets $2,000,000 for Big Musical to Prove It!: Stars Enlisted From Grand Opera to Radio for Role in 'The Goldwyn Follies' in Technicolor; Gigli's Screen Debut; Gloria Dickson on Way Up; Valentino Helps the Press Agents; Notes of the Theater. The Washington Post (1923-1954) [Washington, D.C] 21 Sep 1937: 14.
  2. "NY Times: The Goldwyn Follies". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
  3. "AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  4. Medved, Harry (1978). The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time (and how They Got that Way) (First ed.). Angus & Robertson. p. 288. ISBN   9780207958915 . Retrieved 16 May 2021.