HotToastyRag Ziegfeld Girl is comparable to Stage Door, so if you liked one, go ahead and rent the other. Both stories follow a handful of girls who want to make it on the stage and show how they deal with the ups and downs of show business. In this 1941 film, Judy Garland, Lana Turner, and Hedy Lamarr are the three hopefuls, each with their own unique personalities and perspectives. With a huge supporting cast, James Stewart, Jackie Cooper, Tony Martin, Charles Winninger, Edward Everett Horton, Eve Arden, Fay Holden, and Dan Dailey, you're in for a treat if you like star-studded backstage musicals. Movies like Ziegfeld Follies, Words and Music, and Till the Clouds Roll By all cater to that genre, and while it is fun to see a bunch of famous people for five minutes in the same movie, usually the script and story falls a little thin. This one isn't the worst in the world-trust me, I've seen some doozies-so if you want to rent it, it won't hurt you.

vincentlynch-moonoi For me -- a lover of the old MGM musicals -- this film doesn't quite come together. The whole seems to be less than the sum of its parts.For me, problem number one is that it seems to actually have little to do with Flo Ziegfeld. It may be the story of 3 young women who become Ziegfeld girls, but where exactly is there much about Flo Ziegfeld? The film is the sequel to the wonderful 1936 film "The Great Ziegfeld", but it just doesn't have the same sense of grandeur. I guess this is "The Sorta Good Ziegfeld".James Stewart -- maybe it worked in 1941, but today -- with the persona of Jimmy Stewart in our minds -- this characterization just doesn't work. This is a good role for the still young Judy Garland (still in her Andy Hardy days), but not one of her best. Hedy Lamarr does fine here, although -- as usual -- her acting is more about her beauty. Lana Turner is lovely, but at this point in her career she hasn't yet become the fine actress she later was. Tony Martin...eeh! Jackie Cooper...well, nice to see him, although his career was already in sharp decline. Ian Hunter turns in a nice performance as a sophisticate. Charles Winninger is entertaining as Garland's "pop", a vaudeville entertainer. Eve Arden plays Eve Arden (and that's good). Edward Everett Horton is entertaining as one of Flo Ziegfeld's right hand men. Philip Dorn is boring as a violinist (he had other much better roles). Dan Dailey plays a boxer with a negative attitude; he has one very good scene.In terms of the story, my first question is why are Jimmy Stewart and the other hoods wearing winter coats and hats in Palm Beach, Florida? But beyond that, the script follows 3 girls who each become Ziegfeld girls; how does each react to her fame? Garland -- the most successful of the three -- misses her vaudeville "Pop" who seems to have an outdated act. Turner turns out not so nice, dumping her boyfriend (Stewart), who wasn't very nice anyway, and he becomes a bootleg runner; meanwhile Turner gets fired from the show due to alcoholism. Lamarr...well, she floats around in the soup, but it was a bit difficult to figure out her issue, other than that she is the least dedicated to show business of the three. In terms of musical numbers, only two are striking -- "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" by Garland and "Mr. Gallagher & Mr. Shean" by Winninger and the real Al Shean! Overall, this musical just didn't catch my attention the way most MGM musicals do. And then they cheapened the finale by using segments from the fine 1938 film, which had spectacular sets, versus the vastly slimmed down 1941 sets...a mismatch. Not to mention the schmaltzy duck dream. This film was successful back in the day, but parts of it hardly held my attention.

gkeith_1 Jimmy Stewart a bad guy, sort of. This really derailed me, but I got used to it. He even had a kind of New York (Brooklyn?) accent, and hung around with gangsters 'for 'da money!!!', lol.Judy Garland not the prettiest. Her part showed her as more juvenile, compared to Hedy Lamarr and Lana Turner who were both very glamorous. Judy was the singer, however, and helped carry the show within a show.Nice to see Jackie Cooper, Charles Winninger, Dan Dailey, Al Shean, Eve Arden, Edward Everett Horton, Ian Hunter, et al. These were all nice surprises; one star after another popping up.A side historical note: 1941. World War II (Pearl Harbor) was starting up for the U.S. later that year, although Europe was already at war. This movie must certainly been a pleasant entertainment respite, however, from all the fighting and killing, gore and guts.Wish this movie had been in color. The Adrian gowns would have been even more spectacular, not to mention all the elaborate headdresses, netting, scenery, etc.I really enjoyed this movie. I love singing and dancing movies. I believe the Minnie/Trinidad number reminded me of a Judy and Mickey movie where they both dressed in the island costumes, with Mickey also dressed as a Carmen Miranda-type complete with the fruit on his head and even a dark-skinned makeup put on his face. I felt that that makeup for Mickey rather represented the racism of that day, however.I also realize that this movie was made for Judy not long after Wizard of Oz, and in that other movie she had had the bosom strapped down, so to speak. In this movie, however, she was made to look a little older, with more of an older teen female bosom. Indeed, looking at her thin legs while she was dancing made me think of all the movies where she had gained weight and Mr. Mayer's crew was always down on her to lose weight.

jerryunderwood1962 There is little that I could add to most of these reviews in terms of judging the quality of the movie.However, a couple of minor points have been missed.For one thing, one reviewer, who compared Tony Martin unfavorably to Frank S. and Dick Haymes, is comparing apples to oranges. Tony Martin was a relic of the 1930s in his classical singing style; it was already becoming obsolete by the time this movie was completed. By contrast, Frank and Dick Haymes were crooners—a very different kind of singing.Several reviewers have expressed a desire to see this movie in color, because of the dazzling costumes. The thing to remember is that we're seeing the film today on very different film than what it was originally printed on. Nitrate stock—the film that was used in 1941— showed blacks that were really black, and whites that were bright white, not shades of gray. This would have produced a very different visual experience for the audiences of 1941. For those viewers, the costumes, rather than merely appearing beautiful, would have been blindingly spectacular.It is unfortunate that the original nitrate prints have almost certainly disappeared forever.