The Goldwyn Follies (1938)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The acting in this movie is really good.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Notable for being in Technicolor, this below average Musical was producer Samuel Goldwyn's failed attempt to recreate the kind of revue that made showman Florenz Ziegfeld famous. Years in planning, it was ultimately directed by George Marshall, with writing credits attributed to: Ray Golden, Ben Hecht, Sid Kuller, Sam Perrin, and Arthur Phillips. Richard Day's Art Direction and Alfred Newman's Score, which includes George (and Ira) Gershwin's last song "(Our) Love is Here to Stay", received Academy Award nominations.Hecht's basic plot actually pokes fun at the legendary producer, Adolphe Menjou plays Oliver Martin, a film producer that falls in love with someone who's unaware of his affections. Goldwyn himself was infatuated to the point of obsession with one of the film's leading performers Vera Zorina, unbeknownst (only) to the ballerina, according to A. Scott Berg's excellent biography.Unless you love ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy, or more improbably the Ritz Brothers (Al, Harry, Jimmy) and their antics, you're unlikely to enjoy much of this movie; both acts are used as filler between the story and its musical performances which include Zorina's stunning Water-nymph ballet, which begins with her rising out of a pool of water and ends with her disappearing down into it. Kenny Baker's radio performance of the aforementioned Gershwin brothers song ("It's very clear, our love is here to stay") is also memorable.Film producer Oliver Merlin (Menjou) is trying to complete his latest picture titled "The Forgotten Dance" on location when he overhears a couple of locals making fun of the ridiculous dialogue spoken between his lead, prima donna actress Olga Samara (Zorina) and an actor. The most outspoken one is Hazel Dawes (Andrea Leeds), whom the producer convinces to become his filter for what is "real", because he'd lost touch with the public; he dubs her Miss Humanity. He brings her to Hollywood and sequesters her in a home so that she doesn't fall under the town's influence and become jaded like he has.Oliver's casting director Basil Crane (Bobby Clark) assigns Hazel a chaperone named Glory (Ella Logan), but she still manages to meet (and subsequently fall in love with) a hamburger slinger, who's also a terrific singer and an ex-wannabe actor Danny Beecher (Baker). Hazel surreptitiously uses her influence to manipulate Oliver into "discovering" Danny and putting him in the production. She also likes an opera singer, Helen Jepson as Leona Jerome, who's added (along with Charles Kullmann) as well. "Comedian" Phil Baker plays accordion playing actor Michael Day, whose part keeps getting changed.Jerome Cowan plays the film's director. Of course, the Goldwyn girls are also featured, though uncredited. Ultimately, Oliver learns that Danny's inspiration, and love interest, is Hazel, when she disobeys the producer and sneaks on to the set for the final shooting day. Then there's a brief, contrived conflict to interrupt the natural flow of things and allow the director (of this film) to wedge in a few more scenes. But everything works out as the audience expects it to, with a sentimental ending and cast party at Oliver's home, which gives all the performers a final "curtain call".

For starters - (If nothing else) - I thought that this 1938 film's Technicolour effects were nothing short of being absolutely astounding to behold. You could clearly tell that great attention to colour co-ordination was very much a major issue in this $2 million production.Now almost 80 years old - The Goldwyn Follies definitely had its good points, as well as its not-so-good points. Featuring 7 Gershwin songs - This picture's story of comedy, music, and romance was obviously very much a product of its time. And, because of this it did make it difficult for this viewer not to scrutinize it just a little too critically.... (But I still give it a 6-star rating) And, finally - When it came to watching famed ventriloquist, Edgar Bergen constantly moving his lips whenever it was his puppet/sidekick Charlie McCarthy's turn to speak - I thought that he was one of the most amateurish and unconvincing performers in his specialized profession that I have ever seen.

Probably the only reason for remembering The Goldwyn Follies is that it's the movie George Gershwin was working on when he died at 38 of a brain tumor. In truth, the movie is a mish- mash, although a good-natured one, involving comedy bits, musical numbers and what Goldwyn considered "class." The best thing about the film are two George and Ira Gershwin songs that are as fresh and wise today as when they were written, "Our Love Is Here to Stay" and "Love Walked In." The story line is as thin as a thread, designed to keep the numbers coming and to provide some fun at Hollywood's expense. Ben Hecht is credited with the screenplay. He artfully places some banderillas that probably puckered the skin of several types of Hollywood denizens, from producers to divas to sycophants to...you get the idea. Hollywood producer Oliver Merlin (Adolphe Menjou) has convinced himself he needs someone to tell him honestly about the new movie he's working on, someone who will represent the big audience out there. On a location shoot he meets a young woman who fits the bill. She's Hazel Dawes (Andrea Leeds), gentle, sincere and honest. "I'm a producer of movies," he tells her. "I get my wagonloads of poets and dramatists, but I can't buy common sense. I cannot buy humanity!" "Well, I don't know why, Mr. Merlin. There's an awful lot of it," Hazel says. Merlin looks at her impatiently. "Yes, I know," he says, "but the moment I buy it, it turns into something else, usually genius, and it isn't worth a dime. Now, if you could stay just as simple as you are, you'd be invaluable to me. I'll put you on my staff. I'll give you a title, 'Miss Humanity.' Don't rush, you can finish your ice cream soda." Merlin brings her to Hollywood and consults her on everything from script changes to plot developments. Of course, she also meets a young man, Danny Beecher (Kenny Baker), who has a great tenor and a way with flipping hamburgers. Merlin makes changes in his movie. There's love, a brief misunderstanding quickly resolved and then a happy ending. All this is just a clothes line to hang the comedy and musical numbers on. This is a review movie and Goldwyn gives us a lot to watch, including his idea of culture. This has usually meant excerpts from opera, over-produced and sung straight ahead. Here, we get a bit of an aria from Traviata. We also get a genuinely stunning water-nymph ballet danced by Vera Zorina, choreographed by George Balanchine and with music by Vernon Duke. But we also get the Ritz Brothers, frenetic, anarchic and, above all else, loud. They were big stuff in the Thirties. I think nowadays they'd be an acquired taste. Bobby Clark, a great burlesque, vaudeville and stage star, shows up as a casting director, all leers and cigars. Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy make several appearances. I've always been intrigued at how Bergen could maintain such a sharply split personality between himself and his wooden pal. Bergen may be bland but McCarthy really is funny, especially when looking at tall showgirls. Phil Clark, a comic big in vaudeville and radio, shows up in a recurring gag and finally faces off with McCarthy. There's even Alan Ladd in a brief bit as one of several awful singers auditioning for a part in Merlin's movie. Kenny Baker, who was a singer much like a young Dick Powell but without the cockiness, does full justice to the two great Gershwin songs. The Goldwyn Follies sprawls all over the place, still I like it. First, because it provides a look at some stars we've nearly forgotten, people like Edgar Bergen, Vera Zorina, Phil Baker and Bobby Clark. Even the Ritz Brothers. These were people who knew their stuff. They were professionals and it comes through. Second, those Gershwin songs. They are so good they lift the movie whenever Baker sings them. For me, they create a bittersweet feeling. George Gershwin was at the height of his powers when he wrote them. What on earth could he have created if he'd lived? So here's to George and Ira... The more I read the papers, the less I comprehend. / The world and all it's capers and how it all will end. Nothing seems to be lasting, but that isn't our affair. / We've got something permanent, / I mean in the way we care. It's very clear, our love is here to stay. / Not for a year, but ever and a day. The radio and the telephone / And the movies that we know, / May just be passing fancies and in time may go. But, oh my dear, our love is here to stay. / Together we're going a long, long way. In time the Rockies may crumble, / Gibraltar may tumble, they're only made of clay. / But our love is here to stay.

This movie should be called The Goldwyn Floppies! It was a lame attempt to present some of George Gershwin's music, shortly after his death, in a plot less musical. The movie itself looks like it was filmed in someone's backyard. The Ritz Brothers were wannabe Stooges. They're skit about them rowing in a boat in a pool was utterly pointless. Also their song about the pussy cat can make a modern audience cringe. The Charlie McCarthy bits were better suited for younger audiences, however, Charlie was no Howdy Doody. Avoid this movie at all costs. If you're a fan of Gershwin, buy his albums or watch the classic movies "Rhapsody in Blue", and "An American in Paris."