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The Goldwyn Follies
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Wikipedia article
'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. Some sources credit Kurt Weill as one of the composers, but this is apparently incorrect. 'The Goldwyn Follies' was the first Technicolor film produced by Samuel Goldwyn.
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.
Cast
*Adolphe Menjou as Oliver Merlin (as Adolph Menjou)
*The Ritz Brothers as Themselves
*Vera Zorina as Olga Samara
*Kenny Baker as Danny Beecher
*Andrea Leeds as Hazel Dawes
*Edgar Bergen as Himself
*Charlie McCarthy as Himself
*Helen Jepson as Leona Jerome
*Phil Baker as Michael Day
*Bobby Clark as A. Basil Crane Jr.
*Ella Logan as Glory Wood
*Jerome Cowan as Director Lawrence
*Charles Kullmann as Alfredo in 'La Traviata'
*The American Ballet of the Metropolitan Opera as Ballet Dancers
*Nydia Westman as Ada
*Alan Ladd as First Auditioning Singer (uncredited)
*Francis Xavier Shields Assistant Director (uncredited)
Soundtrack
Songs include:
* "Love is Here to Stay"
* "I Was Doing All Right"
* "Spring Again"
* "Love Walked In"
* "I Love to Rhyme"
* "Where's The Gosh-Darn Cat?"
Reception
The film was nominated for the American Film Institute's 2006 list AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals.
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.
References
*https://web.archive.org/web/20050208123500/http://musicalheaven.com/g/goldwyn_follies.shtml
*Harry Medved, Randy Dreyfuss, and Michael Medved, 'The Fifty Worst Films of All Time' (1978)
*Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation page 79
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