The Goldwyn Follies (United Artists) (1938)

A glimpse of fleeting beauty from "The Goldwyn Follies” as Zorina, new Goldwyn star, poses in a ballet number modern music composers. As in all of Goldwyn’s musi¬ cals, the world renowned Gold¬ wyn Girls will play a prominent part in the production. These girls, picked only after a final recommendation by the pro¬ ducer, are admittedly the most type of glamour girl with open arms. Producers vied with each other for the services of these all-powerful creatures. Limou¬ sines and magnificent duplex and triplex apartments were of¬ fered freely for the slightest acknowledgment of favor from a showgirl. Fortunes were of¬ fered in return for marriage, and were very often accepted. Night clubs advertised their openings by publicizing the fact that a bevy of showgirls wouj^ be present to add untold rich<^ in the way of beauty. Stage and movie producers threw gi¬ gantic parties in hotels and homes in the hope that tl? > might be able to lure one these unattainables into a co.Q tract. Many of the girls allowed themselves to be so lured and never regretted the fame which they attained. And all this for what? To walk onstage once or twice each performance, moving with a stately and languorous tread, Screen Producer Picks Up Where Ziegfeld Left Off, Carries Tradition of Deluxe Entertainment to Climax in Technicolor Picture Set to Rhythm of Gershwin Tunes, "Follies” Stars Stage, Screen, Radio and Concert Celebrities adapted to glorification and ex¬ ploitation. In an incredibly short time she became a news feature, a feature linked with stellar success, personal tragedy, social achievement and under¬ world scandal. Park Avenue, Palm Beach and Newport received this new 'T'HE king is dead, long live the king! The announcement of the suc¬ cession of Samuel Goldwyn to the position of king of the en¬ tertainment world vacated by the late Florenz Ziegfeld may seem rather tardy, but it is only now that the dean of Hollywood producer’s has wrested his rightful place from a host of pretenders. Ziegfeld was the originator of the musical comedy as it is known today, both on stage and screen. Upon his untimely de¬ mise, it became evident that there would be no successor on the boards, and that the new master of musicals must come from the ranks of the motion picture. The Great Glorifier himself had indicated that the logical successor should be Goldwyn. When the Great Goldwyn pro¬ duced the motion picture ver¬ sion of Ziegfeld’s “Whoopee,” Ziegfeld admitted that the pic¬ ture outshone his stage produc¬ tion by its very brilliance. He indicated clearly that he felt himself outclassed and that Goldwyn was the only man who might pick up the baton when he had laid it down, if he did not wrest it away by main force before. However, the very statement that it was the brilliance of Goldwyn’s “Whoopee” that overawed the great man, began the wild scramble for the honor of succession. For some time sheer physical magnitude was the criterion by which the producers gauged their musicals. The result was a spirited competition in lavish¬ ness, with genuine entertain¬ ment values often completely overlooked. One stucjjfc would produce a musical feawfe with a chorus of 50 dancing girls. Another would shortly bring out one with an ensemble of 100 beauties, only to be outdone in tu jn by a 150 chorine fgtt. With the aid of mirrors, "olished floors and other species of camera legerdemain, the num¬ bers of dancers were increased to uncountable numbers. If the chorus girls of one of the later gigantic efforts were placed end to end, they would have covered a lot of territory that might better have been used for improved roads. Concurrently with the craze for armies of leg-swingers there arose a parallel aberration in regard to settings. Settings outgrew sound stages and in time grew too large for all physical limitations on build¬ ings of any sort. When expan¬ sion was checked in a horizon¬ tal direction, it sprouted up¬ wards and downwards in a ver¬ tical plane, heaping Babylonic splendor upon Roman mag¬ nificence in an unconscious effort to repeat the experiment of Babel. The result was the same as that recorded in Bib¬ lical history. The primary cause of entertainment was for¬ gotten, and confusion resulted. Notwithstanding the American leaning toward beauty on a large scale, the movie-going public asserted itself in no un¬ certain terms at the box office. Throughout this period of ex¬ pensive expansion, only Gold¬ wyn held firmly to the first principles of amusement. He produced a series of musicals that outdrew all others in the theatres of the world. He was lavish in only one way: with his money. He was willing to expend any amount in order to procure the premier artists of all fields. He increased his pres¬ tige by leaps and bounds and without the necessity of erect¬ ing monuments to the gods of largeness. and college men, she became the intimate associate of racketeers, gunmen and night club owners. And with the crash, her bril¬ liance faded. The news leaked out that the showgirls’ standards had dropped in more than one way; that it was a little dangerous to be seen with her in places where columnists prowled; that she served at times as a go-be¬ tween, a shill, a come-on in night clubs. Producers began to take stock, and in the process asked themselves if the show- their niche in matrimony and not in drama. But again, why mourn? Why mourn when Hollywood carries on the tradition of all that was best in the showgirl with the Goldwyn Girls? The Goldwyn Girls, however, have one dis¬ tinction which could not be claimed by any similar body of decorative beauties. Each is definitely talented in one direc¬ tion or another. Certainly, they are all beautiful, and in turn each is a capable singer and dancer. It is notable that there is a large turnover in the per¬ sonnel of the Goldwyn Girls. Each year sees the' addition of five or six new girls to replace those who have left for a more prominent position in the movie world. Graduates of the Goldwyn group are to be found scattered throughout the ranks of fea¬ tured and starring players. Paulette Goddard, Barbara Weeks, Lucille Ball, Claire Dodd, Virginia Bruce and Shirley Grey are a representa- is firmly ensconced, together with Edgar Bergen, in the cast of “The Goldwyn Follies,” his comedy crown threatened only by the frantic activities of those inspix-ed zanies, the Three Ritz Brothers. And to complete the comedy line-up there is. Phil Baker, also of radio. Feminine comeliness is sup¬ plied in the persons of Andrea Leeds, the dark-haired girl whose cinematic star rose to dizzy heights in “Stage Door.” And with Mr. Goldiwyn’s pen¬ chant for winsome importations, a lovely miss called Zorina, re¬ cently brought from Norway to make her debut in “The Gold¬ wyn Follies.” The song department is in the able hands of charmer Kenny Baker. Helen Jepson ranks as one of the foremost stars of the Metropolitan Opera Company, and is included in that select group that has reached the heights of the musical world without the avoirdupois that was once considered a necessary attribute to the successful fe¬ male opera singer. Her com¬ panion from the Metropolitan, Audiences will see Charlie McCarthy’s vi tiuis blush ir-s Technicolor. Bobby Clark is the wooden menace’s opponent in this scene The culmination of Gold¬ wyn’s unerring and steady progress toward his rightful position at the top is repre¬ sented by his forthcoming “Goldwyn Follies.” In spending over $2,000,000 on this produc¬ tion, Goldwyn has devoted the major part of his budget to salaries. A partial list of the stars who will appear in. “The Goldwyn Follies” includes Helen Jepson and Charles Kullman of the Meti'opolitan Opera Com¬ pany, George Balanchine’s The American Ballet, Adolphe Men- jou, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, the Ritz Brothers, Kenny Baker, Vera Zorina, pre¬ miere ballerina of the Monte Carlo Ballet Russe, Bobby Clark and Phil Baker. The music for “The Goldwyn Follies” features the last efforts of the late George Gershwin, and the lyrics of his brother, Young love has its inning in the "The Goldwyn Follies”, with Andrea Leeds and Kenny Baker cast as the romantic principals Ira Gershwin. “The Goldwyn Follies” will be somewhat of a memorial to Gershwin, and a tribute to the genius that made him the greatest of America’s girls were worth the salary and special dispensations that had been her due. Obviously, the producers came to the conclu¬ sion that she was not; that she was little more than a fad that had served its purpose. The showgirl, as a consequence, lapsed into the anonymity of the chorus once more. True, the showgirl was still used, but no longer as queen, but rather as another member of the support¬ ing cast. Then why moui-n her? We Graceful as sprites in a dream, the famed American Ballet with George Balanchine makes its bow before the film audience in the Goldwyn show. Golden-voiced Helen Jep¬ son brings another sort of glory to the screen with music from the immortal "La Traviata” pulchritudinous group of show¬ girls in the world. Admittedly so by Ziegfeld, the man who brought the show girl to her once all important position in musical productions, and all other qualified or unqualified judges of feminine beauty. In fact, it is sad to note that the Goldwyn Girls are the last of their kind. The showgirl, who once graced and predemo- nated the musical scene, is now virtually extinct. The show¬ girl who had entree to society of all kinds, high, low and po¬ litical, is represented only by a few unassuming (though no less pretty) charmers who yet stalk the background of revue spec¬ tacles. And by the Goldwyn girls. The showgirl was tops in her day. She won first honors for exacting the highest price for the least amount of work. With her birth in the first Follies in 1908, the amusement world boasted a new phenomenon: a chorus girl with a name and personality, a fresh type of stage attraction, especially Hysteria reigns when the Ritz Brothers hit the screen. For a time their antics threatened to break up production on "The Goldwyn Follies”. attired in very expensive, or no clothes at all. Their privileges were beyond all reason. Stage managers did inquire that they appear at rehearsals and were magnanimous and obliging by granting a fortnight’s vacation whenever asked. With the arrival of Prohibi¬ tion, the showgirl began to slip. Her status dropped and her per¬ sonal associates changed; in¬ stead of running around with millionaires, buyers, playboys can do so with safety because of what the showgirl produced in the way of worthwhile addi¬ tions to the stage and the screen. Numbered amongst the gi’aduates of the glorious days of the- gorgeous showgirl are Mae Muri-ay, Olive Thomas, Billie Dove, Marion Davies, Dorothy Mackaill, Noel Frances, Lupe Velez and June Knight. Disguised under* the names of some of the leading families of the land are others, who found To the syncopated strains of songs by George and Ira Gershwin, Kenny Baker and Helen Jepson go to town in this scene from the picture. tive gi - oup of sweet girl alumni of the Goldwyn pulchritude corps. Others are on their way up, most probably through the offices of Goldwyn himself, who looks for his future stars in all the vast and varied ranks of moviedom. It is no wonder then that Goldwyn can claim for himself the vacated throne of the King of Musical Comedy. Guided by his own infallibly good taste, and by the lessons of Ziegfeld, Goldwyn has kept his quota of musicals on an even keel. He has not rushed to the front with a new set of gigantic numbers dealing with cast and sets in order to dazzle and l’azzle the audiences into appreciation. He prefers to let the movie fan ex¬ press his own preference, and that is what he delivers. He de¬ livers with the same admii’able restraint and love of perfect harmony between realism and fantasy that marks all his ef¬ forts, be they comedy, tragedy or musical. What better pi - oof could be asked than a perusal of his line¬ up for “The Goldwyn Follies.” Taken name by name, it lists a galaxy of stars such as have never before graced a single screen in one feature. The bril¬ liance of the performers not¬ withstanding, moviegoers may rest assured that they will not be blasted back against their seats by a blare and onslaught of talent and magnificence, but rather that they will be ti’eated to a well-paced and tastefully arranged entertainment. Yet the cast is awe-inspiiing. From radio’s arena Mr. Gold¬ wyn has garnered the wooden¬ headed imp, Charlie McCarthy, whose task it has been to con¬ vulse Amei-ica’s families with laughter on every Sabbath. He Charles Kullman, is l brilliant in his performance and no less famous for his work. He too has flouted the tradition of a pot-belly for pear-shaped notes. In keeping with the high- standard set by the inclusion of two of the Metropolitan’s topnotch stars, is the use of George Balanchine’s world-fa¬ mous American Ballet. This group of eighteen women and seven men will be complemented by the syncopation of a norps of tap dancers. Not fifty tap dancers, not one hundred, and not a thousand, but twelve se¬ lected, hand-picked by Goldwyn himself for excellence of per¬ formance. Dancing with the American Ballet will be Miss Zorina, once premiere ballerina of the most famous ballet group in the world—the Monte Carlo Ballet Russe. This will not be Zorina’s first excursion into musical comedy, for she starred for over a year in the London production of the successful musical, “On Your Toes.” Opposing, but decidedly not suppoi'ting Charlie McCarthy ai - e Adolphe Menjou and Bobby Clark, neither of them slouches at word-bandying in their own right. The comedy portions of “The Goldwyn Follies” promise to assume the proportions of a major riot, which once un¬ leashed will not be stopped by any amount of laughter-con¬ vulsed and side-aching protesta¬ tions. All in all, it’s a little too much for ordinary words and sentences to cope with, without an ehxbarrassing and superflu¬ ous excess of laudatory, adjec¬ tives. In the simplest terms possible it might well be said that “The Goldwyn Follies” has its best boost in its title and the implication thereof that it was produced by Samuel Goldwyn, the successor to Ziegfeld. Or pex’haps it would be sufficient to state that it has been made by the Great Goldwyn. That’s enough said for anyone, no mat¬ ter how particular. A story about the glamour and the glamour girls that go to make up glorified entertainment will be a welcome addition to the feature section of any paper. Order full-page Sunday Feature, 8-Col., $1.20, from Exploitation Department, United Artists Corp., 729 Seventh Avenue, New York, N Y.