It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Three girls get a chance to being new Ziegfeld girls. Elevator girl Sheila Regan (Lana Turner) with boyfriend Gilbert Young (James Stewart) finds herself pursued by a millionaire. Susan Gallagher (Judy Garland) has to abandon her vaudeville act with her father. Sandra Kolter (Hedy Lamarr) is a mystery woman from overseas.The cast is filled with legendary names. That alone makes this an interesting movie. Each girl's story is compelling to some extent. At least, it's interesting to watch the legendary beauties. The least interesting is the actual Ziegfeld Follies. It's only a line of beauties walking down the stairs in costumes. The song and dance for the three is mostly walking around. It's not much of a song and dance play. Judy Garland doing vaudeville with her show business father is far more interesting. Of course, she is perfectly comfortable with that. Lana Turner gets to play opposite Jimmy Stewart and has the juicier story. Hedy Lamarr has the least compelling story which ends with simply walking away. All in all, it's a great star watch and a functional musical.

The musical numbers are typical of the golden age, only in black and white. If you are a fan of "Busby Berkely" style, like me, this is for you. The plot, as is the case for musicals, is of no consequence, and fills in time between production numbers. If you want to see a movie about life on the stage, where the plot matters, watch "Stage Door".

Judy Garland, Lana Turner, and Hedy Lamarr all together, what a wonderful sight. I seen Lana's last film in "Love finds Andy Hardy". But she really comes out into her own here. She's an even more major character than Judy here. Hedy's role was the smallest of the three, but still sweet. All three beauties became Ziegfeld girls and have their own story to tell. Judy was a vaudeville performer with vaudeville dad Charles Winnegar. Judy even made a quick joke (" I was born in a theater but the trunk lid wasn't shut") referencing both her film character here and her real life growing up in vaudeville as Frances Gumn. (there's another later similar reference in 1954 with a song of hers "Born in a trunk " in "A star is born "). Lana was discovered at her department store elevator operator job by Horton, Mr. Ziegfeld's strong right arm, with her jealous boyfriend (James Stewart) standing by. Hedy happened to be at the theater during Ziegfeld girl auditions while her also jealous boyfriend (Philip Dorn) was at a violin audition for playing in the orchestra of the Ziegfeld numbers (which he finally does get later while surprising Hedy during a number). While waiting, beautiful Hedy was spotted by Horton and Ziegfeld singer Tony Martin (who Hedy has an almost affair with) and became a Ziegfeld girl. All three girls became Ziegfeld girls and starred together in their musical debut "You stepped out of a dream" which was wonderful, and the girls all looked very beautiful. Look at the jealous looks on Stewart and Dorn's faces while watching the number. I was also curious who that beauty was that Tony Martin was singing to during the first part of the " Dream" song. I also loved those long and wide dresses a few other girls were sitting down and wearing right after the first part. Then the third part, and the main part of the song when Judy, Lana, Hedy, and other girls were walking around, up and down the stairs in those gorgeous attires. That entire number was wonderful. Then later on, there was a Caribbean themed show including Judy's "Minnie from Trinidad". And during the first Caribbean song, just look how beautiful Hedy's eyes were right before she noticed Dorn playing his violin solo for her, and then Hedy's pretty smile. Between the Ziegfeld show numbers also included a very good story dealing with Lana's getting swept away with stardom and also starting to lean very heavy on the liquor. And getting into an affair with a slick aristocrat, and James turning to bootlegging and even spending time in jail. Lana's progressing alcoholism gets her thrown off the follies and then increasingly ill. This brings us a very nice bedside scene with Lana sick in bed and James, now cleaning himself up and talking with Lana about raising ducks. A dramatic moment with Lana at the theater happens a short time later. During the film, Hedy gets hit on by Tony. Judy has some issues with her dad since he believes in forcefully yelling the song lyrics, and Ziegfeld's associates obviously did not exactly like that. Then Judy sings her sweet delicate version of "I'm always chasing rainbows", the song her dad made her yell. Ziegfeld's associates are totally smitten by it and her career really takes off from that point onwards. Judy's dad is hurt. He didn't quite understand that people just didn't dig his vaudeville style yelling anymore. Look at the way he yells his lines during his and Judy's vaudeville number "Laugh, I'd thought i split my sides". He's just too in your face and annoying. They split up for a while until later when Charles redeems himself (with the real Mr. Sheen) with a quirky " Gallagher and Mr. Sheen" sketch.Like in "The great Ziegfeld", this film had great musical numbers and a good story. Even though I loved the musical numbers in this film, nothing else has ever topped the wonderful,amazing, surreal, heavenly " Pretty girl is like a melody" from "The great Ziegfeld". Well, "You stepped out of a dream" was close. I do sort of like them remaking the top of the wedding cake from " Pretty girl" in this film. They were not mocking it. Differences include 1), Judy is the princess on top now instead of Virginia Bruce, 2) the angel girls in white dresses on the top part of the stairs sing in this film, where in "The great Ziegfeld" they sat still smiling (Judy sings too but Virginia didn't), and 3) "A pretty girl is like a melody" is not the song this time, it's "You never looked so beautiful". That was OK though, it would've been a mistake to copy it identically. As I loved so much the "The great Ziegfeld" version, I liked this one too, in a slightly different kinda way. When the camera pulls away from the top part of the cake here, we see the full wedding cake from "The great Ziegfeld". I'm sure that's because they just were not able to remake the entire wedding cake with all the different people on it again for this film. And they used three or four other scenes from that film too. But it didn't bother me. I thought this film and " The great Ziegfeld " were both great.

My title comes from a famous sarcastic quote of Hedy Lamarr on the formula for being glamorous.Unfortunately, she doesn't do a whole lot more in this film, while serving as part of the abundant eye candy. While making this film by day, she was doing much more important things in her spare time. She was working on her premier invention: a frequency-hopping spread spectrum radio-controlled torpedo guidance system, which she hoped would be her most important contribution to the war effort. Unfortunately, the US Navy decided to shelve it until many years later, after her patent rights ran out. It has since become the basis of much of present high tech communication devices! Born Hedwig Kiesler, in Vienna, she was signed by Louis B. Mayer while on route from London to NYC, as she was trying to escape her very controlling older husband and the dark cloud of Nazism. He changed her name to Lamarr in remembrance of the early, but self-destructive, sensational film and dance star of the 'roaring' 20s: Barbara La Marr. Like Hedy, Barbara had frequently been promoted as 'the most beautiful woman in the world'. Mayer hoped to convince the American public that Hedy deserved her European reputation as such. Many swallowed his build up, but I've never been impressed that she is unique. Fortunately, Hedy lacked Barbara's destructive addictions. However, her film career was not all that busy nor distinguished. I only remember her in her much later role as Delilah, and as Clark Gable's extramarital temptation in "Boomtown". Lana Turner's character, as a gorgeous Ziegfeld girl who becomes an alcoholic and ends up on skid row, presumably dying of her abusive addictions soon after the curtain closes, can be thought of as a stand in for Barbara La Marr's life.What a waste to have cast Dan Dailey simply as a tipsy sleazy prize fighter looking to prey upon a down and out Lana! Although signed by MGM in 1940 after an early career in vaudeville and Broadway musicals, he was mostly cast in supporting non-musical roles, even in musicals such as the present film, and often by other studios.It wasn't until after the war, that Fox picked him up and immediately cast him as the lead with Betty Grable in their highest grossing film of the year "Mother Wore Tights" He became Betty's favorite costar, having the most similar background and talents. He also costarred in a number of other musicals in the early 50s without Betty.Charles Winninger, who plays Judy Garland's aging vaudeville father and musical coach, was an even more accomplished ex-vaudeville and Broadway player, of the previous generation. He had played in the real Ziegfeld follies. His most famous Broadway role(and in the '36 film) was 'Cap't Andy' in "Showboat".He most often played humorous/cantankerous old men, sometimes with a bit of his musical talent thrown in, as in this film and in the later Tchnicolor "Broadway Rhythm". You are perhaps most likely to remember him in his humorous role as 'Pop' Frake, with his prize pig, in the 1945 Rogers and Hammerstein musical "State Fair". But, I most like his role in the musical comedy "Pot O'Gold", also released in '41, and also costarring Jimmy Stewart.There are 3 lavish Busby Berkeley-directed musical productions,all of which include a segment of a parade of girls in various bizarrely-ornamented outlandish costumes. These productions, especially, cry out for Technicolor filming. Stingy MGM could have filmed just these production segments in color. Afterall, the first part of "The Wizard of Oz" was filmed in B&W!..Tony Martin has a singing segment in each stage production, and sings even more beautifully than in other films I've seen. ... The long Trinidad-themed production was actually composed of several segments, including a bizarre fashion show, a Spanish dance, and Tony singing, before getting to Judy's best effort at mimicking Fox's new Latin sensation:Carmen Miranda, in her "Minnie from Trinidad" number. She is hoisted up and down by a bevy of men, on a platform supported by a spoke-like cluster of long wooden poles, and backed by many dancers in fancy Trinidad costumes... Large spiral staircases are featured in parts of the 2 other productions, giving the impression of descent from or accent to heaven. In the finale, this illusion is enhanced by a dark starry background. This last scene was recycled from the previous "The Great Ziegfeld" and the spiral structure looks remarkably like the one in the finale of " 'Til the Clouds Roll By", made a few years later.The screenplay is mostly fun in the first half, with Lana and Hedy looking their most ravishing. But Jimmy Stewart, Lana and Dan Dailey often imparted a depressing, sinister, cast to the second half, as Lana's character gradually descends into material greed, alcoholism, skid row, and near death. For a good detailed account of the screen play , I suggest the review entitled "Waiter, a stack of wheats for the lady". On the whole, this is another Judy Garland movie.