Glorifying the American Girl

Amazon has reversed the order of the photos.PHOTO 1: Magazine ad for ‘Glorifying the American Girl’ (1929)PHOTO 2: Mary Eaton, star of ‘Glorifying the American Girl’PHOTO 3: Technicolor scene with scantily clad showgirls.PHOTO 4: Technicolor scene with scantily clad Olympic swimming champion Johnny Weismuller.PHOTO 5: Broadway stars Fred Astaire, Marilyn Miller, and Adele Astaire (photo dated c.1925)In the 1920s, Florenz Ziegfeld was the most successful producer on Broadway.His biggest stars were Marilyn Miller and Fred Astaire (who also performed with his sister Adele).Ziegfeld produced an annual revue, The Ziegfeld Follies, which was staged every year from 1907 through 1925, then again in 1927 and 1931, but there was no Ziegfeld Follies of 1929.Instead, Ziegfeld was busy producing this film: ‘Glorifying the American Girl’.It’s a backstage drama, culminating in a half-hour’s worth of what would have been the Ziegfeld Follies of 1929.It was filmed in New York’s Astoria Studio with an all-Broadway cast.Other Ziegfeld stars in ‘Glorifying the American Girl’ are comedian Eddie Cantor and torch singer Helen Morgan (Rudy Vallee is a ringer - he was never in an actual Ziegfeld show).For a checklist of other Broadway Shows that were filmed in New York in 1929-1930 (before everybody moved to California), see Comment One (sort by ‘Oldest’).The biggest problem with ‘Glorifying the American Girl’ is that, in the Spring of 1929, Marilyn Miller and Fred Astaire were unavailable for filming.Marilyn Miller was feuding with Ziegfeld.Her replacement in the film is Mary Eaton, star of the Ziegfeld Follies of 1921, 1922 and 1923.But by 1929, Mary Eaton was clearly second choice.Fred Astaire was also unavailable - he was in London starring in ‘Funny Face’ by George Gershwin.Mary Eaton’s dance partner in this film is Dan Healy.An excellent tap dancer, but he’s no Fred Astaire.He also plays a heel who tries to rape Mary Eaton - pretty sure this part would have been rewritten for Fred Astaire.Too bad Paramount couldn’t wait another year to start filming - in 1930 Astaire and Miller had reconciled with Ziegfeld and were back on Broadway in a Ziegfeld show.They starred in ‘Smiles’, which turned out to be Ziegfeld’s biggest flop, so there would have been no problem with cast availability.AMAZING BONUS FEATURE: A two-minute staged rehearsal sequence (with sound) from ‘Smiles’ has survived and is included as a bonus with this Blu-ray.Florenz Ziegfeld directs Marilyn Miller, Fred and Adele Astaire:--- This is the earliest film of Fred Astaire dancing.--- The only film of Fred Astaire dancing with Marilyn Miller.--- The only film of Fred’s sister Adele dancing with anyone (she retired from show biz after this show).--- See the end of this review for a transcription of the dialogue.TECHNICOLOR: There are three early two-strip Technicolor sequences in this film (see photos).Tableaux vivants.Definition: “Tableau vivant, French for “living picture”, is a static scene containing one or more actors or models.They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery.It thus combines aspects of theatre and the visual arts.” (Wikipedia)In the 1920s, Broadway audiences loved tableaux vivants, especially when the models were scantily clad.Florenz Ziegfeld gave them what they wanted.More time is spent on tableaux vivantes in this film than on actual dance numbers.Ziegfeld was not above hiring celebrities: in one, swimming champion Johnny Weismuller shows off his Olympian physique, three years before he played Tarzan.All reviews of ‘Glorifying the American Girl’ posted before December 4, 2019 are of earlier DVD pressings.Most did not have the Technicolor sequences.The picture and sound on the new Kino Blu-ray are an infinite improvement.--- 2K Master from the UCLA Film & Television Archive's 35mm restoration--- Audio commentary by Richard Barrios, author of A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film--- Hollywood: City of Celluloid (7 minutes) [curious - the movie was filmed in New York.]--- La Cucaracha: 1934 Technicolor musical short (20 minutes)--- Hearst Newsreel from 1930: Florenz Ziegfeld rehearses the cast of his new Broadway showEnglish SDH subtitles for the feature film, but not the bonus feature - so I transcribed the dialogue of the rehearsal sequence:Ziegfeld to stage manager: “How many girls have we got for ‘Smiles?”stage manager: “About a hundred.”Ziegfeld: “Are these the showgirls?”“Yes sir.”Ziegfeld: “Are the dancers here?”“Yes sir”“Let me see the dancers.”Marilyn Miller, Fred and Adele Astaire dance onstage.Ziegfeld: “I don’t mean my $10,000 a week dancers!”“Sorry.”Marilyn Miller, Fred and Adele Astaire dance offstage.Ziegfeld: “Look out, Adele. Wrong foot” (laughter) “Smile! Let’s see the other dancers.”That’s it: The only available print of Marilyn Miller dancing with Fred and Adele Astaire.It’s available on YouTube in a blurry print.The print on this Kino Blu-ray is crisp and clean.BROADWAY TO HOLLYWOODWith the dawn of sound in 1929, Hollywood needed trained voices.To take advantage of the available talent, producers turned their attention to Broadway,In addition to ‘Glorifying the American Girl’, several other musicals were filmed at New York’s Astoria Studio in 1929 and 1930.In all these films, the musical numbers were performed “live”.After the move to Hollywood, songs were lip-synched to a pre-recorded soundtrack.---- Marilyn Miller filmed two of her Broadway hits:1929: ‘Sally’, based on the 1920 Broadway show, with music by Jerome Kern, hit song: “Look for the Silver Lining”.1930: ‘Sunny’, based on the 1925 Broadway show, with music by Jerome Kern, hit songs: “Who?” and “Sunny”.Both have been released on burned-to order Warner Archive DVD-Rs:  Sally  and  Sunny (1930) .Unlike ‘Glorifying the American Girl’, ‘Sally’ was filmed entirely in technicolor, but only two-and-a-half minutes of color survive (the rest of the surviving print is in black and white).I don’t mean to be unkind to Mary Eaton, but she was a clear second to Marilyn Miller. ‘Sally’ also benefits from a superior musical score and supporting cast, especially Joe E. Brown (I had no idea he could dance).I really wish the UCLA Film and Television Archive had turned their attention to ‘Sally’ before ‘Glorifying the American Girl’.Maybe they’re waiting to see if any more color footage turns up.‘Sunny’ is not nearly as impressive, handicapped by distorted sound on the only surviving print.Marilyn Miller made only one more film, and it was not a musical: Her Majesty Love  (1931), filmed in Hollywood. She played W. C. Field’s daughter.---- The Marx Brothers filmed two of their Broadway hits in the Astoria Studio:1929: ‘Cocoanuts’ (co-starring Mary Eaton), based on the 1925 Broadway show, with music by Irving Berlin.1930: ‘Animal Crackers’, based on the 1928 Broadway show, with music by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby.Both films are in  The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection (The Cocoanuts / Animal Crackers / Monkey Business / Horse Feathers / Duck Soup) [Blu-ray ]---- Fred Astaire was ignored by the studio heads in Hollywood who did not consider him leading man material.No New York films, and he wasn't called to Hollywood until 1933, when he was cast as Joan Crawford’s dancing partner in the film  Dancing Lady  (Clark Gable was her romantic partner).Astaire did go on to film three of his Broadway triumphs in Hollywood:---  The Gay Divorcee  (1934), based on the 1933 Broadway show (‘Gay Divorce’) with music by Cole Porter.---  The Band Wagon (Two-Disc Special Edition)  (1953), based on the 1931 Broadway show with music by Dietz and Schwartz.---  Funny Face (1957) (BD) [Blu-ray ], very loosely based on the 1927 Broadway show with music by George Gershwin.Loose adaptations, more Hollywood than Broadway.--- ‘Show Boat’ on Criterion Blu-ray:This is a 1936 Universal musical, filmed in Hollywood.Four members of the original 1927 Broadway cast were in the 1936 film:--- Charles Wininger as Captain Andy--- Helen Morgan as Julie (she was also in the 1929 Prologue)--- Sammy White as Frank Schultz--- Francis X. Mahoney as RubberfaceIn addition,--- Paul Robeson was Joe in the original London cast (1928)--- Irene Dunne played Magnolia in the first touring company of Show Boat (1929)Criterion includes a fascinating bonus feature:On January 17, 1929 Universal engineers travelled to Broadway to film three members of the original Broadway cast + the chorus and orchestra in a semi-staged performance of highlights from the show with original costumes and choreography.All four surviving songs (16 minutes total) are on the Criterion Blu-ray.Helen Morgan repeated her role of Julie in the 1936 film, but this is the only evidence we have of Jules Bledsoe as Joe, and Tess Gardella as Queenie:---- “Ol' Man River” sung by Jules Bledsoe---- “C'mon Folks” sung by Tess Gardella---- “Hey, Feller!” sung by Tess Gardella---- “Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man” sung by Helen Morgan - VIDEO & AUDIO ARE LOST---- “Bill” sung by Helen Morgan---- Despite the title, ‘The Broadway Melody’ (of 1929) was not filmed on Broadway, but in Hollywood.Several of the performers had some Broadway experience, but there were no really big names.The fictional Broadway producer in this film is a character named “Francis Zanfield”.It was the first sound film to win the Oscar for Best Picture [boo - it should have gone to ‘Sally’ with Marilyn Miller] Broadway Melody of 1929 (DVD) (Oscar O-Sleeve) For some clips of Marilyn Miller on YouTube, look up"Marilyn Miller Ziegfeld" and "Sally Clip 1"

During the advent of synchronized sound in movies during the late '20's, Hollywood produced many musical revues showcasing some of the most popular stars of the day. While their entertainment capacity may vary, all of these films serve as valuable historical and cultural time capsules of America's past.GLORIFYING THE AMERICAN GIRL, a 1929 Paramount release, is notable because it manages to deliver a fairly decent story along with the vintage revue performances. Add the fact that it was produced by the era's greatest showman, Florenz Ziegfeld, and we get a film that's quite representative of its genre. Mary Eaton, a Ziegfeld Follies girl herself, is the featured star and she's not only pretty, but dances well enough too. That same year Eaton appeared in The Marx Brothers' first film, THE COCOANUTS. Other top Ziegfeld stars - Eddie Cantor, Helen Morgan, Rudy Vallee - appear in the final revue portion of the film, and Ziegfeld himself makes a brief appearance with his wife, Billie Burke. Of course, there's plenty of femenine pulchritude on display in order for the film to live up to its title.For anyone interested in the '20's, Ziegfeld glamour, and that brief, fascinating transitional period from silent to sound films, GLORIFYING THE AMERICAN GIRL will fill the bill. It's well acted in that it captures the typical jargon and attitudes of people from that era. The use of exterior location photography with sound is also interesting, as this was technically challenging when talkies first came in. I was particularly impressed with the POV shots taken from the front seat of an ambulance speeding through traffic. Again, this is noteworthy because it shows not all early talkies are as static as many historians claim.So far, the best quality on GLORIFYING THE AMERICAN GIRL is on Synergy Entertainment's DVD-R. The image is sharp with good contrast and the sound is clear, allowing for the usual imperfections associated with early sound movies. While some sequences were originally shot in two-strip Technicolor, the film is only available in black and white.

when you buy a dvd with this title,you know what to expect.a period-piece!what you dont expect is the the bad quality of this dvd-transfer.but maybe the film was not worth being brought out on dvd in the first place.not recommended!

Content was fine - some nice restored two-color technicolor!Packaging not so good, obvious cost-cutting, but the Pinup image was quit nice!

OK movie and fast delivery

Very good movie.

I love it! Unable to get this one in my area. I'm lucky I didn't have to order from US. Thanks very much :)