Written by Andreas Babiolakis

This review is a part of the Palme d’Or Project: a review of every single Palme d’Or winner at Cannes Film Festival. This is a Grand Prix winner: what the Palme d’Or was originally called before 1955. Ziegfeld Follies won for the 1947 festival as one of five honourees in different categories: the only year that Cannes did this. This film won specifically for Best Musical Comedy.

The film was selected by the following jury.
Jury President: Georges Huisman.
Jury: Raymond Borderie, Georges Carrier, Jean-François Chosson, Joseph Dotti, Escoute, Jean Grémillon, Maurice Hille, Robert Hupert, Alexandre Kamenka, Jean Mineur, Henri Moret, Jean Nery, Maurice Perisset, Georges Raguis, René Jeanne, Georges Rollin, Régis Roubin, Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon, Segalon, René Sylviano.

Oh, where to start with this one. If there wasn't an experiment with a series of Best Picture categories at the 1947 Cannes Film Festival, this film wouldn't have had a snowball’s chance in hell of ever winning a Grand Prix. So, what is Ziegfeld Follies? We first have to answer what are Ziegfeld Follies. Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. was arguably the biggest name in Broadway at the start of the twentieth century (until his death in 1932). His productions were elaborate musical numbers called Ziegfeld Follies, and each act was its own spectacle via song, dance, and other major enhancements (effects, scale, circus tricks and more). There's even a film about him that won Best Picture titled The Great Ziegfeld, starring William Powell in the title role. Producer Arthur Freed pooled together a few filmmakers years after Ziegfeld's passing to ponder: what would some of these revues look like in the late 40s?

We get that answer in the appropriately titled Ziegfeld Follies, which also briefly stars Powell reprising his iconic role. There's a massive cast in this tribute including Lucile Ball, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Red Skelton, Gene Kelly, Fanny Brice, and so many more. The numbers themselves are quite astounding. Everything is so colourful and playful. And then you realize that this is kind of it for two hours. I get the point of the film: nothing more than a compilation of follies that would make Ziegfeld proud. Having said that, even by 1947, film had shifted so much. Musicals themselves were going a whole different direction, and some of that is seen here: the appeal is wondering how Ziegfeld would have played ball in the then-modern age. This isn't like Fantasia where the numbers had to be seen on a big screen in such a way (the animation is jaw dropping). Ziegfeld Follies is quite fun to watch, but only for a little while. Before the gimmick gets old.

ziegfeld follies — All of *Ziegfeld Follies* is fun to watch. Individually. Clumped together, it becomes a chore to see.

The film keeps going, and it actually felt exhausting, even with the stunning technicolor, the famous faces I adore, and the bubbly fun happing at every turn. Even in the modern age where visual storytelling is easier to consume in bite-sized portions (TV episodes, YouTube clips), Ziegfeld Follies just goes on for too long and feels stale before it even ends (perhaps because the individual numbers also feel overlong themselves at times). As an overall piece, it's easier to justify why this exists. It's an homage to a style and art form that clearly was vanishing and was in need of celebration, done in a way of new. To actually watch Ziegfeld Follies in full is a bit of a chore, if I'm honest. It is easily the weakest film to ever win the Palme d'Or at Cannes, especially if you include the early Grand Prix prizes of the same caliber. It's not the worst musical I've ever seen, but I would like to think that it wasn't even close to being the best musical of 1947.

Well, I looked up all of the musicals from 1945 (technically when Ziegfeld Follies came out) to 1947 (when this festival took place), and, admittedly, most of them are pretty mediocre, so maybe there wasn’t a chance that a better film would have won in this category. This is likely why Cannes decided never to do this experiment again.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.