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The Goldwyn Follies
The Goldwyn Follies
	One of theatrical release posters
Directed by	George Marshall
Written by	Ben Hecht
Produced by	Samuel Goldwyn; George Haight;
Starring	Adolphe Menjou; The Ritz Brothers; Vera Zorina; Andrea Leeds; Edgar Bergen;
Cinematography	Gregg Toland
Edited by	Sherman Todd
Music by	George Gershwin
Production; company	Samuel Goldwyn Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	February 4, 1938;
Running time	122 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2 million

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. 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.^[2]

Plot

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

References

^ Goldwyn Believes Color Photography Here to Stay; Budgets $2,000,000 for Big Musical to Prove It!: Stars Enlisted From Grand Opera to Radio for Role in 'The Goldwyn Follies' in Technicolor; Gigli's Screen Debut; Gloria Dickson on Way Up; Valentino Helps the Press Agents; Notes of the Theater. The Washington Post (1923-1954) [Washington, D.C] 21 Sep 1937: 14.
^ "NY Times: The Goldwyn Follies". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
^ "AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-13.
^ Medved, Harry (1978). The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time (and how They Got that Way) (First ed.). Angus & Robertson. p. 288. ISBN 9780207958915. Retrieved 16 May 2021.