Customer Reviews

Ziegfeld: The Man Who Invented Show Business

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An enjoyable book. Ethan Mordden digs into the archival material relating to all things Ziegfeld and presents us with a leisurely account of the rise and fall of this formidable showman. It is a 21st century perspective, and reflects the culture of celebrity and American dream that was no different in the 1890s. Typical of Mordden's style are the many footnotes filled with interesting trivia. Untypical of the author, is the inclusion of a concluding bibliographical chapter.

I was surprised how immediate all this old show business seemed. It starts in the 1890's! Yet we get a real feeling for what Fanny Brice, Eddie Cantor, and Bert Williams were like in the Follies, and how this secret and almost invisible man became the best known producer on Broadway. I have read three other books on him, but this is the first one that actually explained why they called him the *great* Ziegfeld, after all. The way the author narrates, it could almost be a novel, with cliffhanger chapter closings, plot twists, and a lot of odd little jokes about what all these high and mighty stars are really up to. The best line was where one Ziegfeld girl is so dumb, "she had the content of a confetti cannon."

I love Ethan Mordden's writing, whether fiction or non. This is a wonderful biography, and unlike most biographies, the narrator's voice is not dry and dull and neutral. It's very bright and dishy, like he's sitting across the table from you with both of you slurping margaritas out of giant fishbowl goblets. He doesn't waste time on the parents' lives or young Flo's early years. (I hate biographies where you have to plough through early chapters on how the grandparents suffered back in the Old Country. None of that stuff here.) He just plunges right in and gives you a vivid account of the ins and outs of Broadway show biz when Ziegfeld was heeding the call to succeed and dominate.

Mordden knows everything about Broadway, so he doesn't want to weigh you down with the dull stuff. He knows that, like Ziegfeld, you must keep the audience constantly alert. He wants to pour you the hot tea in the most delicious way with lots of inside jokes, campy wordplay, heavy sarcasm, snide and snarky putdowns, bitchy asides.

Examples? There's a book which "bore such occult power that straights who as much as glanced here and there in them were instantly struck gay, never to return." "That tryout hell that everyone keeps wishing on Hitler." A certain song is "a gingerbread doll baked by Erik Satie." "So quiet one could hear the lint accumulating in men's trouser cuffs." An almost throwaway description of the death of Charles Cochran (p. 294) is so bizarre and grotesque that you almost wish Mordden had written your high school history texts.

Little nuggets of trivia gleam at you like flecks of gold in a dry creek bed. The tone is always "I know more about everything than you do, so just listen and absorb." That's fine with me. We learn that Show Boat is the greatest musical ever, that Ziegfeld invented much of what we consider standard, that he was always suffering from money problems, that he had great fun feuds with his stars and rival producers. This really is an excellent read. My only complaint is that the pictures are too small, so you can't see the faces very well. But this book is not about little pictures; it's about a show biz giant, and Mordden has made of him a fascinating and entertaining portrait, framed by admiration and verve.

When Ethan Mordden writes about theater, especially musical theater, he has no peer. So if you approach this book as a survey of Ziegfeld's WORK, you will not be disappointed. However, from the outset Mordden tells us how little is really known or understood about the private life, the internal life, if you will, of Ziegfeld the man. He then proceeds to live up to this caveat by telling us as much, or as little, as he promises. The general feeling of the book is: we may not know how a man who grew up with classical music as his background ended up starting in Burlesque or, looked at another way, how a man whose very being was wrapped up in revue and burlesque gave us "The Follies" or how the "Follies" man gave us "Show Boat", but who cares, he did! Mordden is right! The only real flaw in the book is Mordden's referral to pictures, posters, artwork, etc. that we never get to see. How about a revised, illustrated, edition!

In the middle of this book there is a half page describing Ziegfeld taking his daughter backstage to introduce her to the Follies star, Marilyn Miller. Unfortunately Ms. Miller was angry at Ziegfeld and throws a jar of cold cream at him as he backs out the door with his daughter. I cite this episode, presumably from his daughter's book about her parents, for the simple reason that it appears to be the only personal story about Flo Ziegfeld in the book. Oh yes, we're told when and where he was born, etc. but when it comes to his character, thoughts etc. we are left with bare declarative sentences. For example we're told, as a fact, that Ziegfeld had no sense of humor but we are not given a single story to illustrate this. While I can accept the author's statement that Ziegfeld did not divulge much personal information the fact is that he was surrounded by collaborators for three decades. The whole purpose of a biographer is to research those secondary sources to reveal the enigma. Unfortunately this author does not appear to have undertaken that effort. That being said, I must acknowledge that the author is extremely knowledge in musical theater history and evokes the period and setting well. The author is also a fluid writer and the book is quite readable. As a book about the Ziegfeld Follies in the Arts section of the bookstore I would rate this volume a four if not a five. However, as a book about Ziegfeld himself in the Biography section of the bookstore I would rate this volume as a one but have generously upgraded to a three in appreciation of the informative musical theater details.

This book on Flo Ziegfeld gave a tremendous amount of information, both for those interested in Ziegfeld's life and those interested in his "hand" in the development of musical theater.

I loved the book Ziegfeld. It is a fascinating history of theatre in New York and America generally. My only criticism not enough photos of the wonderful productions staged by an early master of lavish musical shows.

A fine read that also provides great historical detail about the transitions from vaudeville to "legitimate theater" in New York. It's fascinating to read that the current midtown was really as uptown as you could reasonably want to travel. The great stars were emerging, but the great impresarios provided the vehicles, quite dazzling if you consider the primitive conditions for actors (theaters closed in the summer, and there was no amplification to hear thin voices as there is today). This is rich in detail and intrigue (Ziegfeld was a world-class womanizer). As for the stars, I'm reminded of a favorite quote I read somewhere from a starlet long ago: "A private railroad car is not an acquired taste. One gets used to it instantly."

A good friend who knows how much I love reading about Florenz Ziegfeld gave me this book for Christmas. After taking a few glances at some pages, I had the impression that the book couldn't offer me any more information on the Great Glorifier than I already knew. I was wrong. Ethan Mordden writes about Ziegfeld's life with a light, fun, entertaining, non-scholarly style; I loved the author's sense of dry humor and slightly wicked turn-of-phrase. More than anything, I appreciated the myth-busting Mordden employs. He dispels many long-held beliefs about such matters such as the supposed romantic relationship Ziegfeld shared with Marilyn Miller and the supposed artistic and financial failure of the "Follies" Ziegfeld produced after the 1922 edition. Mordden places his readers in the heart of Old Broadway, giving us the flavor of the time -- the fun, excitement, grime, love of theatre, etc. -- an invaluable feat. The only complaint I have with the book is its lack of photographs. There are very few of them included when dozens exist.

"Ziegfield" was a letdown. I was hoping for two things; what the man uniquely brought to American theater and a slice of American theatrical history. What I mostly got was commentary on the various Ziegfield shows and antecdotes about the women in his life. I can't say I have any more idea now of who Ziegfield was as a human being than I did before I read the book.

"Ziegfield" has its virtues; its very well written, with fascinating vignettes and deft characterizations of the people in Ziegfields life. Mordden has written extensively about Broadway shows and he puts that experience to good use here, talking knowledgeably about the various people and traditions of American theater.

One other thing I wish Mordden had done was explain the various strands of American theater; how legitimate theater was different from and yet the same as vaudeville. It seems that the Ziegfield Follies operated in a sort of limbo between the two.