If you loved the movie, DON'T buy this album.
jenbird | Havertown, PA | 02/15/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Yes, you heard me right. I just adore the movie "The Great Ziegfeld," and I looked forward to receiving this album with great anticipation. Sadly, my expectations were dashed right away.
The sound is just terrible, very muddy and uneven. It sounds as though someone sat in the movie theater -- back in 1936 -- with a tape recorder and taped the soundtrack that way -- it's a soundtrack in the most literal sense. Some of the songs, such as Fanny Brice singing "Yiddle on the Fiddle" and "My Man," are interrupted by dialogue, just as they are in the film. Other songs, such as "You Gotta Pull Strings," are so badly mixed that the lyrics are barely audible. I tweaked the bass and treble on my stereo several times, but it never got any better. I can hear the songs much better when I play my DVD of the movie.
Included in this soundtrack are two sections of dialogue from the film, "Dressing Room Scene" when Fanny meets Ziegfeld for the first time and he gives her the mink; the other one is "Telephone Scene" when Anna calls Ziegfeld to congratulate him on his second marriage to Billie Burke. I can't understand why these two particular scenes were included, since they're not part of any musical number, and lend nothing to the album as a whole.
Not included in the soundtrack are the lush musical medleys that make up the entrance, intermission, and exit music from the movie. Instead, we get a snippet called "End Titles" which consists of Ziegfeld's death scene. ("I need more stairs...")
This was not at all what I had in mind when I was hoping for a soundtrack of this wonderful film. Pass this one by; if you get the urge to sing along with some of the songs, just pop in the movie instead."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1