Joseph Meyer Movies

In MGM's three-hour-plus The Great Ziegfeld, William Powell stars as the titular theatrical impresario, whose show business empire begins when he stage-manages a tour for legendary strongman Sandow (Nat Pendleton). With nary a penny in the bank, he charms European stage star Anna Held (Luise Rainer) to headline his "Follies", and later marries the luscious Ms. Held. From 1907 onward, Ziegfeld stages annual editions of Broadway's most fabulous revue, dedicated to "Glorifying the American Girl" but also giving ample time to develop the comic talents of Fanny Brice (played by herself), Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor and many others. Eventually, Ziegfeld abandons Ms. Held in favor of other beauties, setting the stage for the "telephone scene" which won Luise Rainer the first of her Oscars. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Buster Keaton's second starring talkie finds him cast as wealthy, pampered Elmer, who heads down to the local employment office to hire a new chauffeur. Elmer isn't aware that the office has been converted into a World War I recruiting center, and before he knows it, he's in an ill-fitting uniform, enduring the verbal cannonades of sergeant Ed Brophy. The film's plot is based in part on Keaton's own wartime experiences, notably the bit in which he marches the wrong way and is trammeled by his fellow soldiers. Though Buster Keaton considered Doughboys the best of his MGM talkies, the film seems today to be one of his worst efforts, helped not at all by the excruciating performance of Ed Brophy. The best sequence is the camp show, with Buster cavorting in drag and performing a ukulele duet with Cliff Edwards. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The disastrous 1929 Stock Market crash was still several months in the future when Wolf of Wall Street made its screen debut. George Bancroft stars as ruthless stock manipulator Jim Bradford, who plays his customers for suckers and laughs all the way to the bank. Cornering the copper market at the expense of his hated rival David Tyler (Paul Lukas), Bradford taunts Tyler in public, prompting the latter to plan a sweet revenge. Tyler inaugurates an affair with Bradford's status-seeking wife Olga (Olga Baclanova), which indiscretion is witnessed by the Bradford's maid Gert (Nancy Carroll). Armed with plenty of "inside information," Gert decides to get on the Wall Street gravy train by talking her boyfriend Frank (Arthur Rankin) into investing in copper futures. Alas, things don't go as planned, and soon the impoverished Frank is embezzling from his boss to cover his losses. When Frank is thrown in jail, Gert confronts Bradford, blaming him for Frank's plight. Bradford laughs in her face, whereupon Gert angrily spills the beans about Olga and Tyler. Instead of buying a gun, Bradford handles his wife's infidelity in characteristic fashion by financially ruining Olga, Tyler, and himself. This last bit of stock manipulation has the salutary effect of making Gert and Frank millionaires, which pleases the inscrutable Bradford, who now has ample reason to laugh at himself. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi