Too long. The shows are mediocre - and so is the rest.

Entertaining in large part thanks to Powell's limitless charisma, but its length makes it a case of diminishing returns, especially since the musical numbers don't really stand out.

a generally unfocused portrait of an facinating and loveable man; suplemented by lavish, arbitrary, and lengthy stage shows. the entire movie is fairly well acted and scripted, but not quite cohesive and streamlined as one would have wanted. william powell does an expert's job as does nat pendleton as sandow--even if he has minimal screen time.

It seems to me to be the first example of pompous Oscar-bait, replete with an overture and exit music, interminable production numbers, and a desire to be all things to all people. The screenplay is incredibly lazy and cliched; there's even a scene where Ziegfeld, in the 1920s, chortles that he's made a lot of money buying stocks on the margin. No sooner has he said this than the phone rings and, whaddaya know, the market has crashed! Also, I wanted to punch Frank Morgan every time he laughed.