185. Goldwyn Follies 1938
- Music
George Gershwin. Lyrics by Ira Gershwin. Ballet music and additional songs by Vernon Duke (WATER NYMPH BALLET orchestrated by Ray Golden and Sid Kuller)
- Choreography
George Balanchine. Tap Consultant: Sammy Lee
- Production
United Artists. Produced by Samuel Goldwyn. Associate Producer: George Haight. Directed by George Marshall. Screenplay by Ben Hecht. Cinematography by Gregg Toland. Film editing by Sherman Todd. Art direction by Richard Day. Costume design by Omar Kaim.
- Cast
Adolphe Menjou, Ritz Brothers, Vera Zorina, Kenny Baker, Andrea Leeds, Helen Jepson, Phil Baker, Ella Logan, Bobby Clark, Jerome Cowan, Edgar Bergen and ‘Charlie McCarthy,’ and others.
ROMEO AND JULIET BALLET: Zorina, William Dollar, corps de ballet.
WATER NYMPH BALLET: Zorina, Dollar, corps de ballet.
Balanchine also ‘helped’ with Ritz Brothers’ sequences when Zorina was involved.
Performance Type
Film
Note
Balanchine directed the filming of the choreography for his first Hollywood work. The corps de ballet was composed of members of the American Ballet. In the ROMEO AND JULIET BALLET, the Montagues (ballet dancers) and the Capulets (tap dancers) engage in a mock duel. In the WATER NYMPH BALLET, Zorina rises out of a pool; this dance was later the model for the dance of the hippos and ostriches (to the DANCE OF THE HOURS from La Gioconda) in Walt Disney’s film Fantasia (RKO Radio, 1940). Balanchine also created a ballet to Gershwin’s An American in Paris, which Goldwyn rejected. A cinematographer’s diary of the rehearsals for this number survives, as does a score in edited form, presumably by Balanchine.
Recorded Performances
Videos/DVD
2000, MGM/UA
Film
Released 1938
Balanchine, Beth Genné, Frank Ries
