Ziegfeld Follies • 1946 • Movie Title

Here’s the title card I’ve designed, lettered, and illustrated for the next film in Judy Garland’s filmography, “Ziegfeld Follies,” where legendary impresario Florenz Ziegfeld envisions a new edition of his Follies, from an elegant Heavenly perch, populated by MGM’s leading talent, including Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice (the only member of the ensemble who was a star of the original Follies), Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, James Melton, Victor Moore, William Powell, Red Skelton, and Esther Williams.

Garland’s famous scene, “The Great Lady Has an Interview,” was written by Kay Thompson (originally for dramatic actress Greer Garson) and spoofs a movie star who can only be cast in Oscar winning dramas, but wants to play “sexy” roles giving an interview to dancing reporters about “her next picture”: a bio-pic of Madame Cremantante (the “inventor of the safety pin”). The scene was directed by her then-boyfriend and future-husband Vincente Minnelli.

See a larger version as well as the work-in-progress poster on my site: www.raphaelgeroni.com/the-films-of-judy-garland

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