will go broke again!
Anna, you're jealous.
-No, Flo!
-Yes.
Don't say that, no, no, no!
I hate jealous people,
and I don't know what's....
I'm angry, and I wish you would go.
Please, please.
Please go. Go! Go!
Marie!
Marie.
Flo.
-Good morning, Mr. Billings.
-Good morning, Miss Drake. Messages?
Nothing important, except Mr. Erlanger
wants to see you today.
Mr. Ziegfeld is in your office.
Well, why in my office
instead of out here?
I thought he'd be more
comfortable in there.
Well, I-- Oh yes, I see.
To what do I owe the honor
of this visit, Mr. Ziegfeld?
Mr. Billings, if you've ever had it in for me,
you've certainly avenged yourself.
This is positively the worst cigar I've ever
smoked in my life. How are you, Jack?
-All right. How are you?
-Never better. Sit, won't you?
Thank you. Nice of you.
I'm here to do you a great favor.
I'm sorry, I can't take advantage of it.
I'm broke.
That's why I'm hooked up
with Erlanger.
Oh, well, that's fine for me.
He's just the man I need.
Jack, I want to do a new show,
a big show.
I'm willing to split it 50-50 with Erlanger,
and all he has to do is put up the money...
-...and furnish the theaters.
-Oh, that's all?
That's all.
Of course, you'd furnish the star.
Oh, this isn't for Anna.
Anna's show is all set.
No, in this one...
-...I want to star the girls.
-Don't be ridiculous.
Without personalities,
you haven't got a chance.
I'll have personalities, all right,
Iots of them.
But they'll mostly be
blonds and brunettes.
What are you going to call this opera?
I'm going to call it
the Ziegfeld Follies.
Follies. Follies, all right.
What's the matter?
That's a good title.
What's so unusual about a girl show?
We've got plenty now.
I don't mean that kind.
They're way out-of-date.
You're using the same scenery you used
20 years ago, wood wings and flats.
I want to do a show with silk drapes,
with lace, with beautiful girls.
I won't dress them
for the men in the front...
...but for the women in the back.
I want to surround them with
glamour, glitter. Glorify them.
Say....
There's a good word, Jack. "Glorify."
Sounds all right
if you know what it means.
It'll look all right too.
"Glorifying the American Girl."
Where you gonna find
these beautiful girls?
I'll take them from homes,
from stores, from shops--
From offices.
I beg your pardon.
Mr. Erlanger would like to see you now.
Oh, all right.
-Yes, well, that'll do, Miss Drake.
-Yes, sir.
Now, listen, Ziggy, not her.
She's the best stenographer I ever had.
-All right, Jack.
-Here, here.
-You will buzz the little giant?
-I'll tell him...
-...but I doubt he'll be interested.
-He's missing a great opportunity.
Yes, I know.
But, well, I'll drop you a line about it.
Perhaps tomorrow.
Wire me, will you?
Well, if you'd rather hear
the sad news sooner, I'll wire.
Yes.
What's that? They won't give us
our share of the profits?
All right! Open him in Boston...
...jump him to New Orleans,
and then on to Frisco.
Funny thing, Billings.
You just can't be nice to some people.
Yes, that's what I was thinking.
Ziegfeld was just here.
What did he want?
Remember when he stole Anna Held
right from under my nose?
Then, so I couldn't get her back,
he married her and made enough to retire.
Now he comes back, broke again...
...asking me to ask you for the money
to put on a new show!
Well, that's nerve.
What do you want me to do?
Give him the money.
-Cantor and Will Rogers!
-$50 a pair!
-Best show in town!
-Tickets, boys? And gentlemen?
Standing room only.
Come on, girls, come on, come on!
Get up those steps! Come on!
You realize this is opening night?
You take that brace and put it down here!
What is it?
I've only got two minutes.
You ready to go in with those steps?
I've built so many steps for Ziegfeld,
they go in by themselves.
-What follows this number?
-The--
I know, Greg Williams.
Have the finale costumes arrived?
Mr.