In 1937 , at the 9th Academy Awards , the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film , '' The Great Ziegfeld '' produced the previous year won the Best Picture ( called " Outstanding Production " ) , starring William Powell as Florenz Ziegfeld , Jr. and co-starring Myrna Loy ( as Ziegfeld 's second wife Billie Burke ) , Luise Rainer ( as Anna Held , which won her an Academy Award for Best Actress ) , and Frank Morgan as Jack Billings . Featuring numbers by Ray Bolger , Dennis Morgan , Virginia Bruce , and Harriet Hoctor , the film gave a glimpse into what the Follies were really like . The show-stopper was the Irving Berlin-composed " A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody " , which , by itself , cost more to produce than one of Ziegfeld 's entire stage shows
9th Academy Awards
9th Academy Awards
Ziegfeld Follies