The Merry Widow (1934)
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch

Film Review

This version of The Merry Widow - based on the popular Franz Lehar operetta and directed by the great Ernst Lubitsch - was the second of three made by MGM film studios.   The first was Erich von Stroheim's 1927 silent classic, and the third was directed by Curtis Bernhardt in 1952.  Arguably the greatest of the Hollywood operettas, this version of The Merry Widow is a sumptuous, rollicking mélange of musical and comedy-romance which has lost none of its appeal and which deserves its status as a timeless classic.

With its opulent Oscar-winning set design, lustrous black-and-white photography and extravagant costumes, this was one of the most lavish Hollywood productions of the 1930s, as the famous ballroom sequence (featuring hundreds of extras) amply demonstrates.  Whilst the film won favourable reviews in America, it failed to turn a profit, mainly because its international distribution was arrested by the onset of war in Europe.

French chansonnier Maurice Chevalier stars along side Jeanette MacDonald, one of the most popular American actresses of her day, and, in spite of the fact they reputedly hated each other, they make an enchanting screen couple.  There are also some great contributions from the supporting cast - George Barbier and Edward Everett Horton are hilarious as the King and his long-suffering Ambassador.  Lubitsch also made a parallel French version of the film La Veuve joyeuse, with Chevalier and MacDonald again taking the lead roles.

The two joys of this film are its delightful musical numbers, which come from the Viennese waltz tradition, and its relentless, quick-fire comedy.  Ernst Lubitsch's style of comedy is instantly recognisable, a mix of visual humour and witty dialogue which is never contrived or fatuous but always seems to hit the mark.  The line about Madame Sonia being in 52 per cent of Marshovia's cows is one of the most memorable in American cinema, and there are plenty more of this calibre.  Lubitsch's The Merry Widow is the ultimate feel-good movie, a film that is beautifully crafted, artistically rich and thoroughly entertaining.

Film Synopsis

Madame Sonia is not only the wealthiest person in the remote East European country of Marshovia, she is also the most beautiful.  After a year spent mourning the death of her husband, she decides on a change of scene and heads for Paris.  Realising that the widow's fortune is bankrolling his country, the King of Marshovia is thrown into a panic.  He engages an officer in his regiment, Danilo, to find Sonia and make her fall in love with him, thereby ensuring she returns to Marshovia.  In Paris, Danilo is playing the grand seducer at Maxim's when he meets a strange young woman, Fifi, who is none other than Sonia.  For both Danilo and Sonia, it's love at first sight.  Unfortunately, the Marshovian ambassador is too hasty in announcing their marriage and, discovering Danilo's mission, Sonia rejects the amorous count.  Having failed, Danilo must return to his country to face a court marshal…