Waltzes from Vienna (1934)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Film Review

Waltzes from Vienna is an often overlooked film in the oeuvre of Alfred Hitchcock, the director's one and only attempt at a musical comedy.  Hitchcock was dismissive of the film: he loathed making it and would later describe it as the low point of his career.  The only reason he made the film was because his options were limited after the disappointing public reaction to his previous two films - Rich and Strange (1931) and Number Seventeen (1932).

Whilst it certainly isn't classic Hitchcock, Waltzes from Vienna is not without charm and does show something of the master's flair for comedy and interesting camerawork.  This just about makes up for the lacklustre performances and mediocre script.  The only notable performance is that of Edmund Gwenn, who plays Johann Strauss the Elder; the actor had previously featured in Hitchcock's The Skin Game (1931).  The rest of the cast look as if they are performing an end of term review at a frightfully upper class public school, with accents that could slice bread at a distance of fifty paces.

Film Synopsis

Johann Strauss the Younger imagines that one day he will be a great composer like his father, but he gets no encouragement and has to content himself with playing the second violin in his father's orchestra.  When the young Johann is given his chance to perform a piece he has composed, his father ridicules him to the extent that the humiliated young man leaves his orchestra in a fit of pique.  Johann is far from ready to give up his musical ambitions yet.  He has already been offered a commission by the Countess Helga von Stahl to set one of poems to music.  His next meeting with his sweetheart Resi is less encouraging.  Her father will only give his content to her marrying him if he agrees to give up music and take over the running of a bakery.  As he begins his work on the Countess's commission Johann is inspired to compose a waltz about the River Danube - a piece that will earn him instant fame and allow him to fulfil his dream of following in his father's footsteps...