The Merry Widow

NR 7.2
1934 1 hr 39 min Comedy , Music , Romance

A prince from a small kingdom courts a wealthy widow to keep her money in the country.

  • Cast:
    Maurice Chevalier , Jeanette MacDonald , Edward Everett Horton , Una Merkel , George Barbier , Minna Gombell , Ruth Channing

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Reviews

Hellen
1934/11/02

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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Plantiana
1934/11/03

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

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Stevecorp
1934/11/04

Don't listen to the negative reviews

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Portia Hilton
1934/11/05

Blistering performances.

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chaos-rampant
1934/11/06

What a joy this is. I'm sure you have your list of things that you value in film. For me, it is emptiness, narrative asymmetry, layered structure, calligraphic camera meant in the Japanese context.. This has nothing of the sort, and as far as I'm concerned, still manages to be one of the great films of the decade.Nothing except for one thing: paradox. Is this what people refer to when they discuss Lubitsch as the Touch? It could be. I will not say anything about the plot, it's best you go in knowing nothing, it's pretty typical as it is. Basically, you have a man courting a woman three times, but the context and circumscribed situation of their meeting each time changes, and that changes how they know each other. It's a lot of fun, Chevalier and the lovely Jeanette Macdonald have great chemistry. The magic is all in how the bigger picture—the ornate embroidery—is shaped and directed by the continuous stitching of small surprise and paradox. There is all sorts of this, most of it played for laughs. But the core dramatic moments really shine, for instance they each deny having feelings for the other and in the next moment passionately dance together. Isn't this what amazes in life in those few moments when it is really worth the hype? It doesn't go according to script, but spontaneously flows out, bizarrely contradicts itself, a deeper self catches you unaware.By setting it up this way, Lubitsch achieves what only a handful of directors have managed; between obvious setup and paradoxical punchline, that instantaneous space is yours. In that momentarily empty space you deepen yourself by seeing/conciliating in your mind how disparate disharmony can make sense, and by deepening yourself you deepen the characters and world of the film. Lubitsch has set this up so that you stitch. Maybe I was after all wrong about what this film has for it that appeals to me. I will be seeing more from this man, he seems like a gentle, intelligent soul.

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Steffi_P
1934/11/07

In the early years of the sound era Paramount produced a number of Ruritanian musical comedies, innuendo-filled romances set in often-fictional European countries, heavily in the mould of turn-of-the-century operettas. Most of them starred Maurice Chevalier and/or Jeanette MacDonald, and most of them were directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The Merry Widow, made at MGM some time after the original wave of movies had hit their peak and tailed off, reunites the two stars and director in a musical that is actually based on a genuine turn-of-the-century operetta by Franz Lehár. Was this a perfect partnership or a dead horse being flogged? Although I'm not too familiar with the original operetta, it seems the biggest survivor from it is Lehár's music, which contains many a fine and vaguely familiar tune. The plot has been given a makeover by frequent Lubitsch screenwriters Ernest Vajda and Samson Raphaelson, that is very typical Vajda/Raphaelson material, a frothy comedy of errors that seems to take place in a land where adultery has the status of a national sport. There seems to have been a bit of simplification and truncation to make way for the musical numbers however. For example, we get the lengthy "Tonight Will Teach Me to Forget" and surrounding business telling us MacDonald is besotted with Chevalier, but their only scene together before that is not substantial enough to suggest such a spark has been struck. The English lyrics were written by the great Lorenz Hart, so it's a pity Jeanette MacDonald's voice is at its most indecipherably operatic.The Merry Widow finds Lubitsch at his most stylised and baroque, with lots of deeply layered shot compositions reminiscent of his old studio-mate Josef "von" Sternberg's work. His musical sensitivity is more pronounced than it was in his earlier musicals, for example a burst of strings timed to a door opening on Jeanette MacDonald, or a line of dancers viewed from above seeming to filter down the screen, probably more than anything a sign of the game being upped by Busby Berkely and the Astaire and Rogers musicals. As usual however Lubitsch's forte is his comedic sensibility. For The Merry Widow a lot of scenes key scenes are stolen by some comic diversion, such as a shocked Edward Everett Horton grabbing at the coffee pot while offscreen MacDonald and Chevalier are realising who each other are. It's funny stuff but it does blunt the romantic angle somewhat. And it's not as if Lubitsch couldn't balance soaring romance with vibrant comedy (see for example the brilliant 1932 piece Trouble in Paradise).Happily, Maurice Chevalier hasn't lost his touch. There aren't too many songs for him here, but his flair for comedy has not lost its edge. He is simply superb in the scene where he induces MacDonald and the king to pretend that the three of them are having some jolly conversation. MacDonald too is acting well, although I do just wish her vocals were a little clearer. As usual there is a fine crop of characters here. George Barbier is the best of the bunch, very much getting into the spirit of things in what is one of his most prominent parts. On the other hand Sterling Holloway is underused and the normally-excellent Edward Everett Horton doesn't seem quite his usual self.All in all, The Merry Widow is a pretty-looking but rather disappointing affair. It doesn't really recapture the old magic of The Love Parade or The Smiling Lieutenant. Nor does it, I suspect, do much justice to Franz Lehár. By now the movie musical had moved on and far better stuff was being done elsewhere. MGM knew how to make a finely crafted production (well-deserved honourable mention for Cedric Gibbons and Frank Hope's gorgeous art direction), but this one just doesn't have enough heart and soul behind it.

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Michael_Elliott
1934/11/08

Merry Widow, The (1934)*** (out of 4) MGM remake of their 1925 film about a small country who needs their biggest tax-payer, the widow Madame Sonia (Jeanette MacDonald) to return so the King (George Barbier) and Queen (Una Merkel) decide to have a playboy (Maurice Chevalier) try to prevent her from marrying anyone else and taking her money with her. Based on the famous opera, this has very little to do with the 1925 version and outside of the source material, the two films have very little in common. Whereas the 1925 version was rather dark and dramatic, this one here, with Lubitsch behind the camera, is all music, charm and comedy. I can't say that I was really bowled over by this film and I never really got caught up in the story but it was pleasant enough for a single viewing. I think what really keeps this film moving as much as it does is the style that Lubitsch brings to the project. There were several sequences where the comedy would go off the normal path and deliver something more over the top and these moments were certainly the most memorable. One example would be when Chevalier gets into a slapping match and when the two start hugging, the hugs are so fast and over the top that you can't help but smile. Another sequence deals with three people sitting in a room trying to pretend to be friendly by making up some fake dialogue to fool those who might be listening in. MacDonald is pretty good in her role even though I didn't care too much for her singing. Chevalier fits his part perfectly and the two have some nice chemistry even if they apparently hated working with one another. The set design is another major plus as is the cinematography. I do wish the story itself had grabbed me a bit more but it's still a pleasant little gem.

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theowinthrop
1934/11/09

Ernst Lubitsch directed some of the sweetest and funniest sex comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. He was fortunate enough to do three films with Maurice Chevalier and Jeannette MacDonald. They are all charming, but the last one may be the best. Here he took the best known operetta of Franz Lehar and turned it into a superb musical comedy, with new lyrics to tunes like "Maximes", "the Merry Widow Waltz", and "Girls, girls, girls, girls, girls" by Lorenz Hart. At the same time he maintained his marvelous sense of fun - something that may be very much missing from Eric Von Stroheim's earlier, silent film version (that became a study in Balkan politics).THE MERRY WIDOW was composed in 1905, shortly after a major scandal involving the nation of Montenegro. This land still exists, and (with Serbia) retains the now useless joint name of Yugoslavia - the Balkan state that once faced Italy and combined eight countries. Montenegro was a kingdom in 1905, and it's ruler had a Crown Prince named Danilo, who created major scandal by his doings in Paris. Lehar, a Viennese composer (and so, one who usually made fun of the Slavic states) took the story and the name of the Crown Prince, retaining the setting in the embassy in Paris. In Lehar's operetta, the homeland of Pontrevekkio (note how it sounds like Montenegro) is on the verge of bankruptcy, unless the richest widow in the country (Sonia) marries a citizen of the state. She is being pursued by eligible Frenchmen in Paris, so the Pontrevekkian embassy decides to have Count Danillo, a member of the staff there, romance and marry her. The complications that ensue are amusing. Lehar's music is not as waltz oriented on the whole as Johann Strauss II, except for the famous "Merry Widow" number. Most of the tunes have more of a Parisian flair, and one ("Vilia") has a lovely haunting effect. It remains his most popular operetta, although he was to do "THE COUNT OF LUXEMBURG" and "THE LAND OF SMILES" as well.Montenegro did complain (like the Japanese complained about Gilbert and Sullivan's THE MIKADO). The major change in the book nowadays is the name is usually not Pontrevekkio, but Marshovia. When Von Stroheim did his silent version, he concentrated on the Balkan politics involving the Crown Prince, his "cousin" Prince Danillo, Sonia, her rich, insane husband, and the throne. The cast in that had been quite stunning for a 1925 movie, with John Gilbert as Danillo, Roy D'Arcy as the grinning, sadistic Crown Prince, Mae Marsh as Sonia, and Tully Marshall as the sexually mad Baron who weds Sonia (and suffers a stroke on their wedding night). Full of sexual ideas (Marshall has such a foot fetish that he dies having his nose in Marsh's pumps), the highpoint was the waltz, wherein Gilbert and Marsh realize their love to Lehar's strains (the music at that point of the silent version was always the Lehar "Merry Widow" Waltz). It remains a masterpiece of silent cinema (and another proof of Von Stroheim's peculiar genius), but it is not a light hearted as the operetta it was based on.Lubitsch is different. He has fun showing what little Marshovia is like, with sheep and goats appearing all over the streets and in the public buildings. The King (George Barbier) is aware that his wife (Una Merkle) is less than satisfied with him, and has a famous "freudian" moment when he returns without warning to get his ceremonial sword, grabs one, and finds he can't get the belt around his girth. He returns to his antechamber, and confronts Lt. Danillo with his wife. King Achmet is upset, but his solution - he'll cover up the scandal but sends Danillo to Paris.There are many good moments: Danillo's trial for treason is one. So is Ambassador Popoff (Edward Everett Horton) having his aide (Herman Bing) translate a coded message from King Achmet, which basically calls him a blockhead. And, yes, the film chemistry between Maurice and Jeannette is retained, as in their three other movies. But they could not have made more films together. Nolan disliked Chevalier - he had a habit of pinching her. Chevalier thought she was a hypocrite, because (at the time) she was having an affair with Gene Raymond (whom she eventually married). When she was teamed with Nelson Eddy, she and Eddy happened to be quite close friends, which is why their total film output together is eight films.I notice that Clark Gable had some kind of cameo appearance here (it is not in the billing). Two years later he and Jeanette would appear together in SAN FRANCISCO.

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