Starring Jeanette MacDonald, Maurice Chevalier, Edward Everett Horton, and Una Merkel
Directed by Ernst Lubistch
Music by Franz Lehar; Lyrics by Lorenz Hart and Gus Kahn
MGM had tried to get a remake of the 1925 silent movie off the ground since sound came in. They first announced it in 1930 for Grace Moore, but then Moore left the studio after musicals fell out of fashion later that year. MacDonald had also been in the running in 1930; she got the part when she, Chevalier, and Lubistch all moved to MGM earlier in the year. This became MGM's most expensive movie since their original silent Ben-Hur, and their most expensive musical to date, literally costing over a million dollars in 1934. How well does all that translate to the story of a captain sent to romance a widow and keep her money in a small country? Let's begin with the arrival of Captain Danillo (Chevalier) and his men in the tiny European land of Marshovia and find out...
The Story: Sonia (MacDonald) is tired of mourning her late husband and decides to take a trip to Paris. King Achmed (George Barbier) is terrified she'll marry and take her money outside of the country. She owns more than half of Marshovia, including all of its banks. Achmed orders Danillo to court and marry Sonia and makes sure she doesn't take those millions out of the country.
He initially met her when he tried to woo her at her home, but she was still in mourning at the time. She calls herself something else when they meet again at Maxim's in Paris. It seems to go well...until she overhears Danillo talking to the ambassador of Marshovia Popoff (Horton) about the scheme. Now Marshovia may lose the money and Danillo may lose his life, unless this merry widow changes her mind about him.
The Song and Dance: The last of the four MacDonald-Chevalier-Lubitsch musicals is a sparkling delight, with a terrific supporting cast and lavish visuals. Lorenz Hart worked solo for the only time in his career to make sure the English-language lyrics were as witty as the Hungarian originals. Despite disliking each other by this point, MacDonald and Chevalier still manage to have quite a bit of fun as the lady of the title who decides she's tired of mourning and the playboy who has to romance her or else. George Barbier and Una Merkel also have some good bits as the king who worries about losing Sofia's millions and his ditzy wife who wishes he'd pay a little more attention to their time in bed and less to what some widow's doing.
Favorite Number: Our first glimpse of Danilo is the opening song, "Girls, Girls, Girls!", which has him leading the Marshovian Army and admitting they're more interested in their leave than in fighting anyone. Sonia claims "Tonight Will Teach Me to Forget" when she reads her diary and realizes she's done nothing but mourn since her husband died. "Villia" is her big number with the gypsies while standing on her balcony. Danilo gets his friend the Orderly Mishka (Sterling Holloway) to serenade her.
The big ones here - in every sense of the word - are "At Maxim's" and "The Merry Widow Waltz." The latter is a stylish but crowded treat, with scores of couples in white and black whirling down halls of mirrors, looking like thousands of waltzing lovers.
Trivia: This one also had a French language version with MacDonald and Chevalier in the leads.
The Merry Widow debuted in its native Vienna in 1902 and, though it started slow, later became a sensation that played around the world. It continues to appear in opera and light opera houses to this day.
What I Don't Like: First of all, not one of the American film versions adapted the original plot of the stage show. This one does come closer than the silent or 1952 films, but it eliminates a lot of subplots, including Danilo and Sonia having known each other before. Second, that re-written plot is pure piffle, and can get a little annoying towards the end. Did anyone in Marshovia consider the fact that Sonia went away for a vacation, not permanently, and never said anything about taking her money out of the country? No wonder she got angry when she realized what they were doing.
The Big Finale: This would be Chevalier and MacDonald's last film together and with Lubistch...and what a wonderful way to go out. Highly recommended for fans of the director, the leads, or operetta.
Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming, the former from the Warner Archives.
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