The Merry Widow (1934)

The Merry Widow
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Written by Ernest Vajda and Samuel Raphaelson based on an operetta by Victor Leon and Leo Stein
1934/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Sonia: There’s a limit to every widow.[/box]

Nothing like setting the Lubitsch touch to beautiful music.

Sonia (Jeanette MacDonald) is a young widow, the wealthiest woman in Europe, and owns 52% of the Kingdom of Marshovia.  She has been in strict mourning for about a year. Roué Capt. Danilo (Maurice Chevalier) has been trying hard to get her to raise her veil for him, presumably because she is the only woman in Marshovia who hasn’t said yes to him yet. Sonia rejects his advances but secretly they stir something in her that causes her to cast off her widow’s weeds and travel to Paris looking for love.

Disaster would strike if Sonia were to take her money out of Marshovia.  So Capt. Danilo is dispatched to marry her and bring her home.  He has never seen Sonia’s face.  The mission is not announced to him before he is welcomed back to Maxim’s where he is greeted by hordes of enthusiastic former conquests.  Sonia is there and passes herself off as Fifi.  Danilo is enchanted and they flirt wildly but Sonia is looking for more than a fling. The bumpy road to the happy ending is all part of the fun.  With Edward Everett Horton as the Marshovian Ambassador and Una Merkle as the Queen of Marshovia.

I had seen this years ago and had very fond memories of it.  I was very glad to catch up with it again.  This is everything a Lubitsch picture should be – naughty, playful, inventive and fun.  Like the fizz on champagne!  Jeanette MacDonald shows that when paired with someone like Chevalier she was an accomplished comedienne and a very sexy lady. Highly recommended.

The Merry Widow won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration.

Clip – The Merry Widow Waltz