The Merry Widow (film)
"The Merry Widow" is a film adaptation of Franz Lehár's celebrated 1905 operetta "Die lustige Witwe." The story revolves around the wealthy widow Sonia, who becomes the object of desire for Count Danilo in the fictional European country of Marshovia. The narrative unfolds against a backdrop of romance, comedy, and royal intrigue, highlighting the dynamics of wealth and love. The most recognized film version was released in 1934, featuring Jeanette MacDonald as Sonia and Maurice Chevalier as Count Danilo. This musical film was notable for its vibrant production and catchy melodies, including the iconic "Merry Widow Waltz."
Previous adaptations include silent versions from 1912 and 1925, the latter directed by Eric von Stroheim and starring prominent actors of the era. While a 1952 remake with Lana Turner did not achieve the same acclaim, the 1934 production is often celebrated for its charm and artistic flair, encapsulated by the "Lubitsch touch" of director Ernst Lubitsch. Set in an idealized pre-World War I era, "The Merry Widow" provides an escape into a world of elegance and joy, resonating with audiences during the challenging times of the Great Depression. The film’s enduring legacy underscores its role in popularizing operetta adaptations in cinema.
On this Page
The Merry Widow (film)
Identification Musical film
Director Ernst Lubitsch
Date Released on November 2, 1934
During the economically bleak 1930’s, the Depression-era audiences sought escape into films portraying an imaginarily lavish world populated by glamorous characters. The Merry Widow met this need perfectly. The story dealt with the romance between a beautiful, wealthy widow and a charming philanderer and was set in a tiny, fictional Balkan state near the close of the nineteenth century.
Franz Lehár’s operetta Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), with a libretto by Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, was a great success upon its appearance in 1905 and has remained so into the twenty-first century. The Merry Widow has been adapted as a motion picture on four occasions. The first was a silent two-reeler in 1912. The second silent version was released in 1925 and featured several fabled Hollywood names. Eric von Stroheim, known for the expensive opulence of his films, directed. The principal roles were played by Mae Murray and John Gilbert, the foremost romantic leading man of the 1920’s. Lacking music, these earliest adaptations relied upon the entertainment value of the comic premise and plot.
The 1934 musical version (also released under the title The Lady Dances) features Maurice Chevalier as Count Danilo and Jeanette MacDonald as Sonia, the rich widow. The picture was filmed simultaneously in French under the title La veuve joyeuse for the European market. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) had planned a sound version for 1930, but legal complications with Stroheim and his coauthor delayed production for several years. Critical consensus holds that a 1952 remake with Lana Turner and Fernando Lamas playing the leads, though shot in color, failed to measure up to the 1934 film.
The plot is simple and appealing. The widow Sonia represents most of the wealth of Marshovia, a tiny, backward, and otherwise impoverished European country, where sheep and cows impede the marching of the Marshovian army and where the king measures public opinion by the comments of the shepherd in the street. Count Danilo, who has apparently romanced every young woman in Marshovia—including the queen—is fascinated by Sonia but has never seen the face behind her widow’s veil. Sonia is attracted to Danilo, despite his reputation, and to flee this troubling emotion she travels to Paris. King Achmed fears that she will not return, thus bankrupting the kingdom and costing him his crown. He sends Danilo to effect her return by wooing and marrying her.
The two subsequently meet at Maxim’s, the capital of Parisian night life. Sonia assumes the guise of Fifi, one of the bar girls, all of whom have been Danilo’s lovers in the past. Fifi and Danilo fall in love, prompting him to defy the royal command to marry the widow. At a grand ball at the Marshovian embassy, beautifully choreographed and photographed, Danilo learns Fifi’s true identity, and she learns of Danilo’s mission. Assuming that his interest in her is purely pecuniary, she rejects him. He is arrested on charges of treason, meaning failure. At his Marshovian trial, he pleads guilty to the foolhardiness of falling in love with just one woman in a world full of women. Sonia visits Danilo in prison and, assisted by the manipulation of Achmed and Ambassador Popoff, played by veteran character actors George Barbier and Edward Everett Horton, the lovers reconcile, marry, and kiss at the fade-out.
The term the “Lubitsch touch” is a tribute to the director’s mastery of the witty, light-comedy genre. MacDonald had been a supporting actress at Paramount Studios; The Merry Widow established her as the star of MGM’s 1930’s musicals. She was frequently teamed with tenor Nelson Eddy. Several other familiar faces from the period appear in minor roles. Lane Chandler, a cowboy star of the 1920’s and early 1930’s, plays a Marshovian soldier. Akim Tamiroff, at an early point in his four-decades-long career, plays the manager of Maxim’s in the English-language version and a Turk in the French. Among the popular melodies in the film are “Girls, Girls, Girls” and “I’m Going to Maxim’s,” sung by Chevalier, and “Vilia,” “Tonight Will Teach Me to Forget,” and the lilting signature number, “the Merry Widow Waltz,” sung by MacDonald.
Impact
The Merry Widow is set in 1885, during an idealized era of peace, plenty, and gaiety before World War I and the Great Depression. It rejected the drabness of the 1930’s by offering an artistic escape for Depression-era audiences.
Bibliography
Paul, William. Ernst Lubitsch’s American Comedy. New York: Columbia University Press, 1983.
Powrie, Phil, and Robynn Stilwell, eds. Changing Tunes: The Use of Pre-existing Music in Film. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2006.
Thomas, Lawrence B. The MGM Years. New York: Columbia House, 1971.