The Things We Do For Our Country...
Today's review: The Merry Widow.
I’d heard of The Merry Widow before, but it took quite a while for me to realize that among other things, it was a movie by Ernst Lubitsch. When I found that out, I immediately put it on my “to watch” list, because Lubitsch’s early comedies are generally worth seeing. Ultimately, I don’t think it’s as entertaining as something like The Love Parade, but it’s still pretty fun.
The story takes place in the fictional country of Marshovia, where it turns out the widow Sonia (Jeanette MacDonald) is pretty much single-handedly keeping the country afloat through her wealth. After nearly a year of being widowed, Count Danilo (Maurice Chevalier), who’s also quite a womanizer, attempts to woo her. While she rebuffs him, he awakens feelings of passion in her, so she decides to go to Paris in order to have a little fun. Unfortunately, her wealth attracts a lot of foreign suitors, and if her money leaves the country, Marshovia is doomed. Unaware of their previous encounter, the King (George Barbier) sends Danilo to Paris to court and marry her, keeping the money and the country safe. You can probably guess some of the mishaps that occur from that point on…
As I said in the introductory paragraph, I didn’t find this movie quite as good as other Lubitsch/Chevalier films, and I’m not wholly sure why. Part of it may be that it relies heavily on mistaken identities and big misunderstandings, neither of which I’m overly fond of. It may also be that pretty much everything in the movie happens over a matter of weeks-the bulk of the plot takes place over two days-which means the romance feels rushed and unbelievable, despite the best efforts of the script, Chevalier, and MacDonald to put it over. It’s also lacking most of that roguish, naughty air that made the other movies so delightful, though the Hays Code was starting to really take off at this time, so at least there’s an outside force for that one.* Whatever the cause or combination of causes, there were long stretches where I was kind of indifferent to the movie.
That being said, there are definitely bright spots. Chevalier’s charm hasn’t changed much, and the joke that his character is a womanizer is used to fine effect on several occasions. Some of the dance numbers are nicely choreographed; they always seem right on the cusp of turning into a Busby Berkeley routine, which is admittedly a blessing and a curse. The sets and costumes are exactly the sort of period piece opulence I love, though even I’ll admit that sometimes they’re too much of a muchness, especially where Sonia’s wardrobe is concerned. Mostly, though, I appreciate the creative or clever moments. Sometimes these are used for humor purposes, like the montage of Sonia’s wardrobe change or the climax, and sometimes they’re just clever in general, like using a diary to show us Sonia’s state of mind or the fact that the big misunderstanding has been set up in such a way that for once, the two characters actually talking it out won’t work. Overall, I’d say the strong points outweigh the weak ones…it’s just that they’re kind of unevenly distributed.
Even if it’s not Lubitsch’s best work, this is probably still worth watching. It’s got plenty of charm and old Hollywood feel to keep you engaged and hopefully entertained. And if it’s your first Lubitsch picture, maybe it’ll inspire you to check out his other movies, which would very much be all to the good.
*After writing this, I discovered that while the Code did force them to make changes, they wound up making changes to the prints but not the negatives, so the version I saw was the version Lubitsch intended to make. Now I don’t know what to think.
I’d heard of The Merry Widow before, but it took quite a while for me to realize that among other things, it was a movie by Ernst Lubitsch. When I found that out, I immediately put it on my “to watch” list, because Lubitsch’s early comedies are generally worth seeing. Ultimately, I don’t think it’s as entertaining as something like The Love Parade, but it’s still pretty fun.
The story takes place in the fictional country of Marshovia, where it turns out the widow Sonia (Jeanette MacDonald) is pretty much single-handedly keeping the country afloat through her wealth. After nearly a year of being widowed, Count Danilo (Maurice Chevalier), who’s also quite a womanizer, attempts to woo her. While she rebuffs him, he awakens feelings of passion in her, so she decides to go to Paris in order to have a little fun. Unfortunately, her wealth attracts a lot of foreign suitors, and if her money leaves the country, Marshovia is doomed. Unaware of their previous encounter, the King (George Barbier) sends Danilo to Paris to court and marry her, keeping the money and the country safe. You can probably guess some of the mishaps that occur from that point on…
As I said in the introductory paragraph, I didn’t find this movie quite as good as other Lubitsch/Chevalier films, and I’m not wholly sure why. Part of it may be that it relies heavily on mistaken identities and big misunderstandings, neither of which I’m overly fond of. It may also be that pretty much everything in the movie happens over a matter of weeks-the bulk of the plot takes place over two days-which means the romance feels rushed and unbelievable, despite the best efforts of the script, Chevalier, and MacDonald to put it over. It’s also lacking most of that roguish, naughty air that made the other movies so delightful, though the Hays Code was starting to really take off at this time, so at least there’s an outside force for that one.* Whatever the cause or combination of causes, there were long stretches where I was kind of indifferent to the movie.
That being said, there are definitely bright spots. Chevalier’s charm hasn’t changed much, and the joke that his character is a womanizer is used to fine effect on several occasions. Some of the dance numbers are nicely choreographed; they always seem right on the cusp of turning into a Busby Berkeley routine, which is admittedly a blessing and a curse. The sets and costumes are exactly the sort of period piece opulence I love, though even I’ll admit that sometimes they’re too much of a muchness, especially where Sonia’s wardrobe is concerned. Mostly, though, I appreciate the creative or clever moments. Sometimes these are used for humor purposes, like the montage of Sonia’s wardrobe change or the climax, and sometimes they’re just clever in general, like using a diary to show us Sonia’s state of mind or the fact that the big misunderstanding has been set up in such a way that for once, the two characters actually talking it out won’t work. Overall, I’d say the strong points outweigh the weak ones…it’s just that they’re kind of unevenly distributed.
Even if it’s not Lubitsch’s best work, this is probably still worth watching. It’s got plenty of charm and old Hollywood feel to keep you engaged and hopefully entertained. And if it’s your first Lubitsch picture, maybe it’ll inspire you to check out his other movies, which would very much be all to the good.
*After writing this, I discovered that while the Code did force them to make changes, they wound up making changes to the prints but not the negatives, so the version I saw was the version Lubitsch intended to make. Now I don’t know what to think.