Congress Dances

"Der Kongreß tanzt" is hugely entertaining despite its weak plot and mostly non-descript acting. That is mainly due to the lavish sets and the score. But let's begin with the beginning. The plot concerns Viennese glove maker Christel (Lilian Harvey), who meets Czar Alexander I (Willy Fritsch) on occasion of the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15. Christel and Alexander fall in love, and complications ensue (in part because the czar has brought a double, also played by Fritsch) that end only with Napoleon's return from Elba. All this is closely followed by the Austrian chancellor Metternich (Conrad Veidt), who is busy turning the country into a police- and surveillance-state and intends to distract the czar from taking an active role in the congress. Harvey is charming; Fritsch has nothing more to do than look good, and Veidt does well as scheming politician. The sets and costumes are stunning (imagine this in technicolor!), allowing German audiences in 1931 to indulge in their passion for uniforms and the monarchy. But as mentioned above, what makes this film special is the music. There are some tunes that are so catchy that they are popular to this day: I never realised that 'Das gibt's nur einmal' was from this film before watching it last night. The whole scene, where Christel sings this song while riding the carriage out of Vienna into the countryside is utterly enchanting. To summarise: In part this film is obviously fluff intended to distract the viewers from the Great Depression. However, as such, its quality is outstanding. 'Der Kongreß tanzt' works brilliantly.