The Great Waltz (1938)

In 1845 Vienna, Johann Strauss II - Schani to his friends - would rather write and perform waltzes than anything else, this at a time when a waltz is not considered proper society music. ... See full summary »

Directors:

Julien Duvivier, Victor Fleming (uncredited)

Writers:

Gottfried Reinhardt (original story), Samuel Hoffenstein (screen play)

Stars:

Luise Rainer, Fernand Gravey, Miliza Korjus

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luise Rainer	...	Poldi Vogelhuber
Fernand Gravey	...	Johann Strauss (as Fernand Gravet)
Miliza Korjus	...	Carla Donner
Hugh Herbert	...	Hofbauer
Lionel Atwill	...	Count Hohenfried
Curt Bois	...	Kienzl
Leonid Kinskey	...	Dudelman
Al Shean	...	Cellist
Minna Gombell	...	Mrs. Hofbauer
George Houston	...	Schiller
Bert Roach	...	Vogelhuber
Greta Meyer	...	Mrs. Vogelhuber
Herman Bing	...	Dommayer
Alma Kruger	...	Mrs. Strauss
Henry Hull	...	Franz Josef

Storyline

In 1845 Vienna, Johann Strauss II - Schani to his friends - would rather write and perform waltzes than anything else, this at a time when a waltz is not considered proper society music. After he is fired from his clerical bank job because of his preoccupation with composing, he decides to follow his passion and form an orchestra. After some famed opera singers, including Carla Donner, hear his music, they expose Schani's music to the masses, to royalty and to music publisher Julius Hofbauer. As such, Schani becomes the toast of Vienna. With his new found musical fame, Schani's life, which includes his work in the European Revolutions, changes. He becomes torn for his love for his loving and faithful wife Poldi Vogelhuber and his more emotionally passionate but somewhat destructive love for Carla Donner, who herself is involved with Count Anton Hohenfried.

---

Plot Keywords:

dysfunctional marriage | romantic rivalry | blue danube waltz | music publisher | opera singer | 

---

Taglines:

Your beating heart,your pounding pulse will tell you it's the most exciting musical love story ever told!

---

Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music | Musical | Romance

---

Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Miliza Korjus.

---

Quotes

Julius Hofbauer, Music Publisher: Mark my words, young man, if it hasn't got the imprint of Hofbauer, it isn't even music.

---

Connections

Referenced in Lights, Camera, Action!: A Century of the Cinema: What Price Hollywood? (1996)

---

Soundtracks

I'm in Love with Vienna
(uncredited)
Music by Johann Strauss
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Sung and danced to by patrons of Dommayer's
Reprised at the end

User Reviews

Great Music providing Fine Entertainmant

Before I started these comments, I first read many of the others made by a wide range of people - I was amazed to find that some were reading far too much into the storyline,( which everyone who has seen the movie knows it is pure hokum) or belittling the film for its treatment of the life of Johann Strauss. Why not go and see it, and enjoy the sheer entertainment of the Music, the acting of Luise Rainer, the voice of Miliza Korjus (who will ever forget her rendition of "One Day When We Were Young" - who cares if Strauss did or did not write it!), So "The Tales from the Vienna Woods" was written overnight - does it matter that free licence was taken, surely the name of the game is to entertain, and this film does that. Hugh Herbert and Lionel Atwill add fun and spice to one of the more entertaining musicals of the 1930's.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Life of Johann Strauss

Filming Locations:

Chino, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1