Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame

It's nice to see others who are also quite fond of The Emperor Waltz. The film mayn't be a personal favourite or a masterpiece, and there has been better from all involved- for example it is one of Billy Wilder's weakest films that I've seen but that is not knocking it at all, just that his best films are some of the best ever made- but The Emperor Waltz is still a lovely and very enjoyable film. Yes the story is incredibly silly and at its worst disposable and Bing Crosby has moments where he does overact. The Emperor Waltz does look absolutely gorgeous, the clothes and scenery coupled with the colourful cinematography really do make for a visual feast. The music is both lush and characterful, and there are songs also that are really catchy and pleasant to listen to. The choreography in the ballet sequence is wonderfully nimble as well as deliciously witty, it also doesn't go on for too long or bog the film down. The script at its best is uproariously funny with Wilder's style definitely coming through, helped by the great comic delivery, and there is also room for some genuinely sweet moments without falling into schmaltz as well as some biting but often gentle cynicism with the portrayal of the Austrian court while keeping in good taste still. Wilder directs with a sure hand, if not at his best and in the performances there is little to complain about. Particularly good are the dog Buttons, who bags some of the film's funniest moments as well as its sweetest, and an unrecognisable Richard Haydn, sometimes his character is irritating but Haydn is also hilarious and thoughtful too. Joan Fontaine is subtle and touching, the rest of the supporting cast turn in good work and while Crosby does go overboard at times he takes a light-hearted and suave approach in others which is most endearing and he characteristically sings magnificently. Overall, lovely stuff with a lot to like. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The mystery is that it took me so long to succumb to the charms of this musical. There are few writer/directors I admire more than Billy Wilder and few entertainers I enjoy more than Bing Crosby. I don't know what I expected when they got together, but I guess it wasn't "The Emperor Waltz". Initial disappointment was erased on a recent viewing.

Our story is set in the long ago Austria of Emperor Franz Josef and concerns the love affair between a haughty widowed countess (Joan Fontaine) and a brash American salesman (Crosby). Ditto her purebred poodle and his mutt. There is a lot of talk about class differences and bloodlines and, through the years, this has been my major gripe with the script. Perhaps at the time in the late 40s Bracket and Wilder felt the need to make some sort of a statement, but it's a tad heavy handed and detracts from the fun - and there is fun.

The musical numbers are presented wittily. For "In Dreams I Kiss Your Hand" Bing sings, then brings in a piano, then two policemen pick up violins and then the domestic staff starts to dance. When our countess swoons after a few boo-boo-boo's, you know it's all in fun. The uninspired humorist often remarks when watching a musical "where did the orchestra come from?". In the enchanting "The Kiss in Your Eyes", there is no need to ask as an entire village puts bow to string to accompany this most stirring of love songs.

The Technicolor filming is sumptuous and truly befitting the operetta-like sensibility of the movie.

Joan Fontaine is every inch the royal lady, looking lovely in her costumes and easily handling the comic and dramatic portions of the script. A nice transition from her young, vulnerable characterizations to the more confident females she portrayed in the 50s.

Early in the film Bing Crosby tends to shout his way through Virgil, but his character is a lone fish out of water with no kibitzing pal such as a Hope or Fitzgerald. Once he starts to sing - well, like the Countess, it is easy to fall for the go-getting salesman.

Lucile Watson is a delight as a dowager princess with a penchant for storytelling and for our Countess' profligate father played in fine style by Roland Culver.

The top performance comes from Richard Hadyn as Emperor F-J himself. Unrecognizable under the whiskers and make-up, and foregoing his famous nasally precise delivery, Mr. Hadyn gives us a very interesting Franz-Josef. A petulant, funny, irritating, thoughtful and memorable character. You will pinch yourself to remind you of who you are watching.

I heartily recommend this musical of much charm. Mystery solved.

According to a new book out on Billy Wilder, Wilder had a much different film in mind than what emerged here. He was a contract director for Paramount at the time this was made with a few hits under his belt. And he was assigned to direct this film with Bing Crosby who was the biggest name in movies when this came out.

Crosby had a whole different film in mind and what Bing wanted Paramount gave him at that point. Wilder wanted a biting satire on the Franz Joseph court and he also wanted a the killing of the puppies, the offspring of Crosby's and Joan Fontaine's dogs to be an allegory for genocide. Crosby knew what his audiences expected from him and he opted for a lighter treatment.

The result was a second rate Billy Wilder movie, but a first class Bing Crosby film. Unlike in the thirties when Paramount just depended on Crosby's personality to put over a film, they gave this one the full A treatment. The outdoor sequences were shot in the Canadian Rockies and they serve as a great Alpine background. Though its muted, Wilder still gets some of his cynical point of view into Crosby's phonograph salesman who woos a member of Viennese royalty played by Joan Fontaine. Roland Culver who is Fontaine's father is also pretty good as the impoverished count who is quite willing to sell his title in marriage to anyone who can afford him.

Great vehicle for the winning Crosby personality.

"The Emperor Waltz" is a surprisingly lightweight film considering it was directed by Billy Wilder. This is the same director who'd just won Oscars for "The Lost Weekend" and "Double Indemnity". And, while he also made some great comedies (such as "Some Like it Hot"), "The Emperor Waltz" is surprisingly lightweight--particularly since Wilder's Oscars came just a few years before this film. You'd have thought he would have merited a more prestigious project.

Bing Crosby stars as Virgil Smith--a traveling salesman who is trying to make a sale to Emperor Franz Josef of the Austria-Hungarian Empire!!! This is utterly ridiculous and you just have to turn off your brain to enjoy much of the film--such as the notion of his falling in love with a Countess, the Emperor and Virgil having an informal conversation as well as a dog that is receiving psychotherapy! Yes, it's all very silly and Joan Fontaine and Bing Crosby do make a hilariously mismatched couple. Yet, despite the film's many shortcomings, it IS entertaining. A bit brainless...but entertaining. Certainly no even close to either actor's best but kind of cute.

By the way, buried under all that makeup and facial prosthetics is Richard Hayden--believe it or not!

"The Emperor Waltz" is an underrated jewel, a true hidden treasure by the great Billy Wilder. The basic idea of the movie is authentic comic genius, Wilder's trade-mark superb wit: two parallel funny love stories, a canine one, of a dog with a blitch, and a human one, of the straightforward American guy Virgil (Bing Crosby) with the haughty Austrian Countess Johanna Augusta Franziska (Joan Fontaine), the respective masters of the pets.

Virgil is a commercial traveller: his stubborn attempts to sell gramophones to (no less a person than) the Emperor Franz-Josef are irresistibly comic. And then the Countess' blitch is the predestined partner of the Emperor's dog, and so she needs to be treated with extreme care (including sessions of psychoanalysis): all the hopes of the over-noble but impoverished family of the Holena von Shwartzemberg-Shwartzemberg lie in her paws... But it's all too funny to be described: see the movie and enjoy yourself.

The funny, gently mocking reconstruction of the Austrian Court and of its rituals at the beginning of the 20th century is stunning. The delightful subtleties are uncountable: see the gentry play lawn-tennis, and the footmen in white gloves who present the tennis-balls on a silver tray...

All the actors make an excellent job, and there are no words to praise enough Richard Haydn as Emperor Franz-Josef. The cinematography, in bright, cheerful colors, is accurate and evocative. The costumes and the locations are magnificent. The film was intended to be a musical: however, we find in it just a pair of nice songs and a rather short ballet. I consider it a further merit of the movie: I'm not much fond of musicals.

I highly recommend "The Emperor Waltz", a praiseworthy issue of Wilder's magic wit and talent.