The Merry Widow

This is Cheshire, reporting from the 2004 Sydney Film Festival, where Erich von Stroheim's Merry Widow was just given a resounding hurrah! It was the darling of the festival! Never have i heard such hooping and cheering. Our enjoyment of the film was no doubt enhanced by the wonderful print and live piano, violin and brass accompaniment we were treated to.

I know Stroheim only went to Hollywood because he wanted to inject a bit of reality into the movies - and i think he did that superbly with Greed and those pictures before it. But the thing i loved most about Foolish Wives, for instance, my favourite Stroheim film so far (keeping in mind i'm yet to see Blind Husbands), was not how natural and real its performances were, though this was incredible, but Stroheim's wickedly subversive sense of humour. Foolish Wives is divine black comedy - and Merry Widow continues that tradition, not Stroheim's dream of realism. I can't believe Stroheim was depressed at how successful this film was, because he abandoned any attempts at "realism" to make it.

I think he achieves something better. I'm not one of these fellows who insists a picture hold a mirror up to reality to be good - if i was interested in reality, i'd watch a documentary, or perhaps sit on a park bench and watch the thing itself! I go to the pictures to see a different world, with a reality all its own. Its why i love the work of Fellini, the Coen Brothers, David Lynch, Wes Anderson, Kubrick and Co. They give us something better than reality! I think that's what Stroheim does here, and despite the fact that he didn't respect what he did, I think its among his greatest achievements. For modern audiences, The Merry Widow is one of the most delightful pieces of black salacious comedy available before the last twenty years (along with Bunuel's priceless L'Age D'Or). Such intelligent, aware humour - we all had a great laugh at the State Theatre in Sydney.

John Gilbert looks marvelous on screen, and MY what a fantastic actor he was. But the show is all but stolen by Roy D'Arcy, as Stroheim's beloved evil cousin figure. His salacious grin is a thing to behold. He cracked the audience up throughout. Seems D'Arcy is a great unsung hero of the cinema, from looking at his credits list. Perhaps a rediscovery of La Boheme and Bardleys the Magnificent might rejuvenate his memory, not to mention a beautiful DVD edition of The Merry Widow... or even a VHS edition! Who are we kidding here, guys! This is not only one of the most enjoyable silent films i've ever seen, its just a darn tootin' good comedy!

For all the talk of the "boundless shots of shoes" i'd heard were in this movie, i was expecting it to be a two-hour long shoe-store commercial. Whoever went on like that about this movie, including Irving Thalberg, must SO not have even heard of foot fettishism. Its so obvious when you see the picture. There are probably six shots of shoes in the picture total (!), and four of them are to illustrate one of the B-characters as a foot fetishist, which is fairly obvious, since he licks his lips and virtually salivates when he looks at feet! This is also ironic for this character, because his feet are the location of his disability: he walks with comic difficulty on two replacement feet, crutches. The remaining shoe shots are part of a delightful scene involving a game of footsies, which i won't spoil for you, but they are most certainly justified by the narrative.

Look, this is the sort of film i'd love to have on a pretty DVD edition (attention Kino!) as part of the wonderful Erich von Stroheim Collection sitting next to my bed so i can watch it to send me off onto a nice sleep. Its the most fun of Stroheim's films, but he in no way sells out, in my opinion. The humour is satirical, subversive "let's see what i can get away with" comedy - a treat!

For the record, i recommend to you in this order:

1. Foolish Wives 2. The Merry Widow (when its released some time soon, or at a film festival near you) 3. Greed 4. The Wedding March 5. Queen Kelly

(the only other surviving Stroheim picture i'm yet to see is Blind Husbands, and he only directed some scenes from Merry-Go-Round, which you can see on the doco The Man You Love to Hate - they're pretty great!)

A romantic Prince from tiny Monteblanco attempts to woo THE MERRY WIDOW who once loved him when she was a poor dancer.

Erich von Stroheim, the Teutonic genius who marched through Hollywood's Silent Days like a conquering general, had his final directorial stint at MGM Studios producing this lavish & brilliant film based on the operetta by Franz Lehár. The visuals are striking, with sets that look like actual locations--a mountaintop village; the Castellano Cathedral; Maxim's in Paris--and the occasional bizarre touch--the blindfolded musicians sharing the Prince's seduction bed, for example--which von Stroheim relished. The acting is flawless, with no need for dialogue. The actors' faces speak all that need be said.

Mae Murray & John Gilbert portray the passionate lovers whom Fate (and the plot) contrives to keep apart so successfully. Miss Murray (she and the director loathed each other) powerfully portrays a street-wise performer who, through a series of heartbreaks, becomes a vastly wealthy woman. Gilbert expertly plays a prince whose charm has always gotten him his way. Their scenes together, most particularly the waltz sequences, fairly blaze with unrequited sensual longing and desire.

While it is entertaining to wonder what von Stroheim would have done with the role, it is difficult to imagine anyone better than Roy D'Arcy as the simpering, lusting, sneering Crown Prince; he is pure villainy personified and his eventual fate is absolutely justified. Josephine Crowell gives a fine performance as the Queen. Tully Marshall, one of von Stroheim's favorite character actors, adds another portrait to his gallery of grotesques, this time playing a crippled baron with a foot fetish.

The wonderful organ score which accompanies the film was arranged & performed by Dennis James.

MGM would tackle THE MERRY WIDOW again nine years later and produce a vastly different film, this time directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Maurice Chevalier & Jeanette MacDonald.

Superb film by Erich von Stroheim who "personally directed" this lush and romantic blockbuster starring Mae Murray and John Gilbert.

Gilbert plays a European prince who falls for American "danseuse" Murray. Of course his leering cousin the Crown prince (Roy D'Arcy) also has a yen for blonde Murray. The boys clash but Murray prefers Gilbert until he is tricked into jilting her at the altar. She then marries the nation's leading banker (Tully Marshall) who has a foot fetish. He croaks of their wedding night and she becomes "The Merry Widow," a notorious party goer and high liver.

The lovers meet again at Maxim's in Paris where Murray pretends to prefer the oozing D'Arcy. Gilbert gets drunk. On a morning horse ride Murray and D'Arcy come across Gilbert sprawled drunk by the roadside. In a fit, Gilbert strikes the loathsome prince and is challenged to a duel. Murray races to the fog-ridden gunfest but Gilbert has already been shot.

Von Stroheim, notorious for his excesses in GREED is more constrained with THE MERRY WIDOW but still manages some startlingly decadent touches. Murray is fabulous as a the dancer and gets one whole routine to herself a la Martha Grahame as well as the striking and sensual waltz with Gilbert. Gilbert seethes with masculinity and lust for Murray. They are quite a couple. Von Stroheim gives each star maximum close-ups to great effect. Murray has two grand entrances: one in black gown and diamonds for a royal ball; a second all in white fur cape and feathers for her entrance at Maxim's.

The film is highly dramatic, romantic, and sensual but manages touches of humor. A real feast. George Fawcett is the old king; Josephine Crowell is the queen.

In 1925 John Gilbert would have been a shoe in for a best actor Oscar between his performances in THE MERRY WIDOW and THE BIG PARADE. Murray would likely have been a best actress contender. Great film.

Stroheim's take on the familiar story is filled with his customary pomp and spectacle while never losing sight of the love story at its core. It's something of a slog at over two hours long though, and Gilbert's royal prince comes across as something of a sleaze at times. However, Roy D'Arcy makes a wonderfully hissable villain as the scheming Crown Prince Mirko (a role von Stroheim originally ear-marked for himself).

This is the kind of silent film that is so enjoyable to watch. Huge budget with a great cast. In the climatic dance sequence, where the "Merry Widow" dances, both Clark Gable and Myrna Loy, both unknowns at the time, were extras.