This film was presented in the Cinerama format overseas. This would be the last film shown in Cinerama.
The film was shot entirely on location in and around Vienna, Austria. Additional Austrian locations included the area around Salzburg, Bad Ischi and Krems-Stein, a town located about forty miles outside Vienna. Many famous Austrian palaces were used as locations, among them Schönbrunn, Hofburg, Schwarzenberg and Auersberg Palaces. Additional Vienna locations included the Hotel Schloss Laudon, which stood in for the Parisian hotel, the Restaurant Griechenbeisl, Piaristen Church and the Golden Hall of Musik Verien. Laxenburg Park provided the backdrop for many of the park scenes, the Franz Josef Bahnhof was used for the railroad station scene, the Schottenkeller and a Benedictine wine cellar that was almost 850 years old, was used for the Rathskeller sequence. The dance sequence took place on a popular tourist attraction, the Tyrolean Alpine steamer Gisella, on Lake Traunsee.
As pointed out in many reviews, while purportedly a true biography of Strauss II (1825-1899), the picture had fictionalized elements and took liberty with many of the facts. According to biographical sources, Strauss I and II did have a difficult relationship, in part due to the public affairs of Strauss I. In 1862, Strauss II married famous Viennese opera singer Henrietta "Jetty" Treffz (1818--1878) a woman seven years his senior. Their relationship was strained, according to modern biographies. She predeceased her husband, who married two more times before his death. As in the film, Jetty was the longtime mistress of the wealthy Baron Moritz Todesco [called Baron Tedesco in the film]. Although the film mentions only one illegitimate child born to Jetty, in real life, she had several.
EPILOGUE: "And so...father and son, estranged throughout their lives, were united for immortality in composing the most beloved tune ever written . . . ON THE BEAUTIFUL BLUE DANUBE."
Although there are no end credits, after the epilogue, brief scenes from the film are repeated for several minutes, as a medley of various Strauss waltzes are played as exit music.
Although there are no end credits, after the epilogue, brief scenes from the film are repeated for several minutes, as a medley of various Strauss waltzes are played as exit music.
PROLOGUE: "This is a factual portrayal concerning the life of Johann Strauss Jr., of the conflict with his father, his struggles, his triumphs; his women and his marriage."