Bal à l'Opéra

Beautiful pictures of the Vienna Opera Ball, many film stars of the 1950s - but the plot is a bit dated!

COSI FAN TUTTE in the Viennese operetta style! Film starlets like Sonja ZIEMANN, Johannes HEESTERS, Hertha FEILER, Josef MEINRAD, and Adrian HOVEN on the hunt for extramarital affairs! In between, Hans MOSER grumbles through the private rooms as a head waiter. This is how people imagined the sinful Viennese nightlife of the turn of the 20th century in the virtuous fifties.

It's about three married couples of different ages who have gathered in Vienna for the Opera Ball. The men (particularly sleazy: Johannes HEESTERS) clearly have extramarital affairs on their minds, while the wives (Sonja ZIEMANN and Heinz RÜHMANN's wife, Hertha FEILER) become suspicious. Through a little trickery, the wives manage to completely disrupt their husbands' plans. But in the end, marital peace is restored. After all, it was impossible to be as sinful as Vienna around 1900, then the capital of Kakania, that is, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in the 1950s, when the film was made.

Between his SISSI films with Romy SCHNEIDER, director Ernst MARISCHKA (1946 Oscar nominee for POLONÄSE) made this colorful comedy. Audience favorite Sonja ZIEMANN (her box office hits SCHWARZWALDMÄDEL and GRÜN IST DIE HEIDE each attracted more than 16 million viewers) is as beautiful as ever, but from today's perspective, Jopie HEESTERS and the MOSER-playing Hans seem far too silly.

However, cinemagoers in 1956 liked the film: more than 7.2 million tickets were sold in West Germany.

Ernst Marischka's film was one of the first Austrian features shot in colour, and assembles some of the most renowned actors of the time. Last seen in cinemas in 1957, the feature was presumed lost for almost 40 years, until a misplaced negative was discovered at the Austrian Film Archives. After electronic enhancement of the picture quality and soundtrack, television viewers were able to see Opera Ball in all it's original visual and musical splendour in 1998.

Opera Ball is a delightful throwback to the gaudy over-embellished European musicals of the era, lavishly costumed and produced, and bursting with favourite musical themes of former times. The story, concerning the supposed infidelities of three couples, is a little corny and old-hat, but the exuberance and attractiveness of the enthusiastic young cast, some funny moments from a handful of old timers, the lavish settings and lilting music, and above all the stunning Agfacolor photography (which puts most modern colour processes to shame) combine to create a most pleasant entertainment.

Richard Heuberger's 'Der Opernball' is not quite one of the greatest operettas like 'Die Fledermaus' and 'Die Lustige Witwe', containing a corny and old-fashioned story where one really has to suspend disbelief in places.

However, it has a lot of enjoyment and charm, with comedy that genuinely entertains, has charming characters and while there are slightly more memorable operetta scores the music is beautiful and tuneful, the most famous being "Im Chambre Séparée" (colloquial for "Komm Mit Mir Ins Chambre Séparée").

This 1956 film of 'Opernball' (a colour remake of the also enjoyable 1939 film in black and white) does a good job maintaining the fun and charm. The comedy really does sparkle, and the storytelling is elaborate and snappily paced with plenty of parts to make one laugh and go ah. It does start off a little slow and it doesn't do enough to make a couple of the antics less corny and suspension of disbelief is very much needed for when the women are disguised.

'Opernball' is stunningly filmed in colour, with sumptuously elegant costumes and sets, while the music is still beautiful and tuneful and performed with liveliness and attractive tone. It's solidly directed too, and boasts fun and truly exuberant performances from the whole cast, from the young leads to the returning show-stealing antics of Hans Moser and Theo Lingen.

In conclusion, enjoyable and charming. Worth tracking down, both the 1939 and 1956 films as of now can be found in full on Youtube. 7/10 Bethany Cox