Vienna: The Years Remembered

This is a short promotional piece from MGM in connection with the filming of MAYERLING in Vienna, an historical costume drama starring JAMES MASON, OMAR SHARIF, CATHERINE DENEUVE and AVA GARDNER.

Never having seen the film itself, I can only say that they certainly were striving for authentic locales, filming scenes in actual formal dining rooms of the palace of Emperor Franz-Josef (Mason), and at the actual train station where royal dignitaries arrived in a country that was restless for independence against the Hapsburgs.

AVA GARDNER, as Elizabeth of Austria, was beginning to lose her fabled beauty by this time and the narration says she made the "brave decision" to play Omar Shariff's mother. She still looks glamorous in costume and make-up, as does the still lovely CATHERINE DENEUVE as Maria, a woman in love with Gardner's son (Sharif), Archduke Rudolf.

Looks like a very ornate production, gilding the lily as only MGM and its financial resources could do when making a costume romance with an historical background. A few clips of actors going through their paces under director Terence Young's supervision while cameras follow them everywhere makes for a modestly interesting behind the scenes glimpse of proceedings.

Summing up: Formula promotional short to lure audiences into seeing their latest product. Interesting as a curiosity piece only.