The Merry Widow

MUCH better than the Brazilian release
I bought this DVD with trepidation after seeing the reviews on the Brazilian release of this film. However, I was wonderfully surprised: The sound and picture quality, while not perfect (come on, it was filmed in the 30s!), are passable, and you can actually hear the whole film.

If you are a purist when it comes to original stories, this is not for you. If you think Jeannette MacDonald is shrill, or can't sing, this is definitely not for you! However, for those of us who love Miss MacDonald, Maurice Chevalier, and the campy, smarmy musicals of filmdom's early days, this is a keeper.

The story revolves around Count Danilo and Madam Sonia. Sonia, the richest woman in Marshovia (She's into every cow in the country for 52%!), tires of dower widowhood and decides to go to Paris. In order to avoid national bankruptcy should the lovely widow marry a foreigner, the king of Marshovia sends Danilo to Paris to woo and win Sonia and bring her back home. From there,...

One of the last, great Pre-Code musical comedy gems
This utterly delightful film stands as the ultimate condemnation for the shameful censorship that the Hays office would soon inflict on the movies. THE MERRY WIDOW was one of the very last Pre-Code films to be released before Hollywood was forced to mute all sexuality, prove in every film that crime didn't pay, and purify all on screen language of all improprieties. After 1934, all sex was decidedly nonsexual, married couples always slept in twin beds (full sized beds were banned as being too suggestive), criminals died or were arrested by the end of each gangster film, and all forms of naughtiness were ejected from the movies.

THE MERRY WIDOW would never have passed muster for the Hays office. Edward Everett Horton and Maurice Chevalier embrace and are assumed to be a gay couple by a police officer. One of the most important scenes in the film takes place in a brothel (Maxim's), and Jeanette MacDonald pretends to be a courtesan. The movie is laced with suggestive jokes and sexual...

A charmer that holds up well
This is the very best filmed version of Franz Lehar's delighful operetta. The cast is perfectly matched, the music and songs wonderfully rendered. Though black and white, one rapidly begins to see all the true color. This is a charmer from Hollywood's Golden Age that holds up well. Forget the 1952 version, it does not have the vitality of Ernst Lubitch direction, nor does it have a peak Maurice Chevalier nor the lovely Jeanette MacDonald. You will want to watch it many times, as a picker-upper.

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