Definitely colorful, but otherwise mediocre Bing Crosby musical with few memorable tunes.
The Emperor Waltz (1948)
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Reviews Counted:7
Fresh:4
Rotten:3
Average Rating:5.2/10
Synopsis: A rare musical comedy for Wilder, it stars Bing Crosby as Virgil H. Smith, a phonograph salesman, plying his wares in turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna. Believing that if he's able to sell a... A rare musical comedy for Wilder, it stars Bing Crosby as Virgil H. Smith, a phonograph salesman, plying his wares in turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna. Believing that if he's able to sell a phonograph to Emperor Franz Joseph I, the rest of Austria will soon follow his example, Virgil attempts to gain access to the man. After he's refused admission to the palace by guards who believe the phonograph to be a bomb, he meets Countess Johanna Augusta Franziska (Joan Fontaine), when his mutt gets into a fight with her pedigreed poodle, which has just been chosen to mate with that of the emperor, and the owners part on bad terms. When Virgil again tries to approach the emperor, while he's hunting in the Australian Tyrol, the vindictive Johanna happens to be present, and sees to it that Virgil is deported. However, the Countess' dog, Scheherazade, soon suffers a nervous breakdown and the attending veterinarian, a strict Freudian, insists that Virgil's dog must return to re-enact their conflict. Except for the witty script by Bracket and Wilder, this light confection, shot on location in Canada's Jasper National park, bears few signs of the director's style. [More]
Starring: Bing Crosby, Joan Fontaine, Roland Culver, Richard Haydn
Starring: Bing Crosby, Joan Fontaine, Roland Culver, Richard Haydn, Lucile Watson, Sig Ruman, Julia Dean, Harold Vermilyea
Director: Billy Wilder
Director: Billy Wilder
Screenwriter: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder
Producer: Charles Brackett
Composer: Victor Young, Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen
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Reviews for The Emperor Waltz
Multiple functions of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder on Waltz have given film an infectious quality that surmounts the gorgeously apt trappings against which is projected the fable of an American travelling phonograph salesman.
This is a charming musical from Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, two of the best screenwriters ever.
Brackett and Wilder have made up with casualness and charm -- and with a great deal of clever sight-humor -- for the meagerness of the idea.
There are so few bad Wilder films that one this awful and irredeemable is heart-breaking.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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