HITCHCOCK: Waltzes From Vienna

Waltzes from Vienna

Waltzes from Vienna is based on a then-popular theater musical about Johann 'Schani' Strauss, composer of the Blue Danube Waltz, an achievement that takes center-stage in this drama. The story involves aspiring composer Schani struggling to earn the respect of his father, celebrated composer Johann Strauss, Senior. The film includes several songs sung by Jessie Matthews, who plays Theresa 'Rasi' Ebeseder, one of the two women in Schani's life. The songs were chopped from a pirated copy which found wide distribution and have gone unseen (or is that unheard?) for many years. It is rumored a new DVD edition will restore twenty-five minutes cut from the pirated version, including the long-missing songs.

Hitchcock has described the making of this film as his "lowest ebb", though he certainly came back swinging with The Man Who Knew Too Much the following year.

Production: Gaurnont British, by G.F.D., 1933, G. B. Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Scenario: Alma Reville and Guy Bolton, from the play by Guy Bolton. Sets: Alfred Junge and Peter Proud. Music: Johann Strauss the Elder and Strauss the Younger. Studio: Lime Grove. Distributors: G.F.D., 1933, 80 minutes; USA, Tom Arnold, 1935. Principal Actors: Jessie Matthews (Rasi), Esmond Knight (Shani Strauss), Frank Vosper (the prince), Fay Compton (the countess), Edmund Gwenn (Johann Strauss the Elder), Robert Hale (Ebezeder), Hindle Edgar (Leopold), Marcus Barron (Drexter), Charles Heslop, Sybil Grove, Billy Shine Junior, Bertram Dench, B.M. Lewis, Cyril Smith, Betty Huntley Wright, Berinoff and Charlot.
US release title: Strauss' Great Waltz.

Next fim: