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The Emperor Waltz

Play trailer Poster for The Emperor Waltz 1948 1h 46m Musical Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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73% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Salesman Virgil Smith (Bing Crosby) is making his next big move in Austria, pushing the gramophone. He believes that if he can persuade Emperor Franz Joseph (Richard Haydn) to purchase the record player, he'll strike it rich as the nation follows suit. However, in the meantime, Smith falls for a countess (Joan Fontaine), a woman in a class above his own. Now in addition to convincing the emperor to buy his wares, Smith must also find a way to receive the emperor's blessing to marry his love.

Critics Reviews

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Variety Staff Variety 08/14/2007
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. Go to Full Review
Bosley Crowther New York Times 03/25/2006
3/5
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. Go to Full Review
Time Out 01/26/2006
Generally reckoned to be Wilder's worst movie. Go to Full Review
Frank J. Avella Edge Media Network 08/24/2021
B
The Emperor Waltz is certainly a worthwhile sit, if only to appreciate the bracing Wilderian satire at the core of the outwardly silly narrative. Go to Full Review
Jorge (JJ) Negrete Butaca Ancha 08/14/2019
A pastel comedy that presents two dangers disguised as virtue: that of conservatism and that of progress. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Josephine O'Neill Daily Telegraph (Australia) 03/15/2019
Brackett and Wilder get their effect by combining a free-for-all farcical story with formal magnificence in setting, and costume. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Steve D 04/08/2023 Not enough here to make a movie. See more Mark A 12/20/2022 Nice Bing Crosby vehicle. See more 01/05/2016 Billy Wilder wrote and directed this Bing Crosby musicomedy, which features lovely Technicolor photography; unfortunately, the satire isn't always on target and the comedy often falls flat. Bing sings "I Kiss Your Hand, Madame." See more 10/18/2015 just OK vehicle for da Binger See more 04/27/2014 A very silly/fun film that's worth adding to your collection...Njoy!!!! See more 01/31/2014 2 Oscar nominatations. Light and amusing canine romance? No, but two pets bring these vastly different people together, one an Austrian princess and the other? The other is Bing Crosby as a fast talking American salesman that runs circles around the stuffy Austrian Emperor's upper class snobs. Directed by Billy Wilder. [img]https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRbRwyQiz7xalAQPM-nUo2wmM4UA0mjFLZW5sgl5pmJ2aRLyITasw[/img] It's a hoot and a toot and a singing triumph as this light romantic comedy will make your day if not your dog's. Billy Wilder's first and last musical comedy, but this is not a musical much at all, just a few tunes sung by Bing. See Crosby swoon his way into a stubborn Austrian royalty's heart. She's a widow that thinks the world is composed of only two types, the low class and her upper class. Boy, is SHE in for a suprise! [img]http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/B9fGJLuerzw/hqdefault.jpg[/img] SEE the entire film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o-hfW079dw REVIEWS: 60% A brash American gramophone salesman tries to get Emperor Franz Joseph's endorsement in turn-of-the-century Austria. 50% definitely the worst film i've seen in billy wilder's catalog. there's still some good stuff in here, but over all it's just an okay picture. [img]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQrCmTnh5KugbSYX-W-oJVb6tf0hBYSIzs2LbKlIw5jZjpYSWNWRQ[/img] NOTES: 1 Wilder later confessed, "The picture didn't come out what I wanted ... I was looking back at my childhood in Austria-waltzes, Tyrolean hats, cream puffs-shutting out what came later," a reference to the war-torn Vienna he visited prior to the film's start. 2 "Bing Crosby operated for himself, not for the group or the film," Wilder recalled. "He was a big star, the biggest, and he thought he knew what was good for him." 3 $20,000 to have pines shipped from California and planted on location because Wilder was unhappy with the look of the native trees. He also planted 4,000 white daisies dyed blue so they would photograph better. 4 leading lady Joan Fontaine, who later recalled, "Crosby wasn't very courteous to me ... There was never the usual costar rapport. I was a star at that time, but he treated me like he'd never heard of me." The singer tended to ignore his director as well. [img]http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz79/punter18_2009/EW5.png[/img] Blame it all on the dogs Bing Crosby as Virgil Smith Joan Fontaine as Countess Johanna Augusta Franziska Roland Culver as Baron Holenia Lucile Watson as Princess Bitotska Richard Haydn as Emperor Franz Joseph Sig Ruman as Dr. Zwieback Harold Vermilyea as Chamberlain Julia Dean as Archduchess Stephanie Bert Prival as Chauffeur Alma Macrorie as Inn Proprietress Roberta Jonay as Chambermaid John Goldsworthy as Obersthofmeister [img]http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6pwlwFv0T1qzdvhio1_500.jpg[/img] Directed by Billy Wilder Produced by Charles Brackett Written by Billy Wilder Charles Brackett Music by Victor Young Cinematography George Barnes Editing by Doane Harrison Studio Paramount Pictures Distributed by Paramount Pictures Release dates July 2, 1948 (USA) Running time 106 minutes [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c5/TheEmperorWaltz.JPG/220px-TheEmperorWaltz.JPG[/img] See more Read all reviews
The Emperor Waltz

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Movie Info

Synopsis Salesman Virgil Smith (Bing Crosby) is making his next big move in Austria, pushing the gramophone. He believes that if he can persuade Emperor Franz Joseph (Richard Haydn) to purchase the record player, he'll strike it rich as the nation follows suit. However, in the meantime, Smith falls for a countess (Joan Fontaine), a woman in a class above his own. Now in addition to convincing the emperor to buy his wares, Smith must also find a way to receive the emperor's blessing to marry his love.
Director
Billy Wilder
Producer
Charles Brackett
Screenwriter
Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder
Distributor
Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures
Production Co
Paramount Pictures
Genre
Musical, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 2, 1948, Wide
Release Date (DVD)
May 6, 2003
Runtime
1h 46m