The Merry Widow

The Merry Widow
MGM, 1934, B/W, 98 minutes, ***½
Premiere release October, 1934
General release November, 1934

Lavish early MGM musical, based on Franz Lehar's operetta, stars Jeanette MacDonald as the wealthy patron of a tiny European country whose sudden move to Paris throws the nation into a tizzy. Can playboy prince Maurice Chevalier woo her back? Delightful romantic comedy also stars Edward Everett Horton and Una Merkel. Songs include "Girls, Girls, Girls," "Vilia" and "Merry Widow Waltz." Very popular musical still being staged today in many venues.

Setting: The Kingdom of Marshovia in the year 1885

Producer: Irving Thalberg
Directed by: Ernst Lubitsch
Music by: Franz Lehar
Screen Play by: Ernest Vajda and Samson Raphaelson
Based on Book and Lyrics by Victor Leon and Leo Stein ("Die Lustique Witwe")
Musical Adaptation by: Herbert Stothart
Lyrics by: Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
Additional Lyrics by: Gus Kahn
Dances Directed by: Albertina Rasch
Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
Associates: Fredric Hope, Edwin B. Willis
Wardrobe by: Ali Hubert
Miss MacDonald's Gowns: Adrian
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Photographed by: Oliver T. Marsh
Film Editor: Frances Marsh

Awards: Academy Award for Best Interior Decoration

Cast: Maurice Chevalier [Danilo], Jeanette MacDonald [Sonia], Edward Everett Horton [Ambassador], Una Merkel [Queen], George Barbier [King], Minna Gombell [Marcelle], Ruth Channing [Lulu], Sterling Holloway [Orderly], Donald Meek [Valet], Herman Bing [Zizipoff], Additional Cast: Henry Armetta [Turk], Barbara Leonard [Maid], Akim Tamiroff [Maxim's Manager], Lucien Prival [Adamovitch], Luana Walters, Sheila Mannors, Caryl Lincoln, Edna Waldron, Lona Andre [Sonia's Maids], Claudia Coleman [Wardrobe Mistress], Charles Requa, George J. Lewis, Tyler Brooke, John Merkyl, Cosmo Kyrle Bellew [Escorts], Roger Gray, Christian J. Frank, Otto Fries, George Magrill, John Roach [Policemen], Jason Robards, Sr. [Arresting Officer], Gino Corrado, Perry Ivins [Waiters], Albert Pollet [Head Waiter], Virginia Field [Prisoner], George Baxter [Ambassador], Paul Ellis [Dancer], Leonid Kinskey [Shepherd], Jacques Lory [Goatman], Evelyn Selbie [Newspaper Woman], Wedgewood Nowell [Lackey], Frank Sheridan [Judge], Richard Carle [Defense Attorney], Morgan Wallace [Prosecuting Attorney], Ferdinand Munier [Jailer], A. S. Byron [Doorman], Lee Tinn [Chinese Man], Nora Cecil [Animal Woman], Matty Roubert [Newsboy], Tom Frances, Winter Hall [Priests], Dewey Robinson, Russ Powell, Billy Gilbert [Fat Lackeys], Arthur Housman, John "Skins" Miller [Drunks], Hector V. Sarno [Gypsy Leader], Bela Loblov [Gypsy Violinist], Jan Rubini [Violinist], Rolfe Sedan [Gabrielovitsch], Lane Chandler [Soldier], Patricia Farley, Shirley Chambers, Maria Troubetskoy, Eleanor Hunt, Jeanine Hart, Dorothy Wilson, Barbara Barondess, Dorothy Granger, Jill Dennett, Mary Jane Halsey, Peggy Watts, Dorothy Dehn, Connie Lamont [Maxim's Girls]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:01] Girls, Girls, Girls (sung by Maurice Chevalier and Chorus); [0:11] Vilia (sung by Jeanette MacDonald and Allen Rogers dubbing for Sterling Holloway); [0:17] Tonight Will Teach Me to Forget (sung by Jeanette MacDonald); [0:20] Melody of Laughter (sung by Jeanette MacDonald and Attendants); [0:32] Maxim's (sung by Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald and Ensemble); [0:35] Can-Can (danced by Girls Chorus); [0:41] Girls, Girls, Girls (sung by Maurice Chevalier while dancing with his girlfriends at Maxim's); [0:50] The Merry Widow Waltz (sung by Jeanette MacDonald, danced by Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier); [0:57] Maxim's (reprised by Jeanette MacDonald); [0:58] If Widows Are Rich (sung and danced by Jeanette MacDonald and Chorus at the Embassy Ball); [1:03] Russian Dance (danced by the Albertina Rasch Dancers); [1:11] The Merry Widow Waltz (reprised by Orchestra and Chorus, danced by Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, sung and danced by Chorus); [1:23] Melody of Laughter (reprised by Jeanette MacDonald and Chorus); [1:36] Finale: The Merry Widow Waltz (excerpt played by Orchestra)