The Great Waltz ** (1972, Horst Buchholz, Mary Costa, Nigel Patrick, Rossano Brazzi, Yvonne Mitchell) – Classic Movie Review 8,181

MGM remakes their 1938 movie The Great Waltz about Johann Strauss Jr in 1972, this time starring Horst Buchholz as the composer. Romantic and old-fashioned, it was the last film in Cinerama.

Director Andrew L Stone, who gave us The Great Victor Herbert and Song of Norway (but was better suited to making suspense thrillers), in 1972 remakes the 1938 movie The Great Waltz about Johann Strauss Jr, this time starring Horst Buchholz as the composer. It was the last film shown in Cinerama.

The Great Waltz (1972) is resolutely romantic and old-fashioned, as it was intended to be by MGM, to provide a refuge from the sex and violence counter-culture movies then in vogue in the early Seventies. Singer Mary Costa plays Mrs Strauss (Jetty Treffz), Rossano Brazzi plays the Baron Tedesco, an old flame of hers, Yvonne Mitchell plays Anna Strauss and Nigel Patrick plays Johann Strauss Sr.

Horst Buchholz stars in The Great Waltz (1972).

The waltz music by Johann Strauss Jr, Johann Strauss Sr, Josef Strauss and Jacques Offenbach is very sweet, David Boulton’s Metrocolor cinematography is very handsome, and the use of pretty locations seems inspired by The Sound of Music, a very good place to start.

In the story by screen-writer Andrew L Stone, Johann Strauss Jr becomes the Waltz King, while and wooing the Baron Tedesco’s mistress in 19th-century Austria.

Also in the cast are James Faulkner as Josef Strauss, Vicki Woolf, Susan Robinson, George Howe, Lauri Lupino Lane, Michael Tellering, and Willard Parker.

Mary Costa was a Golden Globe nominee as Most Promising Newcomer – Female.

The 1970 Song of Norway, a $3.5 million musical biopic of Edvard Grieg. performed well at the box office, but Andrew L Stone’s next film The Great Waltz was a flop.

The Great Victor Herbert is a 1939 American musical film directed by Andrew L Stone, starring Allan Jones as John Ramsey, Mary Martin as Louise Hall, Walter Connolly as Victor Herbert, Lee Bowman as Dr Richard Moore, and Susanna Foster as Peggy.The film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Music (Scoring) – Phil Boutelje, Arthur Lange; Sound Recording – Loren L. Ryder; and Cinematography – Victor Milner, but no wins.

Horst Werner Buchholz (4 December 1933 – 3 March 2003).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8,181

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