The Merry Widow
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
USA, 1934, English, 99mins, 35mm
Cast: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Edward Everett Horton
Bursting with song and sizzling with Lubitsch’s signature saucy dialogues, this visually ravishing adaptation of Franz Lehár’s operetta is widely regarded as Lubitsch’s best musical, but often unfairly neglected in his oeuvre. Set in a small fictitious European kingdom, a dashing captain is dispatched by the king to woo a wealthy young widow, so as to keep her fortune on home turf. But as both parties are revealed to be proudly promiscuous, tying the knot proves no easy task. Controversial scenes, removed under the Production Code, were retrieved in this full version.
Academy Awards: Best Art Direction
18/6 (Sat): Film talk with Stephanie Ng
- Hong Kong Arts Centre Louis Koo Cinema (Venue)
- M+ Cinema (Venue)
- Chinese Subtitles
- Post-screening talk