The Merry Widow (1925 film)

{{Infobox film

| name = The Merry Widow

| image = The Merry Widow (1925 film).jpg

| caption =

| director = Erich von Stroheim

| producer = Erich von Stroheim
Irving Thalberg (uncredited)

| writer = Erich von Stroheim
Benjamin Glazer

| based_on = {{based on|The Merry Widow
1905 operetta|Franz Lehár}}
Victor Léon (libretto)
Leo Stein (libretto)

| starring = Mae Murray
John Gilbert
Roy D'Arcy
Tully Marshall

| music = William Axt (uncredited)
David Mendoza (uncredited)
Franz Lehár (non-original music)

| cinematography = Oliver T. Marsh
William H. Daniels

| editing = Frank E. Hull
Margaret Booth (uncredited)

| distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

| released = {{Film date|1925|8|26}}

| runtime = 137 minutes

| country = United States

| language = Silent (English intertitles)

| budget = $592,000{{cite journal|first=H. Mark|last=Glancy|title=MGM film grosses, 1924-1948: The Eddie Mannix Ledger|journal=Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television|volume=12|number=2|year=1992|pages=127–144|doi=10.1080/01439689200260081}}{{cite journal|first=H. Mark|last=Glancy|title=Appendix|journal=Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television|volume=12|number=S2|year=1992|pages=1–20|doi=10.1080/01439689208604539}}

| gross = $1.933 million (worldwide rentals)}}

File:The Merry Widow (1925).webm

The Merry Widow is a 1925 American silent romantic drama, black comedy film directed and written by Erich von Stroheim. Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film stars Mae Murray, John Gilbert, Roy D'Arcy, and Tully Marshall,Variety film review, September 2, 1925, p.36.Harrison's Reports film review; September 12, 1925, p.147. with pre-fame uncredited appearances by Joan Crawford and Clark Gable. The film is based on Franz Lehár's 1905 operetta of the same name, and was its second film adaptation, the first being a 1918 Hungarian film directed by Michael Curtiz.

Plot

As described in film magazine reviews,{{Citation |title=New Pictures: The Merry Widow |journal=Exhibitors Herald |volume=22 |issue=8 |pages=51 |date=16 August 1925 |publisher=Exhibitors Herald Company |location=Chicago, Illinois |url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald22unse/page/n912/mode/1up |access-date=21 July 2022}} {{Source-attribution}} Prince Danilo meets Sally the dancer and, when he proposes marriage, his uncle, King Nikita I of Monteblanco and Queen Milena object because she is a commoner. Sally marries Baron Sadoja, an old wealthy roue who later dies from a stroke. Prince Danilo’s parents now encourage the marriage. A slurring remark is the cause of a duel between the cousins and Danilo is wounded, sacrificing his cousin whom he believes Sally loves. Crown Prince Mirko is assassinated and Danilo becomes heir to the throne. Sally visits Danilo at the hospital and asks him to marry her.

Cast

Mae Murray as Sally O'Hara
John Gilbert as Prince Danilo Petrovich
Roy D'Arcy as Crown Prince Mirko
Josephine Crowell as Queen Milena
George Fawcett as King Nikita I
Tully Marshall as Baron Sixtus Sadoja
Edward Connelly as Baron Popoff (ambassador)

=Uncredited=

Selected cast that were uncredited:

Helen Howard Beaumont as Chorus girl
Gertrude Bennett as Hard-Boiled Virginia
Bernard Berger as Boy
Sidney Bracey as Danilo's footman
Estelle Clark as French barber
Albert Conti as Danilo's adjutant
D'Arcy Corrigan as Horatio
Joan Crawford as Extra
Xavier Cugat as Orchestra leader
Anielka Elter as Blindfolded musician
Dale Fuller as Sadoja's chambermaid
Clark Gable as Ballroom dancing extra
Edna Tichenor as Dopey Marie
Zalla Zarana as Frenchie Christine
Edna Simms as Ballroom dancing extra

Production

File:Merry Widow poster.jpg

{{box quote|width=30em|bgcolor=cornsilk|fontsize=100%|salign=center|quote= “Though Stroheim and Mae Murray hated each other, the performance which he got from her in The Merry Widow was worth everything else she ever did put together.”— Edward Wagenknecht in The Movies in the Age of Innocence (1962).Wagenknecht, 1962 p. 217}}

The film was shot over twelve weeks with a budget of $592,000. Filming was tense as Mae Murray and the film's director, Erich von Stroheim, did not get on well. After production, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer decided it could no longer work with the director after he added sexually explicit scenes and changed the operetta's libretto.{{Cite journal|last=Sullivan|first=Chris|date=February 2019|title=Erich Von Stroheim|journal=Chap|volume=Spring 2019|pages=23–27}}

Reception

Upon its release, the film was both a critical and box office success. Critics praised Murray's dramatic skills while also noting that von Stroheim had "made an actress out of Miss Murray".{{cite book|last=Ankerich|first=Michael G. |title=Mae Murray: The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips|year=2012|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-813-14038-4|pages=166–168}} According to MGM records The Merry Widow took in approximately $1.081 million in theater rentals from the United States and Canada, an additional $852,000 from foreign rentals, and earned a profit of $758,000.Scott Eyman, Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer, Robson, 2005 p. 99 {{ISBN|0-7432-0481-6}}

Other adaptations

The Merry Widow was adapted for the screen in 1934, 1952, 1962, and 1994.

References

Works cited

Wagenknecht, Edward. 1962. The Movies in the Age of Innocence. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma.

External links

{{IMDb title|0016104}}
{{TCMDb title|14738}}
{{AFI film|10733}}
[http://moviessilently.com/2014/03/23/the-merry-widow-1925-a-silent-film-review/ Fritzi Kramer, The Merry Widow, a Silent Review] at moviessilently.com, with stills

Category:1925 films

Category:1925 romantic drama films

Category:1920s American films

Category:1920s color films

Category:Silent American romantic drama films

Category:American silent feature films

Category:American black-and-white films

Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films

Category:Films based on operettas

Category:Films directed by Erich von Stroheim

Category:Films produced by Irving Thalberg

Category:Silent films in color