gavin6942 A prince must woo the now wealthy dancer he once abandoned in order to keep her money in the country in order to keep it from crashing economically.I have never seen the opera, nor any other version of this story, but I feel like this has to be the definitive version, or as close as possible. The elegance of the silent film, the long run time (which doesn't seem that bad). And two great stars of the era: John Gilbert and Mae Murray (though they may not be known outside of movie nerd circles).Everything about this is great from the facial expressions to the costumes. The balance of royalty and a more or less common dancer... these are the sorts of stories that cannot be told anymore.

Frances Farmer The biggest problem I have with user reviews on websites like IMDb is that the reviews are usually much too positive. People seem to love everything, and they seem to expect everyone else to love everything too. Positive reviews are invariably rated "helpful" and negative reviews are spat upon. The childish rule of "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" has a remarkable appeal for otherwise sensible adults... it is so strange.I rarely give strongly positive reviews, but "The Merry Widow" is such a fantastic movie that giving it a "10" is quite easy. Why is it fantastic? Well, for starters John Gilbert is a revelation in this film. I've seen him in a few other silents, but he is incomparable here. His eyes, his expressions, his movements.... it is marvelous just to watch him. Von Stroheim gives Gilbert lots of screen time to express his mental turmoil, and Gilbert does so with remarkable depth and nuance for a silent film. Next, the other actors are excellent in their roles. Roy D'Arcy is terrific as the mean, fastidious and sly Crown Prince. Unlike most Von Stroheim villains, his rather ham fisted nastiness does not become an annoying caricature -- he is actually rather charming and funny with a strange mixture of grace and hunched awkwardness. Mae Murray is incandescent as the love interest -- the superb cinematography makes her look gorgeous, almost ethereal at times -- though her acting, while good, isn't the best in this particular movie. Everyone else in the cast more than pulls his weight.The story, too, is quite wonderful. There are many twists and turns... it almost feels like an epic... and the pacing creates plenty of tension and suspense. I also noticed the editing -- the shooting was quite complex and the cutting very skillful. Then there's Von Stroheim's usual opulence with respect to decor, costume, and all the little details that evoke old-style European aristocracy. But even in the midst of the opulence there's a scene shot out in an open, barren field that is remarkably atmospheric and utterly simple. I could go on and on....There's really nothing to quibble with here. If possible, wait to see it in a cinema with live piano accompaniment -- I felt very fortunate to have had that opportunity.

Ben Parker This is Cheshire, reporting from the 2004 Sydney Film Festival, where Erich von Stroheim's Merry Widow was just given a resounding hurrah! It was the darling of the festival! Never have i heard such hooping and cheering. Our enjoyment of the film was no doubt enhanced by the wonderful print and live piano, violin and brass accompaniment we were treated to.I know Stroheim only went to Hollywood because he wanted to inject a bit of reality into the movies - and i think he did that superbly with Greed and those pictures before it. But the thing i loved most about Foolish Wives, for instance, my favourite Stroheim film so far (keeping in mind i'm yet to see Blind Husbands), was not how natural and real its performances were, though this was incredible, but Stroheim's wickedly subversive sense of humour. Foolish Wives is divine black comedy - and Merry Widow continues that tradition, not Stroheim's dream of realism. I can't believe Stroheim was depressed at how successful this film was, because he abandoned any attempts at "realism" to make it.I think he achieves something better. I'm not one of these fellows who insists a picture hold a mirror up to reality to be good - if i was interested in reality, i'd watch a documentary, or perhaps sit on a park bench and watch the thing itself! I go to the pictures to see a different world, with a reality all its own. Its why i love the work of Fellini, the Coen Brothers, David Lynch, Wes Anderson, Kubrick and Co. They give us something better than reality! I think that's what Stroheim does here, and despite the fact that he didn't respect what he did, I think its among his greatest achievements. For modern audiences, The Merry Widow is one of the most delightful pieces of black salacious comedy available before the last twenty years (along with Bunuel's priceless L'Age D'Or). Such intelligent, aware humour - we all had a great laugh at the State Theatre in Sydney.John Gilbert looks marvelous on screen, and MY what a fantastic actor he was. But the show is all but stolen by Roy D'Arcy, as Stroheim's beloved evil cousin figure. His salacious grin is a thing to behold. He cracked the audience up throughout. Seems D'Arcy is a great unsung hero of the cinema, from looking at his credits list. Perhaps a rediscovery of La Boheme and Bardleys the Magnificent might rejuvenate his memory, not to mention a beautiful DVD edition of The Merry Widow... or even a VHS edition! Who are we kidding here, guys! This is not only one of the most enjoyable silent films i've ever seen, its just a darn tootin' good comedy!For all the talk of the "boundless shots of shoes" i'd heard were in this movie, i was expecting it to be a two-hour long shoe-store commercial. Whoever went on like that about this movie, including Irving Thalberg, must SO not have even heard of foot fettishism. Its so obvious when you see the picture. There are probably six shots of shoes in the picture total (!), and four of them are to illustrate one of the B-characters as a foot fetishist, which is fairly obvious, since he licks his lips and virtually salivates when he looks at feet! This is also ironic for this character, because his feet are the location of his disability: he walks with comic difficulty on two replacement feet, crutches. The remaining shoe shots are part of a delightful scene involving a game of footsies, which i won't spoil for you, but they are most certainly justified by the narrative.Look, this is the sort of film i'd love to have on a pretty DVD edition (attention Kino!) as part of the wonderful Erich von Stroheim Collection sitting next to my bed so i can watch it to send me off onto a nice sleep. Its the most fun of Stroheim's films, but he in no way sells out, in my opinion. The humour is satirical, subversive "let's see what i can get away with" comedy - a treat!For the record, i recommend to you in this order:1. Foolish Wives 2. The Merry Widow (when its released some time soon, or at a film festival near you) 3. Greed 4. The Wedding March 5. Queen Kelly(the only other surviving Stroheim picture i'm yet to see is Blind Husbands, and he only directed some scenes from Merry-Go-Round, which you can see on the doco The Man You Love to Hate - they're pretty great!)

overseer-3 As far as I am concerned this silent version of The Merry Widow is the worst version ever made. There is no tenderness or love or spirituality about this version, it is all macabre, Germanic, sinister nonsense. It reminded me of Nazis falling in love; who cares?This silent version by von Stroheim is not a faithful adaptation of the original story. In this one we have leering John Gilbert and his gross relative the Prince lusting after this silly American actress, played by Mae Murray, possessed with a modern permed hairstyle and implausible feminist manner that threw me off again and again. I like my romances light and beautiful, with slow build ups; not harsh and sadistic like this one. And come on, those bee stung lips, get rid of them, girl!Go see a live performance of the show if you would like to get a real idea of the sweetness of the original operetta by Franz Lehar. Failing that, wait till TCM shows the Jeanette MacDonald - Maurice Chevalier sound version. It's much better.