Best movie ever!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Music: Franz Lehar. Lyrics: Paul Francis Webster. Musical direction: Jay Blackton. Musical numbers created and staged by Jack Cole. Songs: "Vilia", "Night", "Girls, Girls, Girls", "I'm Going to Maxim's", "The Merry Widow Waltz", "Can-Can". Sound supervisor: Douglas Shearer. Western Electric Sound System. Producer: Joe Pasternak.Copyright 7 July 1952 by Loew's Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture. New York opening at Loew's State: 24 September 1952. U.S. release: September 1952. U.K. release: 17 November 1952. Australian release: 7 November 1952. 9,360 feet. 104 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A musical fantasy in which the young American widow of the wealthiest ex-citizen of an imaginary Balkan country, is pursued by a dashing count, who has been ordered by the king of her late husband's country to marry her, in order to gain control of her wealth and thus stave off his country's imminent bankruptcy. - Copyright Summary. Lehar's heroine was carefully rewritten for its leading lady (including an Americanization of the character), with this fresh treatment discreetly relieving the widow of almost all her musical requirements. (The widow does contribute one vocal selection when she shares a duet with Danilo at Maxim's. Her voice, however, was that of singer Trudy Erwin, who had previously dubbed for Lana Turner in "Mr. Imperium").COMMENT: I'd been avoiding this film for years, but it turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. Although its reputation has been eclipsed by the two previous versions, this one has sumptuous production values going for it and Lamas, who sings "Vilia", "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "I'm Going to Maxim's", is not outclassed by Maurice Chevalier. Turner is admirably suited to her role too, and there is some agreeable comic support from the likes of Richard Haydn, Thomas Gomez and John Abbott.

Merry Widow, The (1952) ** (out of 4) MGM's third attempt at the famous operetta by Franz Lehar probably has the biggest budget but it's lacking quite a bit from the much better 1925 and 1934 versions. This time out a wealthy widow (Lana Turner) is brought to a small country where the government there hopes she will spend her time and money. They hire the good looking Count Danilo (Fernando Lamas) to try and win her over. There's quite a bit to admire in this film but in the end it really left me bored, unattached and rather disappointed. It's very clear from the opening shot that MGM gave director Bernhardt a pretty big budget as the Technicolor really jumps off the screen as does the art direction and set design. Everything visually is striking here as the color really adds an entire dimension to the film and it really helps put you in this era and time. The sets are also quite lavish as we get some really amazing looking ballrooms and other settings that almost make this film worth watching. The costumes are another major plus as it really does seem like it took weeks just to place the extras in order so that the colors of their costumes would just bleed together and be perfectly captured by the cameras. If you just want some great looking eye candy then this film is a must see but the rest of the movie left me wanting a lot more. For starters, I found both Turner and Lamas to be very bland and boring in their roles and I didn't feel a single spark between them. I know Turner was going through some major issues at this point of her life so perhaps this took something away from her but I didn't find anything she did here to be very entertaining. Lamas certainly had the right look for the role but I never really cared for anything he was saying or doing. Una Merkel, a member of the 1934 version, has a few good moments here but not enough to save the film.

My wife and I met doing a professional production of "The Merry Widow" in 1982 -- in English, but a straight translation.Only the very basic skeleton of the original plot is visible in this "adaptation". Most of the characters have been deleted, along with the entire B plot, and all but one of the characters remaining have been renamed. Most of the characters in the movie aren't in the operetta, either. The action has been moved from Paris to, at first, Washington, DC, and then to the fictional country of Pontevedro, which the movie has renamed "Marshovia", and only later to Paris. The net result is that we don't reach the beginning of the original play until about 45 minutes in.And the main source of tension in the plot is deleted, too. In the original, years before, Count Danilo and the heroine were very much in love, but his family refused to allow them to marry because she was poor; it's his broken heart that has rendered him a careless playboy. Now that, as a widow, she's the richest woman in the world, she still loves him, and he still loves her, but his pride won't let him admit it to anyone, even himself, and she must spend three acts playing mind games to break him down. The trope of the aristocrat with money problems who won't admit that he's in love with a rich woman for fear of what people will think supplied the main plots of a substantial fraction of Viennese operettas for decades after the 1906 "Widow". In this movie, they've never met before, which rips out not only the heart of the whole thing, but nearly all the comedy.Lamas does a pretty decent job, though.An interesting musical point is that several times we hear a snippet or so of "Trés Parisien", an extra song written (in English, despite the title) for the London première, which was not, as far as I know, usually found in American productions until the 1980s or so.

This 1952 version of "The Merry Widow" couldn't possibly compare to the 1934 Lubitsch production, but MGM went all out to make a lavish, colorful film starring Lana Turner and Fernando Lamas. To do so, all of the singing, except for one short section, was taken away from Turner. I guess someone thought a soprano voice coming out of her mouth would seem funny to 1952 audiences, which seems a strange decision. Some stars, like Ava Gardner, were dubbed constantly. Lamas did his own singing in a tremulous tenor. Considering the fact that "The Merry Widow" has been a staple of opera companies for years, it really needs some bigger guns. MGM had them but didn't use them."The Merry Widow" is about Crystal Radek (Turner), a wealthy widow living, in this version, in New York, whose husband was from a small country, Marshkovia. She is lured to Marshovia under false pretenses. The country is broke and Count Danilo (Lamas) has been asked to court and marry her so the debts can be paid. Danilo mistakes Crystal's attractive but older friend (Una Merkel) for Crystal and is reluctant to pursue her. Crystal finds out why she has been brought to Marshovia and takes off for Paris. Danilo follows her - still not knowing what she looks like - and she follows him to Maxim's and introduces herself as Fifi, a chorus girl. Danilo falls in love with Fifi, but his country has ordered him to marry Crystal.This film was nominated for best art direction and best costumes, and no wonder. "The Merry Widow" is absolutely gorgeous, with the most heavenly costumes and sets. Turner looks fabulous and despite the long gowns, gets to show off her legs. Lamas makes a handsome and charming Danilo. As Billy Crystal would say, he looks mahvelous.The supporting players - Thomas Gomez, Richard Haydn, Maurice Danilo, King Donovan, are all excellent, and if you think you recognize Gwen Verdon among the dancers at Maxim's, you do.The best part of the film is the waltz toward the end of the film, which is stunning. Hitchcock aficionados will recognize "The Merry Widow Waltz" from "Shadow of a Doubt" and get an eerie feeling every time they hear it - which in "The Merry Widow" is more than once.When Dore Schary took over MGM in 1951, he considered Lana Turner, at the age of 30, nothing more than an over-the-hill actress. She proved him wrong. Seeing her in "The Merry Widow" is a good indication that Dore Schary needed stronger glasses.