Viennese Nights
| Viennese Nights | |
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| Directed by | Alan Crosland |
| Produced by | Richard Rodgers |
| Written by |
Oscar Hammerstein II Sigmund Romberg |
| Starring | Alexander Gray Vivienne Segal Walter Pidgeon Jean Hersholt Louise Fazenda |
| Music by |
Oscar Hammerstein II Sigmund Romberg |
| Cinematography | James Van Trees (Technicolor) |
| Edited by | Hal McLaren |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Viennese Nights (1930) is an American all-talking pre-code musical operetta film photographed entirely in Technicolor and released by Warner Brothers. Viennese Nights was the first original operetta written especially for the screen by Oscar Hammerstein II and Sigmund Romberg. The movie was filmed in March and April 1930, before anyone realized the extent of the economic hardships that would arrive with Great Depression, which had begun in the autumn of the previous year. Although not a box office hit in the USA, the film had long box office runs in Britain and Australia. It is one of the earliest sound films to have a short pre-credit sequence. The film stars Vivienne Segal, Alexander Gray and Walter Pidgeon.
The film begins in Vienna in the year 1890 and we find that Walter Pidgeon, Alexander Gray and Bert Roach, who are three close friends, are going to join the Austrian army. Eventually, Pidgeon become a lieutenant and as a superior officer he is forced to distance himself from his two former friends. Gray and Pidgeon end up falling in love with a poor girl, played by Vivienne Segal, who is the daughter of a cobbler. Although Segal truly loves Gray, she chooses to marry Pidgeon because of his wealth and position, believing that money and the social mobility that goes with it will bring her happiness. Gray is heartbroken and travels to the United States with his friend Roach. Gray gets a job playing violin in an orchestra but struggles to support his wife and child. In the course of time, Segal travels to the United States and meets Gray and their love is rekindled. Gray learns of Segal's unhappy marriage and they plan to make a new life together. Segal, however, discovers that Gray is married and has a child. Feeling sorry for Gray's son, she sacrifices her happiness and returns to Pidgeon, her husband. The film now progresses forty years in time to the year 1930. Segal is now a grandmother and she is planning for her granddaughter, played by Alice Day, to marry a wealthy man since the family's fortunes are now on the wane. Day, however, falls in love with a composer, who happens to be the grandson of Gray. Segal immediately recalls her romance with Gray and of the mistake she once made. She consents to her granddaughters marriage and reminiscences about the man she really loves, who is now dead. One day after the wedding, while at the park, Segal sees Gray and her spirit walks off with him and leaves her body. The film ends as she is finally reunited with her long lost love.
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