Invitation to the Waltz (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Invitation to the Waltz |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1935 |
| length | 77 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Paul Merzbach |
| script |
Roger Burford Clifford Gray Paul Merzbach |
| production | Walter C. Mycroft |
| music | Walter Goehr |
| camera |
Claude Friese-Greene Ronald Neame |
| cut | John Neill Brown |
| occupation | |
| |
Invitation to the Waltz is a British film romance from 1935 by Paul Merzbach with Lilian Harvey in her only all-British film production. The story is based on the play of the same name by Eric Maschwitz .
action
1803, in London. The young Jenny Peachey is a budding ballet dancer. One day she meets Carl, the right hand man of the Duke of Württemberg, who is currently in the English capital. The Duke is in negotiations with the British government to forge a politically wanted marriage alliance and to negotiate financial support for the fight against the Napoleonic threat. When Jenny, who was about to be won over by an Italian stage manager for an engagement in Venice, meets the Duke, he is enthusiastic about the graceful artist and invites her to perform at his ducal opera house. Incidentally, the sovereign hopes to be able to make Jenny his mistress. This is definitely in the interests of the British government, which hopes that this move will deepen relations with Württemberg. In addition, Jenny is told quite bluntly that she will certainly be able to live in luxury in Stuttgart. Secretly, London hopes from this alliance that Jenny's extravaganzas will burden the ducal budget to such an extent that the latter will be forced to put himself financially in the hands of the British and to send his own troops to fight Napoleon .
Jenny agrees to follow the Duke to Württemberg and then meets Carl again, who is assigned to her as a personal escort on the way to Stuttgart. He is deeply disappointed when he has to assume that Jenny will be the new lover of his lord and master, the Duke. He himself has long since kept his eye on Jenny, and Jenny is also not averse. As Jenny did not reveal the real reasons for her half-artistic, half-official mission to Stuttgart for reasons of state, she angered Carl as well as the residents of Württemberg, who soon became concerned about the enormous costs that the new ducal concubine caused will get excited. After Jenny was able to persuade the Duke to sign a new treaty of alliance with Great Britain, Napoleon invades Stuttgart without further ado. Jenny is forced to appear in an imperial performance in front of the French despot and to prove her dancing skills. With Carl's help, however, she can then escape across the border.
Production notes
Invitation to the Waltz , shot in the spring of 1935, was one of the few Harvey films that were not shown in Germany. She shot this historical romance while stopping in her native London, on her way home from Hollywood to Berlin. The first performance probably took place in September 1935.
criticism
Hal Erickson said, “Wonderfully produced, Invitation to the Waltz was a light-hearted successor [sic!] To Lillian Harvey's more serious" Ballerina Sacrifice Everything "opus, Schwartze [sic!] Rosen”.
Individual proof
Web links
- Invitation to the Waltz in the Internet Movie Database (English)