The Merry Widow (1925) User Reviews (21)

The Trophy Widow

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 25 January 2010]

The Merry Widow was first seen by American audiences on Broadway during the 1907-08 season where it ran for 416 performances. For those of us who know it primarily from the sound films with first Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald and later Fernando Lamas and Lana Turner, this version will be quite interesting. Let's just say that what was put in the talkies was a lot closer to the stage production. Erich Von Stroheim who directed this film added quite a bit to the story. In fact in the end it isn't quite so merry.

Most of the film is taken up with just how Mae Murray became The Merry Widow. She's an American dancer who is stranded in the remote Balkan kingdom of Monteblanco which is ruled by King George Fawcett. In line for the throne is the rakish Roy D'Arcy, a Snidely Whiplash villain if there ever was one. Behind him is his cousin John Gilbert playing Prince Danilo.

Murray comes to the attention of both men, Gilbert actually falls for her, D'Arcy would like an occasional roll in the hay, but marry her? There's a third guy out there in Tully Marshall who is the wealthiest man in the kingdom and it's principal banker. He leaves and the whole place goes into receivership. Marshall's an old dude with some alternative sexual interests that Von Stroheim exploits to the fullest on screen and he'd like a young trophy wife and Murray fills the bill.

She does become a wife ever so briefly and then of course the Merry Widow having had her fill of royalty. But now that she holds the Monteblanco purse strings, D'Arcy has taken a renewed interest in her and maybe she just might be a suitable queen.

I think you can see where this is going though Von Stroheim does tease us a bit with some possible alternatives before the film concludes. The audience of 1925 saw one lavish production that nearly broke the new Metro-Goldwyn studio. We only see about half the footage he shot if that.

One thing that Metro did not have to worry about was a soundtrack. The music of The Merry Widow was very familiar to the American public and it's played on the organ throughout the film. Young contract players Joan Crawford and Clark Gable are extras in the ballroom scene and good luck in spotting them. Although in the Citadel film series book on The Films Of Clark Gable there is a still from The Merry Widow where Gable is pointed out.

I'm sure John Gilbert little dreamed that in six years Gable would be supplanting him as the number one leading man at MGM. But in The Merry Widow he's a stalwart and resolute Danilo and Mae Murray actually does suggest a bit of what Jeanette MacDonald's performance would be in the first sound remake.

In the fate of what happens to D'Arcy's character, Von Stroheim opts for some realism in terms of the European scene of the past 25 years or so before the film debuted. In fact very little of the happy tone of The Merry Widow is preserved here. The film given how Murray got her millions ought to be retitled, The Trophy Widow.

Still it's an interesting alternative to the normal operetta productions we're used to seeing.

The Prince Can Love Too

[nukisepp · 7/10 · 20 January 2021]

Erich von Stroheim has played a neat little trick with 'The Merry Widow'. The first half of the movie plays out like a quirky royal-romance comedy. There are plenty of scenes and gags that could belong to the best comedic works of Howard Hawks. In the second half, the tone changes into more melodramatic, yet the tonal change doesn't take the viewer out of the movie. It actually gives that perfect feel of a mental hangover after the pure love has been ripped into shreds by the cruel world. But the whole film has some sinister undertone - like something is about to happen, but you can't be sure, what it is. Von Stroheim constantly leads his viewers somewhere, allows them to guess, and then - BAM.

John Gilbert is likable as charming Prince Danilo. Mae Murray balances between hammy and sometimes very good performance (someone said, that von Stroheim made actress out from Murray). But Roy D'Arcy is hamming his Crown Prince Mirko up. In a good way. His portrayal of a monocle-wearing sleazy villain blows all previous Erich von Stroheim's performances out of the water.

Like any other von Stroheim's movie, 'The Merry Widow' also suffered from studio interference (some scenes that were cut were quite steamy, probably even for today's standards). I would want to say that 'The Merry Widow' is von Stroheim's weakest work, but again, we can't see his whole vision. The sets are beautiful. Camerawork and editing also something of their own league. Again, you have to admire von Stroheim's attention to small details - lecherous Baron Sadoja's obsession with women's legs, who himself has sick legs.

The Merry Widow review

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 7 May 2020]

Stroheim's take on the familiar story is filled with his customary pomp and spectacle while never losing sight of the love story at its core. It's something of a slog at over two hours long though, and Gilbert's royal prince comes across as something of a sleaze at times. However, Roy D'Arcy makes a wonderfully hissable villain as the scheming Crown Prince Mirko (a role von Stroheim originally ear-marked for himself).

Torrid Mae Murray and John Gilbert

[drednm · 3 April 2006]

Superb film by Erich von Stroheim who "personally directed" this lush and romantic blockbuster starring Mae Murray and John Gilbert.

Gilbert plays a European prince who falls for American "danseuse" Murray. Of course his leering cousin the Crown prince (Roy D'Arcy) also has a yen for blonde Murray. The boys clash but Murray prefers Gilbert until he is tricked into jilting her at the altar. She then marries the nation's leading banker (Tully Marshall) who has a foot fetish. He croaks of their wedding night and she becomes "The Merry Widow," a notorious party goer and high liver.

The lovers meet again at Maxim's in Paris where Murray pretends to prefer the oozing D'Arcy. Gilbert gets drunk. On a morning horse ride Murray and D'Arcy come across Gilbert sprawled drunk by the roadside. In a fit, Gilbert strikes the loathsome prince and is challenged to a duel. Murray races to the fog-ridden gunfest but Gilbert has already been shot.

Von Stroheim, notorious for his excesses in GREED is more constrained with THE MERRY WIDOW but still manages some startlingly decadent touches. Murray is fabulous as a the dancer and gets one whole routine to herself a la Martha Grahame as well as the striking and sensual waltz with Gilbert. Gilbert seethes with masculinity and lust for Murray. They are quite a couple. Von Stroheim gives each star maximum close-ups to great effect. Murray has two grand entrances: one in black gown and diamonds for a royal ball; a second all in white fur cape and feathers for her entrance at Maxim's.

The film is highly dramatic, romantic, and sensual but manages touches of humor. A real feast. George Fawcett is the old king; Josephine Crowell is the queen.

In 1925 John Gilbert would have been a shoe in for a best actor Oscar between his performances in THE MERRY WIDOW and THE BIG PARADE. Murray would likely have been a best actress contender. Great film.

Very nice

[davidmvining · 7/10 · 3 February 2023]

Based on an operetta by Franz Lehar, The Merry Widow is Erich von Stroheim working in a similar space as his contemporary Ernst Lubitsch (who made his own version of the same story nine years later). Von Stroheim doesn't have the same light touch as Lubitsch, but he was a graceful, detailed, and ornate filmmaker who tried for deeper emotions. The material isn't the same kind of source of deep emotions as something like the novel McTeague that inspired von Stroheim's Greed, but the director does manage everything well in his own way, providing an entertaining, if light, look at love and royalty in an invented Central European nation.

Prince Danilo Petrovich (John Gilbert) is second in line for the throne of Monteblanco, and he's having fun. He's a military man and womanizer who likes to pursue romantic conquests whenever he's not leading his troops out on maneuvers. His cousin, the Crown Prince Mirko (Roy D'Arcy), is a sniffling worm of a man who is determined to punish a subordinate officer when he finds pigs near his hotel. At this same hotel comes a dancing troupe led by Sally O'Hara (Mae Murray), a pretty dancer who immediately catches Danilo's eye. He orders his men to help him hide his identity as a prince to help seduce the pretty Irish lass, and it steadily works on her. She grows in affection towards him, and he does the same to the point where they do genuinely fall in love with each other. Over the objections of the Crown Prince, King Nikita I (George Fawcett), and Queen Milena (Josephine Crowell), the Prince plans a wedding with Sally, but he gets talked out of it with talk of duty to the state. Broken hearted, Sally accepts the marriage proposal of the wealthy Baron Sadoja (Tully Marshall) who dies on their wedding night, leaving her incredibly wealthy with Monteblanco money and a year to grieve.

Von Stroheim is one of those storytellers that really puts in the effort early in his films to really establish and round out characters. In Greed the storytelling was broad enough to create all of the supporting cast, but in The Merry Widow the storytelling is more tightly focused around the two main characters. Those two, Danilo and Sally, end up quite well realized especially at the hands of Gilbert and Murray. Gilbert has a great moment where he has to quietly accept that Sally doesn't want him, and Gilbert just stares off, crestfallen. It's one of the most effective emotional moments in the film. Murray is also quite good, though she has the one "big silent acting" moment of the film where she rends off all of her clothes in anger at the news that Danilo won't marry her. Outside of that moment, though, she's really good. She's something of an cynic at the beginning, watching Danilo try to woo her, and carries that over in a different form in the film's second half when she comes back from her year in seclusion and some time in Paris, decked out in jewels and ready to return to Monteblanco in style.

This second half of the film is the real meat. The first half was just the setup, and the second half is where the work establishing everyone in the first act comes to fruition. The big sequence of the second half is around a ball designed to introduce Sally to Moneblanco society where Mirko starts his plans to marry Sally for her money. There are a pair of great closeups where Sally vanishes from the frame, leaving only her jewels twinkling against the light. She ends up playing up her attraction to Mirko in order to wound Danilo, and I was kind of surprised at how things were playing out for a time. There was a surprising amount of earned pain. It wasn't deeply moving, but it was working.

And then its finale wraps everything up in a nice, melodramatic bow where everyone good is happy and everyone bad gets their comeuppance. It's nice, but there seemed to be a darker undercurrent working that suddenly got snuffed out.

After the expansive and epic Greed, The Merry Widow is a much less ambitious film that von Stroheim handles well. He overspent like always, added a fair amount of sex, and apparently changed some libretto enough to anger MGM enough to decline to ever work with von Stroheim ever again. It's really too bad that von Stroheim had such problems working with other people (the tales of him clashing with Mae Murray were part of the whole package as well) and couldn't control his budgets, because he really was a quality filmmaker. The ambition he showed in terms of physical productions was really incredible while he could manage very good performances from actors and tell convincing stories. The Merry Widow might not be one of the great silent films, but it is a very nice one nonetheless.

They Had Faces Then

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 10 October 2004]

A romantic Prince from tiny Monteblanco attempts to woo THE MERRY WIDOW who once loved him when she was a poor dancer.

Erich von Stroheim, the Teutonic genius who marched through Hollywood's Silent Days like a conquering general, had his final directorial stint at MGM Studios producing this lavish & brilliant film based on the operetta by Franz Lehár. The visuals are striking, with sets that look like actual locations--a mountaintop village; the Castellano Cathedral; Maxim's in Paris--and the occasional bizarre touch--the blindfolded musicians sharing the Prince's seduction bed, for example--which von Stroheim relished. The acting is flawless, with no need for dialogue. The actors' faces speak all that need be said.

Mae Murray & John Gilbert portray the passionate lovers whom Fate (and the plot) contrives to keep apart so successfully. Miss Murray (she and the director loathed each other) powerfully portrays a street-wise performer who, through a series of heartbreaks, becomes a vastly wealthy woman. Gilbert expertly plays a prince whose charm has always gotten him his way. Their scenes together, most particularly the waltz sequences, fairly blaze with unrequited sensual longing and desire.

While it is entertaining to wonder what von Stroheim would have done with the role, it is difficult to imagine anyone better than Roy D'Arcy as the simpering, lusting, sneering Crown Prince; he is pure villainy personified and his eventual fate is absolutely justified. Josephine Crowell gives a fine performance as the Queen. Tully Marshall, one of von Stroheim's favorite character actors, adds another portrait to his gallery of grotesques, this time playing a crippled baron with a foot fetish.

The wonderful organ score which accompanies the film was arranged & performed by Dennis James.

MGM would tackle THE MERRY WIDOW again nine years later and produce a vastly different film, this time directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Maurice Chevalier & Jeanette MacDonald.

An Almost-Epic Silent

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 2 December 2016]

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.

Officially my second favourite Stroheim film!

[Ben_Cheshire · 9/10 · 19 June 2004]

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!)

We don't need the words, do we? It's all in their eyes, in their bodies...in the dance.

[AnnieP · 10/10 · 4 February 1999]

So much has been written about this picture that it is impossible not to see Von Stroheim's strange genius in it. I, for one, was brought up too conventionally to appreciate the recurring shots of feet - dancing, jumping, caressing, kicking - but it didn't get in the way of the story. It all takes place in their eyes - Mae Murray and the wonderful John Gilbert, so beautifully paired. The sparks fly, the seduction scene with the two blindfolded musicians sets the scene, and when he would seduce her...she cries, and he falls in love.

The responsibility of royalty and the greed of nations come between the lovers, but they come together again, and in the dance all is resurrected. A war of wills, of mistaken feelings and misunderstanding is what they talk about while their bodies move as one. I can hear the music still, see them, his incredible dark eyes riveted on her in all moods:successively amused, then tittilated, finally adoring, hungry; bereft, angry, and finally - consumed and satisfied.

It's a lovely film, even with the feet, and John Gilbert gives a wonderful performance. Mae Murray, who could cry for her own purposes and succumb when every woman in the audience was hoping for their union, was his match.

It's more than big, glorious MGM - it's a good story with strong characters. See it - on the big screen if you can, but see it in any case.!

MGM sure pulled out all the stops for this one!

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 28 February 2011]

lier/Despite this film having the same title as the 1934 Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald movie, it bears no real similarity other than the characters names and title. Otherwise, they really are completely unalike. I have no idea if the '34 version has anything to do with the operetta, though apparently the 1925 one only has a passing similarity.

John Gilbert plays a Prince in a fictional European nation. His rival is the nasty Roy D'Arcy--his cousin the Crown Prince. Both are army officers and womanizers who both fall for a pretty American (Mae Murray). However, she just finds them both annoying at first. However, Gilbert's charms win her over--and hers win him as well and he decides to marry her--even if Princes are NOT supposed to marry commoners. But on the day of their wedding, Gilbert is a no-show--having been convinced to give up the folly of marrying her. Naturally she is heart-broken and the ULTRA-super creepy Baron (Tully Marshall) offers to marry her. After all, he is a major foot fetishist and she has the most exquisite feet!! Ick! You'd even more icky when you see the aging Marshall who looks a bit like death warmed over! Fortunately for Murray, the new husband dies on their wedding night. I say fortunate because he looked like the type who might eat or strangle her! I mean he is REAAALLY creepy!! Now this lady is now a rich Baroness and quite a welcomed member of royal society.

So now that Murray is somebody, what will happen? Will she once again fall for Gilbert's promises and virile ways or will she tell him to get lost? Well, it sure looks like the latter as she now is cozying up to the snake-like Crown Prince--as nasty piece of work he is! Plus, the more Gilbert pursues her, the more she puts him in his place. But, when she announces her plans to marry the Crown Prince, Gilbert goes nuts and attacks him--which leads to them arranging to fight a duel. Will Gilbert survive to win the widow or will he soon be assuming room temperature? Tune in to this film and find out for yourself.

The film is exceptionally well made--with gorgeous sets, lovely matte paintings and lots of cool costumes. It's obvious that MGM spared no expense for this production, though I was surprised that Louis B. Meyer allowed Erich von Stroheim to helm this project considering his reputation for waaay over-excess (with his bazillion-reeled epic "Greed" being pared down by an angry studio just a few years earlier). Regardless, the film looked great and was quite enjoyable--one of the better silents I have seen.

By the way, at the 127 minute mark, get a load of Murray's headdress--it's a riot.

Not Great

[hcoursen · 5/10 · 4 June 2006]

I know that the film suffered from directorial changes back and forth, with Stroheim fired, replaced by Monte Blue, then rehired. The direction is the problem here. The film wanders, boringly and aimlessly, until Gilbert's love for Murray is suddenly kindled in the seduction scene. Suddenly Murray shows us that she can act and Gilbert's pop-eyed stare finds a purpose. Until then, the film has been a series of vaguely related scenes, fading out in what becomes a predictable mannerism. Then, it picks up pace. Gilbert's leaving Murray at the altar (actually in her room all dressed up in her gown) is implausible, as is his later belief that she really prefers the constantly leering Crown Prince D'Arcy. (Didn't his face hurt after a while?). But the duel scene is gripping and the suspension of its outcome effective. Lehar's score, as played and played by the organ, became a bit repetitive. But it called attention to itself primarily because a lot of the film should have tasted the cutting room floor. This one needed a ruthless editing. The scenes in which the king and queen pry apart the enraged cousins, Gilbert and D'Arcy,are hilarious however. I don't think, though, that they were meant as farce.

Good... sometimes great version... but no classic

[tom.hamilton · 19 February 2003]

It may be a matter of taste but as much as I like and admire Erich Von Stroheim work before and behind the camera, his reputation as a `genius' doesn't seem justified by the films themselves.

Certainly Merry Widow is filmed with great style and the opulent design is certainly diverting. Also the decision to turn the story from light opera to fairly heavy drama is completely in keeping with Von Stroheim 's own rather cynical outlook. But I find his obsessive dwelling on details can make for a slow and even tedious viewing experience, especially in the first half which seems to spend an inordinate amount of time setting the relationship between the dashing, irreverent but humanist Prince Danilo Petrovich (Gilbert - in wonderful form) and the pompous, tight lipped and distinctly perverse Crown Prince Mirko (Roy D'Arcy).with scenes prolonged far longer than their dramatic weight justifies. Also where the film attempts a lighter tone, the effect is of a concrete soufflé, with every glance and double entendre painfully spelt out.

However this is still a satisfying film as a whole, especially in the second half where we finally have some DRAMA. Here in sequence after sequence we finally start to understand Von Stroheim's reputation as he examines the decaying Royal family under a particularly unflattering microscope. The tryst with the blindfolded musicians is a particularly memorable scene.

Having heard of Mae Murray's terrible treatment of the Von and others in her career, I had a tough time warming to her in this, but I have to admit she gives a great performance as Sally O ' Hara, an innocent who's mistreatment at the hands of the family almost ruins her life. Roy D'Arcy makes an indelible impression as the creepy Mirko, his every gesture filling one with disgust.

But for my money it's Gilbert's work that makes this film worthwhile. One of the very finest of silent actors, the expressiveness of his eyes, the tenderness of his playing and bearing throughout make his character completely convincing and his torment over loosing Sally a felt and poignant loss.

Absolutely superb

[barkingechoacrosswaves · 10/10 · 2 July 2012]

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.

Erich von Stroheim's masterpiece!

[Pat-54 · 8/10 · 25 September 1998]

This is the kind of silent film that is so enjoyable to watch. Huge budget with a great cast. In the climatic dance sequence, where the "Merry Widow" dances, both Clark Gable and Myrna Loy, both unknowns at the time, were extras.

Erich von Stroheim Kicks up His Heels

[wes-connors · 8/10 · 1 February 2010]

"Manhattan Follies" dancer Mae Murray (as Sally O'Hara) attracts much male attention while touring the "Kingdom of Monteblanco," especially from sexually aggressive John Gilbert (as Danilo Petrovich) and Roy D'Arcy (as Prince Mirko). Soon, Mr. Gilbert's lunging leers turn to love, and Ms. Murray succumbs to his charms. However, Royal rulers Josephine Crowell (as Queen Milena) and George Fawcett (as King Nikita I) are against Gilbert's proposed marriage. Feeling jilted, Murray marries grotesque banker Tully Marshall (as Sixtus Sadoja), who promptly kicks the bucket. Newly rich, Murray becomes "The Merry Widow" of Paris. There, Mr. D'Arcy seems to win her affections, but Gilbert hasn't given up the courtship.

With this film, big-spending director Erich von Stroheim showed he could make an entertaining and innovative crowd-pleaser; his previous "Greed" (1924) had run over-budget (and over eight hours). But, although they had their hoped-for hit, MGM had also had enough of Mr. Stroheim; still, he departed on a high. "The Merry Widow" also helped rejuvenate Murray's fading career, albeit briefly. The cast is superlative, with D'Arcy essaying one of his most memorable roles. Perfectly representing Stroheim's famous foot fetish, Mr. Marshall is one of silent filmdom's forgotten treasures. Most of all, the flicker put Gilbert on the road to superstardom, which he cemented with a winning performance in "The Big Parade" (later in 1925).

Spotting Clark Gable and Joan Crawford as extras isn't as easy as counting Stroheim's foot references.

******** The Merry Widow (8/26/25) Erich von Stroheim ~ Mae Murray, John Gilbert, Roy D'Arcy, Tully Marshall

A silly romance shot with grace.

[lirgabriel · 8/10 · 2 November 2012]

Von Stroheim comes back with another after "Foolish wives", black comedy, this time about a romance involving both princes of fictional kingdom of Monteblanco. Romance firstly between a prince and a dancer, soon dancer and an old lecherous baron, soon widow and a crown prince… How do I make you understand…? Two princessssss…or simply princes are through the movie acting like boys in the sandpit, rivals fighting for the prize toy, out of love or out of greed. The object of their affections is rejected, because of the class difference, by Prince Danillo, who still loves her truly. Prince Mirko really starts trying only after our little lady out of anger and out of pity marries a very old and rich baron and soon becomes the merry widow. Very rich widow let me add. It's about people trapped in the knot of aristocratic rules of engagement, woman who cannot speak her mind, it is about stupid pride that makes it impossible to communicate in any relationship and primal pride disabling our males' minds. It is also entertaining and easy to watch until the very happy end. Maybe too happy.

Very poor adaptation

[overseer-3 · 4/10 · 10 March 2003]

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.

Impressive If a Bit Overlong

[Michael_Elliott · 11 February 2010]

Merry Widow, The (1925)

*** (out of 4)

Big-budget version of the classic stage production marked the final time MGM would work with director von Stroheim who was hired on for what was suppose to be a short film but he would take it and mold it into a 137-minute epic of sorts. The story is pretty well known but it centers on an American dancer (Mae Murray) who gets stranded in a small town where she meets a Prince (John Gilbert) who quickly falls for her. The two have many troubles throughout their relationship including the King (George Fawcett) objecting. According to legend, MGM offered von Stroheim a $10,000 bonus if he could shoot this movie in a three week period. Each week he was over that the bonus would be sliced by $2,000. Needless to say, it ended up taking four months to shoot and MGM pocketed any bonus money that was to be given out. Apparently this film nearly brought the studio down but it turned out being a hit and the rest is history. von Stroheim certainly has a very sinister look and atmosphere running throughout the film and this is something I'm not sure would be in future versions. Since this is the first version I've seen I really can't compare it to anything but I'm sure fans of the director or silent film buffs will really eat this film up even if it isn't the masterpiece one would hope for considering the talent involved. The highlight is clearly the visual look of the film, which is quite stunning from the opening shot to the final one. There are all sorts of strange camera set ups including my favorite that happens around the fifty-minute mark as Murray and Gilbert are having dinner and the director keeps the camera in a long shot with the two actors sitting at the very right of the screen, nearly off camera. This is such a strange shot that it can't help but grab your attention and make you take notice. There are countless other great trick shots throughout the film and von Stroheim certainly builds a wonderful atmosphere that is quite thick and at times haunting. The performances by the two leads are very good as well with both playing off one another wonderfully. I thought the romantic aspect of the story was fully believable as both actors perfectly nail the more dramatic parts and Gilbert getting a special notice for some nice comic timing. If I had any problem with the film its the running time as I felt there could have been some trims here and there and nothing would have been lost on the story. Apparently Clark Gable and Joan Crawford are extras in the mammoth ballroom sequence but I was unable to spot them.

There is nothing in the entire vocabulary of Romantic-Drama genre that hasn't been influenced by this classic adaptation made by Erich von Stroheim.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 8/10 · 6 December 2021]

The Merry Widow (1925) : Brief Review -

There is nothing in the entire vocabulary of Romantic-Drama genre that hasn't been influenced by this classic adaptation made by Erich von Stroheim. It's difficult to name all those films that have been influenced and copied from this film, but you get my point right. It's been highly influential and is even Today. The film is based on the Franz Lehár's 1905 operetta and i haven't seen the first adaptation of it made by Michael Curtiz (One my favorite directors of all time) and i don't think that would have changed anything. The Merry Widow has everything that i have seen in thousands of films made over the years. It's not that it's the first one, even this one has few influences taken from 20s films but it's a direct adaptation to the operetta, which gives it some credibility of its own. 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. A fantastic story with lots of romance, drama, sadness, morality, loyalty and then happy ending, what else i could have expected a 1925's film? The film has been remade many times, sometimes officially and most of the times unofficially, but i don't really care about it. Though, i have seen many of those remakes which made it a very predictable affair but still i enjoyed it thoroughly. Erich's direction and writing both are powerful and his addiction to add glamour in the film has worked here. I hated some of his films for the sexual overdose but here everything was in limits and pure. John Gilbert got his first ever acclaimed role as well as first acclaimed classic while Mae Murray became a shining star after this. Overall, it's a fundamental and organic classic in Romantic-Drama genre with nothing going against its nature. For the ones who understand or want to understand the cinema according to its period, this one is a textbook material.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.

The Mourning After

[lugonian · 9/10 · 31 May 2021]

THE MERRY WIDOW (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1925), personally produced, directed and adapted by Erich Von Stroheim, is a visually elaborate silent screen treatment to the famous 1905 operetta by Franz Lehar. Regardless of the story changes presented here, it is more Von Stroheim than Lehar, obviously. Overall, a rousing success upon release, this MERRY WIDOW ranks, along with THE BIG PARADE, of 1925, John Gilbert's most memorable roles, along with Mae Murray, a popular leading lady of the silent screen, whose name and films dating back to 1916, have been long unavailable, unseen and forgotten through the passage of time, in the title role.

The story, set in "Castellano, 'the city in the sky,' capital of the kingdom of Monteblanco, embraced eternally by the encircling White Mountains," opens with character development of royal characters King Nikita (George Fawcett), Queen Milena (Josephine Crowell) and Baron Sadoja (Tully Marshall) "whose millions are the power behind the throne." Prince Danilo Petrovich (John Gilbert) and Crown Prince Mirko (Roy D'Arcy), Army militant cousins, return home from the regiment. Having their ways of charm with women, Danilo and Mirko become interested in Sally O'Hara (Mae Murray), the "premiere danseuse" of the Manhattan Follies, whose troupe arrives at Monteblanco on their way to Castallano, staying overnight to perform for the royals. Becoming acquainted with Danilo, who keeps his royal background a secret, and Mirko, heir to the throne, Sally falls in love with Danilo, agreeing to become his wife. It's on her wedding day does Sally learn the truth through Mirko about Danilo, while Danilo is being held back and talked out of marrying Sally by Queen Milena because Sally is nothing but a commoner and not of royal blood. With Sally left at the altar, she ends up marrying Baron Sadoja, the rich, middle-aged cripple, whom she does not love. Upon his death on their wedding night, Sally becomes the country's richest widow, earning the alluring title as "The Merry Widow." As Mirko and Danilo attempt to win her back, they end up rivals, even to the point of dueling for her love. Others in the cast include: Edward Connelly (The Ambassador); Albert Conti (The Adjudant); Dale Fuller (The Chambermaid); with Sidney Bracey and D'Arcy Corrigan in smaller roles.

A lengthy production at 137 minutes, THE MERRY WIDOW is a merry affair, made enjoyable through its excellent organ scoring to Franz Lehar melodies as his iconic "Merry Widow Waltz," conducted by Dennis James. While its director, Von Stroheim, could have enacted the role of Danilo, John Gilbert is a satisfactory substitute. Aside from some lavish European style settings, castles, the Maxim cabaret with crowd extras in the Von Stroheim directorial mode, Gilbert's dancing with Mae Murray ranks one of its true highlights. Because THE MERRY WIDOW appears to be one of the very few movies in circulation, and available on DVD, to feature the frizzy-haired blonde Mae Murray, THE MERRY WIDOW would be a worthy rediscovery to her once popular legend and how she became known as The Merry Widow, whenever shown on cable television's Turner Classic Movies, where the 1925 original premiered in 1998.

In closing, THE MERRY WIDOW was revamped by MGM as operettic musicals: 1934 starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, and a 1952 Technicolor adaptation starring Lana Turner and Fernando Lamas, both retold very differently from the 1925 silent adaptation. Which of the three versions ranks the best certainly relies on anyone who's seen all three to decide. (***)

As Marie Antoinette infamously observed . . .

[cricket30 · 8/10 · 26 May 2021]

. . . "You can't bake your cake, and eat it, too." THE MERRY WIDOW is such a long movie that viewers might expect future Queen Sally to be stuffing her face with cake regularly. However, despite getting hitched twice, Sally does not ingest a morsel of baked goods--not even a crumb of wedding cake! Furthermore, when she comes upon a scene where all the other chorus girls are allowing their milk spigots to air out "au naturel," Sally chastely keeps her nozzles suited up despite the pleas from male film audience members after 119 grueling minutes of European turf war tedium. Doubtless Queen Marie could have been more successful in keeping her noggin had she been willing to appease the rabble by doffing other things. Hopefully Sally's prudence will not result in a half-court basket buzzer beater akin to Marie's.