The Emperor Waltz (1948)

63% of critics liked it
(8 reviews)
42% of users liked it
(352 ratings)

Set in pre-World War I Austria, this relatively sweet and cheerful film marks writer/director Billy Wilder's first and last try at musical comedy. Bing Crosby is Virgil H. Smith, a New Jersey-born phonograph salesman with a fox terrier mutt and orders to sell record players in Austria. Joan Fontaine… More Set in pre-World War I Austria, this relatively sweet and cheerful film marks writer/director Billy Wilder's first and last try at musical comedy. Bing Crosby is Virgil H. Smith, a New Jersey-born phonograph salesman with a fox terrier mutt and orders to sell record players in Austria. Joan Fontaine is Johanna Augusta Franziska von Stoltzenberg-Stolzenberg, a countess with a bankrupt father and a black pedigree poodle that has just been picked to breed with the Austrian Emperor's (Richard Haydn) beloved black dog. Virgil and his fox terrier must convince the Emperor to buy a record player so that the product will gain favor amongst the Austrian people. Johanna must persuade her black poodle to mate with the Emperor's royal dog in order to ameliorate her father's financial woes. Virgil and Johanna have a love affair that overcomes class differences, opens up the phonograph market in Austria, and leaves the Emperor satisfied with a beautiful set of fox terrier puppies that could never have been the offspring of his own royal dog. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.
Directed By: Billy Wilder
Written By: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder
Genres: Drama, Romance, Musical & Performing Arts, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1948 Wide
On DVD: Jul 13, 1994
Studio: Paramount

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
Multiple functions of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder on Waltz have given film an infectious quality that surmounts the gorgeously apt trappings against which is projected the fable of an American travelling phonograph salesman.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Brackett and Wilder have made up with casualness and charm -- and with a great deal of clever sight-humor -- for the meagerness of the idea.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Not one of Billy Wilder's strong films, this bizarre period musical teams the director with crooner Bing Crosby, who's pleasant enough and some of the tunes are medlodic.
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Definitely colorful, but otherwise mediocre Bing Crosby musical with few memorable tunes.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
This is a charming musical from Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, two of the best screenwriters ever.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Lackluster and hardly interesting.
, Time Out
Generally reckoned to be Wilder's worst movie.
, Film4
There are so few bad Wilder films that one this awful and irredeemable is heart-breaking.