The Merry Widow (1952)

75% of users liked it
(105 ratings)

Based on an operetta by Franz Lehar, this remake of the 1934 original finds a wealthy widow (Lana Turner) returning to her husband's native land to dedicate a memorial to him. The king (Thomas Gomez) of the country, deep in debt, tries to convince her to stay by offering a young count (Fernando… More Based on an operetta by Franz Lehar, this remake of the 1934 original finds a wealthy widow (Lana Turner) returning to her husband's native land to dedicate a memorial to him. The king (Thomas Gomez) of the country, deep in debt, tries to convince her to stay by offering a young count (Fernando Lamas) for her to marry. The film earned Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration and Best Costumes. ~ John Bush, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 45 min.
Directed By: Curtis Bernhardt
Genres: Musical & Performing Arts, Classics

In Theaters: Sep 5, 1952 Wide
On DVD: May 26, 1993

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Featured Audience Ratings

Mason W

A good remake from the original. Lana Turner and Fernando Lamas both are very good in this movie and look great!!!
Lanning :

That man, the one who was singing. What's his name? All righty, friends, I think almost all of us would agree that musicals are a bit removed from the "real" world. Because lots of us understand this, we venture wisely in to the experience of a musical ready… More
That man, the one who was singing. What's his name? All righty, friends, I think almost all of us would agree that musicals are a bit removed from the "real" world. Because lots of us understand this, we venture wisely in to the experience of a musical ready to deploy a healthy dose of the good old willing suspension of disbelief. And if we play our part this way, we manage, with a good musical, to get caught up in the possibility that we are watching a "real" event, despite the fact that the cast may break into song and even into dance. So when we're playing our part, the last thing we need are what I will call "meta" musical lines of dialog, such as the lines I've quoted above. The conscious pointing out of the fact that people are singing and/or dancing tends to break the illusion in which we're participating. Agreed? I mean, would it have changed much to have Lana Turner simply say: "That man. What's his name?" Anywho, this is not what I would call a top drawer favorite musical of mine, but it is a musical nonetheless, and for that alone: plus one star. The music is mostly beautiful music: plus one star. We get Lana Turner, and lots of her, if you know what I mean : ) Plus one star. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0580916/"> Una Merkel</a> always makes me smile, and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0370821/">Richard Haydn</a> is his usual idiosyncratically brilliant self: plus 1/2 star each. So that's four stars so far. Ah, hmmmmm, I wonder who decided to cast Fernando Lamas in this one. Yikes! Minus one star for that brilliant idea. He is not so good normally, but singing? Auwe . . . . Total: three stars. For me that means average, and this is definitely a wee cut above average. So because of all that great Lana Turner exposure, plus 1/2 star more : )