The Waltz Dream (1925)

[Lokke Heiss]

MoMA continues its program of important Viennese films, just screening The Waltz Dream. Made in 1925 by Berger, the film was a complete mystery to me--most famous for being the film Lubitsch DIDN'T direct, responding to a phone call to come to Hollywood just before he was scheduled to make this one, finally making a version of it named The Smiling Lieutenant in 1931...but his replacement Ludwig Berger doesn't miss a beat--and everything about this movie--the acting, script, accompaniment by Donald Sosin, were all top notch--the standout of the actors was Xenia Desni, a White Russian who fled her homeland in their Civil War. She's so good I wish she'd been in more films--might have had a terrific Hollywood career if she'd gone West in the early 20s. She plays the violin player/band conductor who falls for Niki and then has to heroically let him go. As much as I like Smiling Lieutenant, I think this is a better film.

A gentleman in his 70s was sitting next to me at the end of the movie--he was so moved by the experience he couldn't talk at first, and then fighting back tears, he said in a heavy German accent, "Pure champaign...that's what this film is..pure champaign."

Any ideas about why this film is so little known?

[entredeuxguerres]

...As much as I like Smiling Lieutenant, I think this is a better film.

As well it should be...sans Chevalier.

Why isn't it better known? How many who'd be likely to appreciate it (myself, for instance) can attend MoMA presentations?

[BenModel]

Film repeats Monday at 4:00...

[DShepFilm]

You could also have seen it this year at Cinefest in Syracuse; the lovely print (of the American cut) was loaned by MoMA. Yes, it is effervescent -- and a friend of mine who is also familiar with the German cut says that this American one is far superior.

I believe it was the practice under the Paraufamet Agreement for Ufa to send MGM or Paramount uncut negative of selected takes along with a print of the German version, and the film would then be edited here for the American market. As is well known, Channing Pollock's cut of METROPOLIS was regarded as so much more successful than the German release that the film was withdrawn in its homeland and conformed to the American version; I believe the American cut of FAUST, supervised by Murnau when he arrived here, is also regarded as the best of about four versions of that great film.

David Shepard

[Lokke Heiss]

Yes, David, that sounds quite accurate. The print I saw had English intertitles, and they were not 'just' intertitles, but really good ones, clearly they were made at the same time of the film, and a lot of care was taken to match them to the action, such as showing hand-written letters completely faithful to what they would look like in the story (except being in English of course). And not just that, but the translation from the original German looked to me spot on, really first rate (perhaps even better than the original) - the dialogue was very literate and done by someone with a talent in translation. This version looks MUCH better than the (admittedly brief) German-intertitle portion of the film available on Youtube.

Very few and mostly mixed reviews on the Internet for this film. Perhaps another case of it not being very available, and the copies around being in bad shape or seen out of context (like on the TV with a bad music score) to explain its low profile?

[entredeuxguerres]

...Perhaps another case of it not being very available, and the copies around being in bad shape or seen out of context (like on the TV with a bad music score) to explain its low profile?

Exactly.

[ajabrams]

I went to see this today - what a total delight!! Three incredibly charming lead players, nice subtly witty direction and wonderful accompaniment by our own Ben Model. It cheered me up considerably. Would love to watch this again sometime.

[BenModel]

It's a delightful film. I remember screening it last week (I somehow managed to miss it at Cinefest), having just played for "The Joyless Street" twice and having seen a lot of Weimar stuff, and kept wondering "Is this really an UFA production? From Germany? In the 1920s?"

Ben