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So much average

Just what I expected

Absolutely Brilliant!

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I had heard about this film for years and wanted to see it, but apparently there are rights issues which have kept this from the general public. Today I finally saw the film in what looks to be a bootleg copy. The story is a charming love story that spans the generations. Vivienne Segal is lovely and sings very well. Alexander Gray is good as well. The Technicolor is good, although I suppose the restored print, which languishes in a vault, would be preferable. Looking at Wikipedia, it seems that Warner Bros. holds the rights to this property. I'm not sure I believe that though, as they would have no reason that makes any sense to withhold this from their ever-growing Warner Archive collection of early sound movies. More probably, the reason stems from the fact that Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II are the composers, and perhaps one or both of the family estates is causing a holdup on any DVD release. I think it's time some of these "museum pieces" were made available to film buffs like me, who are sick and tired of hearing about how a film's restored version is molding away in some archive, unable to be seen by any but a handful of privileged people who can afford to travel to some "event", where an untouchable film may be seen by but a fraction of those who wish to see it.

True, he sings, but not well. In any case, he is a minor supporting player in Warner Bros' lush 1930 musical, "Viennese Nights". This picture was produced in a 2-color technicolor process and was restored by the UCLA Film Dept. and is a wonder to behold, keeping in mind the year, 1930. It also a wonder to listen to, with words and music by Oscar Hammerstein and Sigmund Romberg. You would imagine the stage would be set for a rating of an 8 or a 9.But, no. We've seen this storyline, a three-generational saga of love lost, many times before but the entire production is undermined by the weakness of its two co-stars. Alexander Gray is (was) a capable singer but is a wooden actor and seems uncomfortable when not singing. In this respect he is like Nelson Eddy. I had no chance to see Vivienne Segal on the Broadway stage but she was an institution there. She created the role of Vera Simpson (Bewitched,Bothered and Bewildered) in the 1940 production of "Pal Joey". She had a lovely singing voice, like Jeanette MacDonald, and, as was mentioned above, resembles a slimmed-down Bette Midler, but seems all wrong in front of a movie camera. Jeanette MacDonald exuded sensuality and an enticing sense of her own charm. Ms. Segal exudes...nothing. The dependable Bert Roach is on hand but as a supporting player can do only what is asked of him.So, with heavy heart, I give this film a rating of 7. Nevertheless I am happy to have seen it. It played at Capitolfest in Rome, N.Y., 8/09 in 35MM.

I'd never heard of this film before other than a footnote in Bela Lugosi's filmography until I read Richard Barrios' excellent A Song in the Dark. In a chapter detailing some of the horrendous musical disasters Warners launched on an unsuspecting public in 1930 Viennese Nights stood out like an oasis of quality. I was intrigued and went to some lengths to get hold of a copy which I finally watched for the first time about a month ago in a copy that left a lot to be desired. There was a lot of drop out, especially in the first hour, so it was something of an effort to get involved in this bittersweet romance.That I did and that in the end the quality of the copy didn't matter is a real tribute to this film. In fact though I started watching expecting a mildly entertaining museum piece, by the finale there were tears in my eyes and I couldn't stop humming the melodies for days afterwards.Everything about this works beautifully, the storyline, though nothing new is here performed with such sincerity that any predictability is unimportant. The performances from Alexander Gray and Vivienne Segal (finally given a worthwhile vehicle) and the rest of the cast are well nigh perfect, the songs are both lovely, haunting and actually express the emotions perfectly. For once the music is welcome. Alan Crosland's direction is elegant and inventive - in it's use of sound light and shadow, and the different periods as we move from 1880 to 1930 are perfectly evoked. Also the 2 color Technicolor (so far as I can judge) is restrained and very pleasing.For Bela fans, his role as an Ambassador is very brief and consists of no more than half a dozen lines. However he does have a nice moment watching the opera when he purrs `Beau-ti-ful music.. Beau-ti-ful ladies.'!!!It's a real shame this film is so under appreciated. UCLA have produced a wonderful restoration (which played at the National Film Theatre here in England last month) so maybe film fans Stateside can lobby TCM Stateside to screen it. (It's not listed as being in their holdings but surely as a First National Production they must have some right to screen it.) A real gem of a film.

This sentimental Romberg-Hammerstein operetta was made late in the first cycle of movie musicals, and the glut of product at the time crowded it out at the box office. Which is too bad, because it's excellent of its kind -- well-crafted, well-cast, and in handsome two-tone Technicolor.The authors steal from all over the place: The two-generation love affairs (one happy, one unhappy) recall Romberg's own "Maytime," and the poor musician and wealthy officer fighting for the fraulein are right out of "Bitter Sweet." But the story matters less than the songs ("You Will Remember Vienna," "I Bring a Love Song," etc.) and the authors' sincerity. It's an unusually full score for a movie musical, with comic numbers, ensembles, and even a show-within-a-show -- one senses that Hammerstein and Romberg wanted their screen work to be as good as their stage work.Vivienne Segal, a prized stage comedienne/soprano, doesn't really get to demonstrate the dry wit and winking innuendo that made her a theater favorite, but she's sweet and direct (at times, she looks like Bette Midler!). Her leading man -- Alexander Gray, also from the stage -- is stiff in the Nelson Eddy mode, but like Eddy, he gives his all when he sings.There's a minimum of the coy twittering associated (not quite fairly) with operetta, and an affecting story at the center, of two lovers who never stop loving, even as they marry other partners, disastrously. Surprisingly adult stuff for its time, and in the end, very touching.