This is a charming musical from Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, two of the best screenwriters ever. Set in Franz Josef's Austria (but actually shot in Canada's Jasper National Park), the film features Bing Crosby as Virgil Smith, a phonograph salesman who tries to sell the emperor
(Richard Haydn) one of his machines in the hope that the rest of Austria will begin clamoring for record players. At the palace, he meets the emperor's haughty niece (Joan Fontaine) and takes an immediate dislike to her, but, as often happens in movies, they eventually fall in love. It's hokey,
but the dialog is so witty and the tunes so tuneful that the basic inanity of the story can ...
Released:
1948
Rated:
NR
Length:
105 mins