The Emperor Waltz (1948)

It took me a while to figure out what exactly it was about this Billy Wilder comedy that distinguishes it from other Billy Wilder comedies. Then it hit me, this movie can actually be described as sweet and sentimental, something Wilder was generally loath to be; with his earlier film The Major and the Minor being the only other Wilder film I’ve seen that I would describe in those terms. I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising that nostalgia drips through this movie, as it is set in the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the directors youth, though largely amongst the upper classes of which the Wilders were not a part (in his authorized biography Nobody's Perfect the director tells a wonderfully reveling little story about his childhood jealously of the crown prince).

One of those Bing Crosby comedies so many talented writers and directors seemingly served time doing, it’s a more then likable enough feature, in which Bing plays an American phonograph salesman (good gag with a dog) who falls in love with a women of the aristocracy (Joan Fontaine not stretching herself). The movie ends kind of oddly, of course Bing gets the girl, but only after being roused to moral certitude after a general orders some mixed-breed puppies drowned. What I liked the most about the movie were a very few musical scenes set in the scenic village of Fiddle. It was interesting to see musical numbers like this in a Wilder film, but I liked the way they were handled, and that moment with all the villagers on their string interments, just felt like an encapsulation of what a good sentimental, period musical could be. 4 out of 5.