Die Fledermaus

True Die Fledermaus lovers might be offended at the cha-cha-ization of the classic Strauss operetta, and the story has been crudely simplified and updated to the pre-World War I years, but there are some good things here. Boy Gobert is a perfect Prince Orlofsky and his version of "Ich lade gern mir Gäste ein" is tremendous fun. Peter Alexander makes for a very enjoyable Eisenstein, perhaps a little more innocent than the original. His rendition of "Brüderlein und Schwesterlein" is beautiful and touching. Marika Rökk, slightly past her prime here, plays Adele and there are a few too many dance numbers thrown in to showcase her very athletic style. Costumes are gloriously cartoonish, and so are the performances. The great Viennese actor, Hans Moser, reprises here the role of Frösch, the jailer--a role he played in the 1937 version of Die Fledermaus.

The updating of the score will either strike you as tremendous fun, or a horrible desecration. For me this is a wonderful, guilty pleasure.