Masquerade in Vienna

I seen thousands of rare films, this is one of the BEST!

I saw this film in the mid-1980's a film archive screening of a 35mm pristine print. It had been scheduled because no one had run the print in decades and the programmer was curious. The reviews from Variety and the New York Times said this was a wonderful, sophisticated, romantic comedy but that this Austrian version had been bought so that MGM could remake the film with Myrna Loy and William Powell. Unfortunately Loy was in a contract dispute and Luise Rainer was substituted with mixed results. The German language original version hardly got any play. When I saw it with a small group of surprised film buffs a very unusual experience happened. The lights came up after the end credits were over and we rose to our feet dumb founded. Several strangers near by turned to one anther with the same question on their lips, "Is it just me, or was that the best movie we've ever seen?' Quickly the electricity zoomed around the room and it was confirmed! The rapturous talk about this film spread like wild fire. IT'S A CHARMING MASTERPIECE! Now I'm a student of Ernst Lubitsch, Frank Capra and Billy Wilder and this film should be shown again to the public where they too can celebrate this delightful film on par with the work of these masters. Let us all support classic film and the screening of movies on the big screen where they were meant to be seen. And let's all support the film archives who's job it is to find, preserve and present these forgotten wonders of early cinema. It's been almost fifteen years since I've seen this gem and I still pray everyday to see it again. I hope someday to share more of it's charm with my old friends and to make new friends by giving them the joyous experience of this buried treasure.

This is a real find, that I'd never heard of till today, and which feels very much like a lost Max Ophuls confection, with the viennese setting and the dashing Anton Walbrook (the narrator of Ophuls' masterpiece La Ronde) in the lead as "Vienna's most elegant man". The photography is distinctive and insightful - the camera seems to see more than it should - and many moving images stay emblazoned on the mind much more like still photographs.

The story, of the scandal and misunderstandings surrounding a masked nude portrait of a prominent society lady, would in Hollywood have been little more than a run-of-the-mill farce, but here is filled with delicate emotional touches, insight and romance, and I can't help but think it would be far better known today if it hadn't been filmed in the German language in the lead up to the second world war.

A delightful movie, full of atmosphere of the post World War I Vienna. The old elites are officially abolished but still dominant in social life. A scandal - worth the 19th century prudery - is made bearable through the famous Viennese easy-going lifestyle. One can smell the scent of the old Monarchy from every corner along with the tragedy of now only being a small and unimportant country. The story is told quickly, the scenes full of whit and very discreet erotic hints. The leads are cast with two of Austria finest: Paula Wessely and Adolf Wohlbrück (internationally known as Anton Walbrook). If you want to dive deeply into Austrian culture and understanding of the countries roots, then watch this wonderful movie.

Beautiful film. Everything is perfect, the acting, the scenes and the plot fit together perfectly.

For me as a German, the direct language used without anglicisms and modern language elements is very refreshing. It is simply fun to watch this film.

The two main actors fit together so well that I can watch this film again and again. There are no weaknesses in the whole cast.

A few years ago I saw this film by chance and was immediately impressed without remembering the name or the names of the actors. I found it again by chance and watch it again and again.

It is a tragedy what happened politically in Germany and Austria, and in this context the Second World War. Unfortunately, the whole film industry has changed in both countries.

What a timeless confection of romance and scandal. It's as if I can smell the perfume clinging to the gowns as they fall to the art studio floor, feel the nap of the chinchilla muff, daub the flushed skin of a bourgeois wife's figure just released from the bones on a tight corset, thrill to her gay call for more champagne--all immersed in pale 'fin de siecle' lamp light. What an effervescent touch. Oh Willi, you rake