Champagne Waltz

Champagne Waltz
Directed byA. Edward Sutherland
Written byDon Hartman
Frank Butler
Billy Wilder
Hy Kraft
Produced byHarlan Thompson
William LeBaron
StarringGladys Swarthout
Fred MacMurray
Jack Oakie
Fritz Leiber
CinematographyWilliam C. Mellor
Edited byPaul Weatherwax
Music byMultiple contributors including Oscar Hammerstein
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • February 5, 1937 (1937-02-05)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Champagne Waltz is a 1937 American comedy film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Gladys Swarthout, Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie. The theme of the film was inspired by the eponymous hit song, written in 1934, by the compositional pair Con Conrad and Ben Oakland.[1] It is one of five movies produced by Paramount in the 1930s featuring Swarthout, a very popular Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano. The studio was attempting to build on the popularity of Grace Moore, another opera singer, who had also expanded her talents into movies.[2] The film's sets were designed by the art director Ernst Fegté working with Hans Dreier. The costume designer was Travis Banton.

Plot

This is a light musical with elements of screwball comedy. It documents the rivalry between a Vienna Waltz studio and the American jazz band that moves in next door. Franz Strauss is stressed because his waltz palace is losing business to the jazz club. Fred MacMurray is the trumpet-playing headliner. He pretends to be the US Consul when he encounters Swarthout, the daughter of the waltz studio owner. He changes the story to be an icebox salesman in order to continue wooing Swarthout. Meanwhile, Oakie is falling for a countess who sold him a fake silver service.[3]

Cast

Reception

Time gave the movie a poor review as a "heavy-handed musical naively designed to combine the best features of jazz with those of the Viennese waltz."[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ "THE CHAMPAGNE WALTZ". Fleischer AllStars. Retrieved 2024-04-07.
  2. ^ a b "Champagne Waltz (Paramount)". Time magazine. January 25, 1937. Retrieved 2013-12-21. The perennial and expensive effort to make a Grace Moore out of Gladys Swarthout seemed to have more logic some time ago when Miss Moore was a more important box-office draw.
  3. ^ Champagne Waltz, Picture Show Souvenir, Paramount Studios, (booklet provided to movie patrons)