Word: wien
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...love story of the Austro-Hungarian royal heir (Harry Stockwell) and his unroyal Marinka (Joan Roberts) furnishes a good deal more low comedy than high romance. It is told without style or period elegance, in a lurching effort to reconcile antics with atmosphere. As a result, the Alt Wien of 1888 and the Broadway of 1945 constantly collide, and neither wins out. The whole thing merely smacks of something in between the two-operetta the world over, circa...
...postwar vistas, the most alcoholic of Beverage Plans. And it is simplicity itself. No futuristic dream, Rose's postwar world is merely the good old days. Beginning with a riotous "Night of Unconditional Surrender," it shows a restored Gay Paree of foamy-petticoated cancan dancers; a restored lustige Wien waltzing to Lehar and Strauss; a melodious potpourri of old Jerome Kern tunes. Last comes a Victory Ball attended by Roosevelt, Churchill, Chiang Kai-shek and Stalin. Making up in jubilation for what it lacks in taste, Rose's version of the Four Freedoms is four galumphing female heavyweights...
...Music has often carried political meanings. When the Marseillaise was banned in Austria in 1840, Robert Schumann deftly quoted from it in his Patchingsschwankaus Wien (Viennese Carnival Joke). The mere name of Verdi was a slogan for Italian nationalists, because it was an acrostic for the then uncrowned "Victor Emmanuel Red'ltalia" (King of Italy). Sibelius' Finlandia rallied Finns when Finland belonged to Russia. And nowadays the opening "Fate" theme of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (corresponding to the Morse code . . . ) symbolizes occupied Europe's V campaign...
...harbor, removed one of the war heads and attached it to the side of the battleship Viribus Unitis, pride of the Austrian Navy. The other war head they cut adrift in the tideway. The former sank Viribus Unitis, the latter drifted against and blew up the battleship Wien...
...puppet-actors, it proves too elaborate. A puppet Cinderella needs more than a fairy godmother's wand to make it come alive. All the Johann Strauss music in the world cannot make puppets waltz with Alt Wien charm. When they imitate human beings, they come to grief...