Autumn leaves....spring's colorful winter blanket.

 

The Gallery presents…

“The Merry Widow”

“The Merry Widow” 1905

The operetta was debuted in Vienna on December 20th, 1905 with Mizzi Gunther as the widow and Louis Treumann as Danilo. It was Franz Lehar’s first major success. The story was set in the grand Duchy of Pontevedro where there is a grand ball to celebrate the grand Duke’s birthday. Danilo is asked by the ambassador to woo the rich widow, Hanna, to save the country from bankruptcy. After a series of missteps, Danilo does wed the widow….but for love not money.
The American premiere of the operetta was at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City on October 21, 1907.

“The Merry Widow” 1925

In the first film version Erich von Stroheim, who produced, directed and wrote the screenplay, took liberties with the story. As he wrote it, two princes (Danilo and Mirko) were pursuing a Follies dancer Sally O’Hara with seduction in mind. But Danilo fell in love with her and proposed instead. The king and queen forbade the marriage and Sally, thinking she was jilted, married rich and aged baron Sadoja. The poor baron succumbed on his wedding night and a very rich Sally went off to Paris, pursued by both princes. Danilo is wounded in a duel with Mirko but survives to win his lady love.
Note: Joan Crawford and Clark Gable were uncredited bit players in this one making it their first picture together. Also even in these pre-Production Code days, one of the most expensive scenes was cut for censorship reasons….a champagne orgy with scantily clad chorus girls!

   
The Widow and her Danilo 1925


Mae Murray/The Merry Widow
 Born:  May 10th, 1899 in Portsmouth, Virginia
Died:   March 23rd, 1965 in Woodland Hills, California at 75
Cause of death:  heart ailment
Real name:  Marie Adrienne Koenig
Marriages:  Four, all ending in divorce. Two lasted less than a year. Her second to director Robert Z. Leonard lasted 7 years and her fourth to Prince David Mdivani lasted 12 but ended in a bitter custody battle over their son.

Remarks:  She was “The Girl with the Bee Stung Lips”, a former Ziegfeld Follies chorus girl who became an MGM star with films tailored just for her. Mae made 41 films but “The Merry Widow” was her most memorable. Her career went south when sound came in and her divorce from the Prince cost her both her child and her career (Mdivani persuaded her to leave MGM). She began to show signs of dementia in her later years and it is said that the role of Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard” was patterned after her. At the Motion Picture Country Home she often complained to nurses “Music! I always make my entrance with music. Play “The Merry Widow Waltz”….the number I made famous.”


John Gilbert/Danilo

Born:  July 10th, 1899 in Logan, Utah
Died:  January 9th, 1936 in Los Angeles, California at 38
Cause of death:  heart attack
Real name:  John Cecil Pringle
Marriages:  Four, three to actresses and all ending in divorce. The first to Leatrice Joy (1921-1925) gave him a daughter, Leatrice Gilbert Fontaine who wrote his biography. Another daughter was born to his marriage with Virginia Bruce (1932-1934). His planned marriage to Greta Garbo in 1927 didn’t come off. Greta left him waiting at the altar.

Remarks:  John was born “in a trunk” to parents who were stock company actors. His career took its biggest bounce when he went to MGM and worked with top directors like King Vidor and Erich von Stroheim. Gilbert had the voice to move from silent to sound but for the antagonism between him and studio honcho L.B. Mayer. Rumor has it Mayer had the sound equipment tampered with so that Gilbert’s voice sounded high-pitched and unsuitable. When his career crashed, John turned to alcohol and, despite the efforts of Marlene Dietrich, he died because he no longer wanted to live.  


Roy D’Arcy/Mirko
 Born:  February 10th, 1894 in San Francisco, California
Died:   November 15th, 1969 in Redlands, California at 75
Cause of death:   heart attack
Real name:  Roy Francis Giusti
Marriages:  none listed
Remarks;  Roy was educated in Europe and traveled the Continent with a band of gypsies for a time. He made his film debut in “Oh, Boy!” (1919) playing a role he had already done on the stage, but went back to Europe with a monologue act. Erich von Stroheim caught his act when Roy returned to the US and gave him the role as Mirko. Von Stroheim wanted that role himself but MGM (and Irving Thalberg) overruled him. Roy retired from show business at 45 and started his own real estate business.


The Merry Widow  1934
La Veuve Joyeuse  1934

In the tiny country of Marschovia they wrapped widows in black crepe and veils for a year of mourning. One of them fascinated Count Danilo and he even climbed her garden wall for a closer look. But Sonia managed to keep her face and her riches hidden and went off to Paris with Danilo not far behind at the request of the king (she took her money with her). At Maxim’s she pretended to be one of the ‘girls’ and danced with Danilo but rejected his advances. Back in Marshovia, Danilo is convicted of treason (he didn’t bring back the prize) and Sonia relents enough to visit him in prison. The lovers are married behind prison doors.

                      
The Merry Widow and her Danilo 1934


Jeanette MacDonald/Sonia/Fifi
 Born:  June 18th, 1903 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died:   January 14th, 1965 in Houston, Texas at 61
Cause of death:  complications from heart disease
Real name:  Jeanette Anna MacDonald
Marriages:  One to actor Gene Raymond that ended with her death…and a love affair with Nelson Eddy that lasted until she died. For more on that story, begin with issue #24. It concludes in this issue.
Remarks:  This film was done in two complete versions….one in English and one in French. Jeanette spoke fluent French so she did both versions without dubbing. It was Jeanette’s fourth and last picture with Paramount because Irving Thalberg snatched up the
trio of Lubitsch/Chevalier/MacDonald for MGM. In the coming year, Jeanette would become part of the screen’s most successful teams when MGM costarred her with Nelson Eddy in “Naughty Marietta”.


Maurice Chevalier/Danilo
 Born:  September 12th, 1888 in Paris, France
Died:   January 1st, 1972 in Paris, France at 83
Cause of death:  cardiac arrest after kidney surgery
Real name:  Maurice Auguste Chevalier
Marriages:  Two, both ending in divorce. The first to dancer Yvonne Vallee lasted 5 years and the second to dancer Nita Ray lasted 9 years.  His love affairs were legion.
Remarks:  Of Belgian-French parentage, Maurice began his show business career at 13 in a local musical. In 1914 during WWI in France, he was wounded and captured by the Germans. In prison he learned to speak English from his fellow captives and, when he was released, he went to London to work. Maurice made his first American film “Innocents in Paris” in 1929 and sang one of his most famous songs “Louise”. In 1932 he starred with Jeanette for the first time in “One Hour With You” for Paramount. It was
a smash box office success.


Edward Everett Horton/Popoff
 Born:  March 18th, 1886 in Brooklyn, New York
Died:   September 29th, 1970 in Encino, California
Cause of death:  cancer
Real name:  Edward Everett Horton, Jr.
Marriages:  none listed
Remarks:  Edward made over 140 films establishing himself as one of  America’s foremost character actors. His grandfather was Edward Everett hale, author of “The Man Without a Country”.
Like many stars of his era, Edward got his start in theater and didn’t make his first film until 1922 in “Too Much Business”. When television came along, Edward jumped into that medium, too, with over 50 guest appearances. When asked about retiring
at age 80, his reply was “Dear Lord! I would go out of my mind.”


“The Merry Widow” 1952


In this version the widow is an American, Crystal Radek, who inherited Marshovian wealth from her husband, Charlie. The king invites her to come celebrate an special statue that is to be erected in his honor. In the meantime he is setting up a plan to marry her off to Count Danilo. Crystal likes Danilo but suspecting his motives, takes off for Paris. Danilo follows but stops off at Maxim’s where he finds Crystal incognito as Fifi. They fall in love but all bets are off when true identities are uncovered.  The king threatens “Heads will roll!” but true love triumphs.

 


The Merry Widow and her Danilo

 


    


Lana Turner/Crystal/Fifi
 Born:  February 8th , 1921 in Wallace, Idaho.
Died:   June 29th, 1995 in Los Angeles, California at age 74
Cause of death:  cancer
Real name:  Julia jean Mildred Frances Turner
Marriages:  Eight marriages to seven husbands, all ending in divorce. (See Issue #35)
Remarks:  Of course Lana had fallen in love instantly with her handsome leading man. Even with her wrist still bandaged from a recent suicide attempt and kept covered with long gloves, Lana looked radiant. But while Fernando sang to her in his own voice, Lana’s vocals had to be dubbed by Trudy Erwin.

    


Fernando Lamas/Danilo
 Born:  January 9th, 1915 in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died:   October 8th, 1982 in Los Angeles, California at 67
Cause of death:  pancreatic cancer
Real name:  Fernando Alvaro Lamas y de Santos
Marriages:  Four, three ending in divorce. He had a daughter to Perle Mux (1940-1944), another daughter to Lydia Barachi ( 1946-1952), a son, Lorenzo to actress Arlene Dahl ( 1954-1960). His fourth marriage to acress-swimmer Esther Williams lasted until his death. They had no children.
Remarks:  While Lamas was an established star in Argentina and had already made several films for MGM, this was his first starring role. He left “Latin Lover” roles for directing in 1963 and directed both feature films and television shows (including episodes of “Mannix”, “Starsky and Hutch” and “Falcon Crest”). Billy Crystal’s “You look Mah-vah-lous” immortalized
him.



Una Merkel/Kitty
 Born:  December 10th, 1903 in Covington, Kentucky
Died:   January 2nd, 1986 in Los Angeles, California at age 82
Cause of death:  not listed
Marriages:  One. Her marriage to Ronald Burla lasted 13 years before ending in divorce.
Remarks:  Una began her career as a stand-in for Lillian Gish but, after a brief period on Broadway, she returned to the screen on her own in D. W. Griffith’s “Abraham Lincoln”. Not long afterward the studio discovered her comedic side and realized they had a gem.
In 1946 Una almost died when her mother committed suicide by turning on the gas. In 1956 she won a Tony for best Supporting Actress in the Broadway production of “ The Ponder Heart”.
Note: Una Merkel also played Queen Dolores in the 1934 version of “The Merry Widow”.

 


Richard Haydn/Popoff
Born:  March 10th, 1905 in Camberwell, London, England
Died:   April 25th, 1985 in Los Angeles, California at 80
Cause of death:  heart attack
Real name:  George Richard Haydon
Marriages:  none listed. He was engaged for three months to Maria Riva. the daughter of Marlene Dietrich.
Remarks:  Richard had two false starts with a career…his musical comedy act flopped and a hurricane wiped out his job as overseer on a Jamaican banana plantation. But his ability to create a persona with a very funny nasal delivery often accompanied with an exaggerated speech pattern made him a success. However, he did at least two big roles without it….”as Max Detweiler in  “Sound of Music” and Alfred in “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies”.