Walter Pidgeon (Colonel Nicobar), Ethel Barrymore (mother superior), Peter Lawford (Major McPhenister), Janet Leigh (Maria), Angela Lansbury (Quail), Melville Cooper (Sergeant Moonlight), Louis Calhern (Colonel Piniev), Francis L. Sullivan (Colonel Omicron), Robert Coote (Brigadier Cathlock), Alan Napier (the general), Roman Toporow (Lieutenant Omansky), Tamara Shayne (Helena Nagard), Konstantin Shayne (Bruloff), Janine Perreau (Mickey Mouse), Victor Wood (aka David Hydes) (Lieutenant Guedalia-Wood), Geoffrey Alan (major), Argentina Brunetti (Italian woman), Kasia Orzazewski (Sister Kasmira), Margo Von Leu (Lani Hansel), John Royce (sergeant at rehearsal), Carol Savage (Private Jemima), Tito Vuolo (Italian bill-poster), Audey Long (Countess Cressanti), Doris Lloyd (Mrs Omicron), Lotus Thompson (female private), Emil Rameau (proprietor), Henry Kulky (Russian lieutenant), Kenneth Hunter (the brigadier- general), Sigmund Halperon (a German), Richard Fraser (the transport checking officer).
Director: GEORGE SIDNEY. Screenplay: Gina Kaus, Arthur Wimperis. Based on the 1947 novel Vespers in Vienna by Bruce Marshall. Photography: Charles Rosher. Film editor: James E. Newcom. Art directors: Cedric Gibbons and Hans Peters. Set decorators: Edwin B. Willis and Hugh Hunt. Costumes designed by Helen Rose. Make-up: Jack Dawn. Hair styles: Sydney Guilaroff. Special effects: Warren Newcombe. Camera operator: John M. Nickolaus, jr. Music composed by Miklos Rozsa, orchestrated by by Eugene Zador. Sound supervisor: Douglas Shearer. Producer: Carey Wilson.
Copyright 29 September 1949 by Loew's Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture. New York opening at the Capitol: 8 December 1949. U.S. release: 14 October 1949. U.K. release: 17 April 1950. Australian release: 18 May 1950. 10,689 feet. 118 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Seeking refuge in postwar Vienna, a young ballerina is determined not to be repatriated to her Communist homeland.
NOTES: Nominated for an Academy Award for black-and-white Art Direction, Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters, Edwin B. Willis and Hugh Hunt, lost to Sunset Boulevard.
COMMENT: Although here it serves as a blatantly biased piece of hysterical anti-Communist propaganda, the plight of displaced persons in postwar Vienna seems a worthy enough theme. Indeed it was treated with both realism and stunning power in :The Third Man" (1949).
Unfortunately, however, the characters of The Red Danube form a medley from musical comedy and gaslight melodrama. In real life, Colonel Nicobar would have faced a court martial and Colonel Piniev a firing squad, whilst the Mother Superior would have been drummed out of every convent this side of heaven.
And while Hollywood may fondly imagine that brass hats are all comedic morons, they are definitely not akin to the amusing cretins depicted here by Messrs Robert Coote and Francis L. Sullivan.
In all, it is difficult to name a less credible tale served up under the guise of realistic fiction. Yet, thanks to director George Sidney's skill, abetted by some fine photography and excellent sets, certain scenes do come across with undeniable force.
Director: GEORGE SIDNEY. Screenplay: Gina Kaus, Arthur Wimperis. Based on the 1947 novel Vespers in Vienna by Bruce Marshall. Photography: Charles Rosher. Film editor: James E. Newcom. Art directors: Cedric Gibbons and Hans Peters. Set decorators: Edwin B. Willis and Hugh Hunt. Costumes designed by Helen Rose. Make-up: Jack Dawn. Hair styles: Sydney Guilaroff. Special effects: Warren Newcombe. Camera operator: John M. Nickolaus, jr. Music composed by Miklos Rozsa, orchestrated by by Eugene Zador. Sound supervisor: Douglas Shearer. Producer: Carey Wilson.
Copyright 29 September 1949 by Loew's Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture. New York opening at the Capitol: 8 December 1949. U.S. release: 14 October 1949. U.K. release: 17 April 1950. Australian release: 18 May 1950. 10,689 feet. 118 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Seeking refuge in postwar Vienna, a young ballerina is determined not to be repatriated to her Communist homeland.
NOTES: Nominated for an Academy Award for black-and-white Art Direction, Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters, Edwin B. Willis and Hugh Hunt, lost to Sunset Boulevard.
COMMENT: Although here it serves as a blatantly biased piece of hysterical anti-Communist propaganda, the plight of displaced persons in postwar Vienna seems a worthy enough theme. Indeed it was treated with both realism and stunning power in :The Third Man" (1949).
Unfortunately, however, the characters of The Red Danube form a medley from musical comedy and gaslight melodrama. In real life, Colonel Nicobar would have faced a court martial and Colonel Piniev a firing squad, whilst the Mother Superior would have been drummed out of every convent this side of heaven.
And while Hollywood may fondly imagine that brass hats are all comedic morons, they are definitely not akin to the amusing cretins depicted here by Messrs Robert Coote and Francis L. Sullivan.
In all, it is difficult to name a less credible tale served up under the guise of realistic fiction. Yet, thanks to director George Sidney's skill, abetted by some fine photography and excellent sets, certain scenes do come across with undeniable force.