The Red Danube

Last updated

The Red Danube
Red danube.jpg
Film poster
Directed by George Sidney
Screenplay by Gina Kaus
Arthur Wimperis
Based on Vespers in Vienna
1947 novel
by Bruce Marshall
Produced by Carey Wilson
Starring Walter Pidgeon
Ethel Barrymore
Peter Lawford
Angela Lansbury
Janet Leigh
Cinematography Charles Rosher
Edited by James E. Newcom
Music by Miklós Rózsa
Production
company
Distributed by Loew's, Inc.
Release date
  • October 14, 1949 (1949-10-14)
Running time
119 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.96 million [1]
Box office$1.86 million [1]

The Red Danube is a 1949 American drama film directed by George Sidney and starring Walter Pidgeon. [2] The film is set during Operation Keelhaul and was based on the 1947 novel Vespers in Vienna by Bruce Marshall.

Contents

Plot

In Rome shortly after World War II, British Col. Michael "Hooky" Nicobar (Walter Pidgeon) is expecting a transfer home when he is instead posted to Vienna with his aides Junior Commander Audrey Quail (Angela Lansbury), Major John "Twingo" McPhimister (Peter Lawford) and Sergeant David Moonlight (Melville Cooper). Hooky is assigned to assist Brigadier C.M.V. Catlock (Robert Coote) in monitoring possible "subversive activities" against the Allied nations and repatriating Soviet citizens living in the British zone of Vienna. He and his aides are billeted at a convent, led by the friendly Mother Superior (Ethel Barrymore). At this convent, Twingo is drawn to a ballerina calling herself Maria Buhlen (Janet Leigh). He falls for her instantly and tries to meet her, but she is reluctant to, until they are officially introduced to each other by Mother Superior.

Twingo and Maria start going out, until Soviet Colonel Piniev (Louis Calhern) reports to Hooky, announcing he is searching for a Russian ballerina named Olga Alexandrova, aka Maria Buhlen. Piniev assures Hooky that he means no harm to Olga, and that it is his order to bring her back to the Soviet Union. Later that night, Maria and the Mother Superior reveal that Maria is actually Olga, a Volga German. Shortly later, the Soviets search the entire convent, looking for Maria. Hooky does not reveal that he is aware of Maria's presence, not wanting to put the Mother Superior's image in danger. However, after the Russians leave without having found Maria, Hooky announces that he will turn her over to the Soviets the next day. After he observes Twingo trying to help Maria escape, an attempt that Maria declines because she does not want to endanger Hooky and Twingo's friendship, Hooky turns her over to the Soviets that night.

Hooky is reproved for his rigid obedience to duty by Twingo and the Mother Superior but angrily shifts responsibility for what happened to the nun. He and Twingo continue their repatriation duties and they announce to the Soviet Professor Serge Bruloff (Konstantin Shayne) that he is about to be deported; Bruloff reacts by shooting himself. Hooky claims that there is no connection between Maria's reluctance to be deported to the Soviet Union and Serge's suicide, until the third person on his list, Helena Nagard (Tamara Shayne), Serge's wife, responds by bursting into tears. When Piniev's aide tells Hooky that Bruloff's suicide was proof of "subversive activity and treasonable behavior," he starts to doubt the sincerity of the Soviets. After he witnesses Maria and Helena being forcibly deported to a harsh detainment camp, Hooky sends a brief to the War Office in London protesting the forcible repatriation of political dissidents.

On Christmas Eve, after the Mother Superior asks for his forgiveness for not treating him in a Christian manner, Hooky tells her that he lost his faith after the death of his son in combat. Catlock informs Hooky that the Soviets have sent into the British zone without authority a trainload of refugees. Hooky, enraged, goes to the train station to inspect them for subversive activities, where he witnesses the poor conditions the displaced persons are in. The Mother Superior, who accompanied him, notices Maria among the people in the train. Hooky upbraids the Soviets for their ploy, telling them he knows they staged the incident because they have no use for people too old or too young or too weak to work and are dumping them on the British. Hooky learns that Maria escaped from the Soviets and uses the technicality of her being on the train to bring her to safety and reunion with Twingo.

When Hooky and Mother Superior receive a visit from Piniev, who is looking for Maria, they refuse to co-operate. The next day, in response to his brief, Hooky is ordered to fly to Rome as a representative to a United Nations conference to end forcible repatriation, and helps Mother Superior join him to see the Pope on the same issue. On his return, he and Catlock are informed by Piniev that unless Maria is surrendered immediately, the Soviets will cease cooperating with the British on all other matters. Catlock orders Hooky to do so but he refuses and is fired from his job. Meanwhile, Twingo and Maria plan on moving to Scotland, when she is suddenly captured by Hooky's replacement, the pompous and rigid Colonel Omicron, who intends to turn her in to Piniev. Realizing her fate, she jumps out of a window and succumbs to her injuries. Shortly after, Hooky is assigned to an operation called "Humanizing the Army" and forcible repatriation is ended.

Cast

Production

Shortly after the release of the novel Vespers in Vienna , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer showed interest in a film adaption and production was set to start in June 1947. [3] In January 1947, it was announced Irene Dunne, Spencer Tracy and Robert Taylor were set to star. [4] In October 1947, some of the background footage was shot on location in Rome and Vienna. [3] The film was shelved, however, and the original director Victor Saville was eventually replaced by George Sidney. [3] Furthermore, the three principal actors withdrew and were replaced by Walter Pidgeon, Ethel Barrymore and Peter Lawford. Agnes Moorehead briefly replaced Barrymore in March 1949. [5]

On October 14, 1948, it was announced Audrey Totter was slated to co-star as Audrey Quail. [6] She was replaced by Angela Lansbury in early 1949.

For the scenes of the war camps, 1,500 starved-looking extras were sought. The crew admitted they were looking for real war refugees but found that most of them were already looking too healthy. One crew member called it "the biggest casting problem since The Good Earth (1937)". [7]

Reception

Although MGM assigned an all-star cast to The Red Danube, including a big budget, the film was a commercial failure. [8] According to studio records, it earned $1,177,000 in the US and Canada and $682,000 overseas, resulting in a loss of $905,000. [1]

The film was criticized by communists for being a propaganda film, "designed to make you hate Russia and recognize the Vatican as the true champion of freedom". [9] Film Score Monthly, on the other hand, noted that film "struck a chord with reviewers" by "bringing humanity to a difficult subject" and having a message "not compromised by preachiness." [10]

It was nominated for the Oscar for Best Art Direction (Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters, Edwin B. Willis, and Hugh Hunt).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Wyler</span> Swiss-German-American director and producer (1902–1981)

William Wyler was a German-born American film director and producer. Known for his work in numerous genres over five decades he has received numerous award accolades including three Academy Awards. He holds a record twelve nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director. For his work Wyler was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award, and the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Pidgeon</span> Canadian-American actor (1897–1984)

Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in Mrs. Miniver (1942) and Madame Curie (1943). Pidgeon also starred in many notable films such as How Green Was My Valley (1941), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Forbidden Planet (1956), Executive Suite (1954), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961), Advise & Consent (1962), Funny Girl (1968), and Harry in Your Pocket (1973).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Lansbury</span> British and American actress and singer (1925–2022)

Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury was a British and American actress and singer. In a career spanning eighty years, she played various roles across film, stage, and television. Although based for much of her life in the United States, her work attracted international attention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Lawford</span> British actor (1923–1984)

Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford was an English-American actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethel Barrymore</span> American actress (1879–1959)

Ethel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarded as "The First Lady of the American Theatre". She received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, winning for None but the Lonely Heart (1944).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natalie Schafer</span> American actress (1900–1991)

Natalie Schafer was an American actress, best known today for her role as Lovey Howell on the sitcom Gilligan's Island (1964–1967).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria von Trapp</span> Matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers (1905–1987)

Maria Augusta von Trapp DHS, often styled as “Baroness”, was the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers. She wrote The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, which was published in 1949 and was the inspiration for the 1956 West German film The Trapp Family, which in turn inspired the 1959 Broadway musical The Sound of Music and its 1965 film version.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Cebotari</span> Romanian singer

Maria Cebotari was a Bessarabian-Romanian lyric coloratura soprano. She was an opera singing star of the 1930s and 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Johnson</span> American actor (1916–2008)

Charles Van Dell Johnson was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II.

That's Entertainment! is a 1974 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate the studio's 50th anniversary. The success of the retrospective prompted a 1976 sequel, the related 1985 film That's Dancing!, and a third installment in 1994.

<i>The Cheaters</i> (1945 film) 1945 film by Joseph Kane

The Cheaters (1945), also known as MR. M. and the Pigeons, The Amazing MR. M., The Magnificent Mr. M. and The Magnificent Rogue, is a Christmas "screwball comedy" tale about a has-been actor invited to Christmas dinner by a rich family. The film was atypical of the Republic Pictures studio, directed by Joseph Kane and starring Joseph Schildkraut. The film was re-released in 1949 under a new title, The Castaway, and when the Republic film catalogue was sold in the 1950s as late night television fodder, it appeared consistently for years as a Christmas staple throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audrey Totter</span> American actress (1917–2013)

Audrey Mary Totter was an American radio, film, and television actress and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mel Ferrer</span> American film actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (1917–2008)

Melchor Gastón Ferrer was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with Scaramouche, Lili, and Knights of the Round Table. He starred opposite his wife, actress Audrey Hepburn, in War and Peace and produced her film Wait Until Dark. He also acted extensively in European films and appeared in several cult hits, including The Antichrist (1974), The Suspicious Death of a Minor (1975), The Black Corsair (1976), and Nightmare City (1980).

AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars is the American Film Institute's list ranking the top 25 male and 25 female greatest screen legends of American film history and is the second list of the AFI 100 Years... series.

<i>Thats Entertainment, Part II</i> 1976 film directedby Gene Kelly

That's Entertainment, Part II is a 1976 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a sequel to That's Entertainment! (1974). Like the previous film, That's Entertainment, Part II was a retrospective of famous films released by MGM from the 1930s to the 1950s. Some posters for the film use Part 2 rather than Part II in the title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Marshall (writer)</span> Scottish writer

Lieutenant-Colonel Claude Cunningham Bruce Marshall was a prolific Scottish writer who wrote fiction and non-fiction books on a wide range of topics and genres. His first book, A Thief in the Night came out in 1918, possibly self-published. His last, An Account of Capers was published posthumously in 1988, a span of 70 years.

<i>Julia Misbehaves</i> 1948 film

Julia Misbehaves is a 1948 American romantic comedy film starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon as a married couple who are separated by the man's snobbish family. They meet again many years later, when the daughter whom the man has raised, played by Elizabeth Taylor, invites her mother to her wedding. The film also features Peter Lawford and Cesar Romero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emil-Edwin Reinert</span> French filmmaker (1903-1953)

Emil-Edwin Reinert, or Emile-Edwin Reinert, was a French film director, screenwriter, audio engineer and producer.

<i>Vespers in Vienna</i> Book by Bruce Marshall

Vespers in Vienna is a 1947 novel by Scottish writer Bruce Marshall.

<i>King of the Khyber Rifles</i> (film) 1953 film by Henry King

King of the Khyber Rifles is a 1953 adventure film directed by Henry King and starring Tyrone Power and Terry Moore. The film shares its title but little else with the novel King of the Khyber Rifles (1916) by Talbot Mundy. This novel was also the basis for John Ford's The Black Watch (1929). The Khyber Pass scenes were shot in the Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film was one of the first shot in Technicolor CinemaScope.

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. "NY Times: The Red Danube". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2012. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 "Notes for The Red Danube (1949)". Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  4. Bluefield Daily Telegraph - January 28, 1947, Bluefield, West Virginia. p.4
  5. Wisconsin State Journal - March 19, 1949, Madison, Wisconsin. p.11
  6. Brady, Thomas F. (October 14, 1948). "2 FILM ROLES LISTED FOR AUDREY TOTTER; She Will Play Wren in Metro's 'Vespers in Vienna' — Also to Be in RKO's 'Set-Up'". The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  7. The Progress - March 18, 1949, Clearfield, Pennsylvania. p.17
  8. Eames, J., The MGM Story, p.225
  9. The Rotarion, February 1950. p.39. The Rotary at that time had long been at odds with the Vatican over its perceived anti-Rotarian stance.
  10. Alexander Kaplan, One-liner notes: The Red Danube, retrieved February 5, 2016

Further reading