The Merry Widow

A small kingdom's treasury depends on one woman: the widow Sonia holds most of the country's wealth. When she decides to go to Paris the king panics, because if she marries there the money leaves with her. The solution is to assign Danilo, the court's best-known womaniser, to court her and bring her home. Sonia works out the plan before he can execute it. Ernst Lubitsch adapted Franz Lehár's operetta. His known method is at work here: sex is never shown, only implied; doors close, the camera stays outside, and the audience completes the rest. Arriving as censorship tightened, that manner sharpens the joke rather than dulling it. Maurice Chevalier plays Danilo and Jeanette MacDonald plays Sonia, in what became their last film with Lubitsch. What MGM spent on sets and costumes is plainly visible. Who it's for: Viewers who like classic Hollywood musicals, operetta adaptations, and Lubitsch's fine-grained wit. Who it's not for: The plot is thin and the songs interrupt often. The rhythm can feel strange if you are not used to 1930s comic timing.