''Goodnight, Vienna'' is a 1932 British

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as brea ...

directed by

Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best known for the films he made with his third wif ...

and starring

Jack Buchanan Walter John Buchanan (2 April 1891 – 20 October 1957) was a Scottish theatre and film actor, singer, dancer, producer and director. He was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town in the tradition of George G ...

Anna Neagle Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox (''née'' Robertson; 20 October 1904 – 3 June 1986), known professionally as Anna Neagle, was an English stage and film actress, singer, and dancer. She was a successful box-office draw in the British cinema ...

and Gina Malo. Two lovers in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

are separated by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, but are later reunited. Based on a radio

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

written by

Eric Maschwitz Albert Eric Maschwitz OBE (10 June 1901 – 27 October 1969), sometimes credited as Holt Marvell, was an English entertainer, writer, editor, broadcaster and broadcasting executive. Life and work Born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, and des ...

, it features the song "Good-night, Vienna". Wilcox reportedly cast Neagle, whom he would later marry and direct in many films, after discovering her by chance in a stage show.Street p.165

Plot

Max is an Austrian officer in the army and son of a highly placed general. His father wants him to marry a Countess but he has fallen in love with Vicki. Attending a party given in his honour, they are informed that war has broken out. Max writes a note to Vicki and goes off to war. Unfortunately the note is lost. Some time after the war, Max is just a shoe shop assistant while Vicki is now a famous singer. They meet and at first she snubs him but then falls in love with him again.

Cast

- Captain Maximilian Schletoff *

- Vicki * Gina Malo - Frieda * Clive Currie - General Schletoff * William Kendall - Ernst *

Joyce Bland Joyce Bland (10 May 1906 – 24 August 1963) was a Welsh film actress. Early life Joyce Bland was born in 1906, at Caerleon, Wales. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Career Bland made her stage debut on tour in 1927 in '' Th ...

- Countess Helga *

Gibb McLaughlin George McLoughlin (19 July 1879 – 30 June 1961), known professionally as Gibb McLaughlin, was an English film and stage actor. Early days McLaughlin was born in Sunderland, County Durham, England in 1879. For about 10 years he was a sales ...

- Max's Orderly * Herbert Carrick - Johann *

Clifford Heatherley Clifford Heatherley Lamb (8 October 1888 in Preston, Lancashire – 15 September 1937 in London) was an English stage and film actor. Filmography * ''Henry VIII'' (1911) * ''Bleak House'' (1920) * '' The Tavern Knight'' (1920) * '' The Mys ...

- Donelli *

O. B. Clarence Oliver Burchett Clarence (25 March 1870, Hampstead, London – 2 October 1955, Hove, Sussex) was an English actor. Following his education at Dover College and University College Hospital, he made his stage debut in 1890. His experience include ...

- Theatre Manager *

Peggy Cartwright Peggy Cartwright (November 14, 1912 – June 12, 2001) was a Canadian silent film actress and the leading lady of the ''Our Gang'' comedy series during the silent film era. She appeared in four short films released in 1922 (and, possibly, the in ...

- Greta *

Muriel Aked Muriel Aked (9 November 1883 – 21 March 1955) was an English film actress. Early life, family and education Aked was born in Bingley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England to George Henry Aked and his wife Emma (née Bairstow). She was a student ...

- Marya *

Aubrey Fitzgerald Aubrey Fitzgerald (1874–1968) was a British actor. In 1909 he played El Tabloid in '' A Persian Princess'' at the Queen's Theatre in London. Selected filmography * '' One Arabian Night'' (1923) * '' Little Miss Nobody'' (1923) * '' Hutch Stir ...

- Waiter

Production

Herbert Wilcox was played the score by Eric Maschwitz and

George Posford George Posford, born Benjamin George Ashwell (23 March 1906 – 24 April 1976), was an English composer and conductor. Early life Benjamin George Ashwell was born in 1906 in Folkestone, Kent. He was educated at Downside School in Somerset an ...

. He liked it and bought the rights. Within a week Wilcox persuaded

to play the lead. He wanted

Lea Seidl Lea or LEA may refer to: Places Australia * Lea River, Tasmania, Australia * Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows * RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA" England * Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish * Lea, Derbyshire, a s ...

Evelyn Lane Evelyn may refer to: Places * Evelyn, London * Evelyn Gardens, a garden square in London * Evelyn, Ontario, Canada * Evelyn, Michigan, United States * Evelyn, Texas, United States * Evelyn, Wirt County, West Virginia, United States * Evel ...

to play the female lead but neither was available. He went to tell Buchanan that the film was going to be postponed; Buchanan was playing in a show ''Stand Up and Sing'' with Anna Neagle. Wilcox was impressed by Neagle and cast her at a fee of £150. The film was shot in three weeks before Buchanan had to leave to appear in ''Stand Up and Sing'' at Liverpool. During the making of the film, Wilcox and Neagle fell in love

Reception

The film was Wilcox's most commercially successful until that time.

Cultural References

* In the TV Series Rising Damp the lead character Rigsby often puts his cat Vienna out with the phrase Goodnight, Vienna * The phrase is used in the TV Movie

Housewife, 49 ''Housewife, 49'' is a 2006 television film based on the wartime diaries of Nella Last. Written by and starring English actress and comedian Victoria Wood, it follows the experiences of an ordinary housewife and mother in the Northern English t ...

when someone passes away * Goodnight Vienna is the title of the fourth album by ex-Beatle

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

* In the opening scene of the ''

Jeeves and Wooster ''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy-drama television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a Britis ...

'' episode '' The Purity of the Turf'',

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in ...

, in the character of

Bertie Wooster Bertram Wilberforce Wooster is a fictional character in the comedic Jeeves stories created by British author P. G. Wodehouse. An amiable English gentleman and one of the "idle rich", Bertie appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose intelligenc ...

, sings fragments of the film's title song * In the BBC's Sherlock, "The Great Game" (Series 1: Episode 3), Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock examines a corpse, saying, "Nasty wound. Tetanus bacteria enters the bloodstream... Good night, Vienna." *In the video game Bloons Tower Defense 6, upon seeing a B.A.D, the hero Benjamin will simply say "Goodnight, Vienna."

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Street, Sarah. ''British National Cinema''. Routledge, 2009.

External links

* 1932 films 1932 musical films British musical films Films directed by Herbert Wilcox Operetta films Films set in the 1910s Films set in Vienna British World War I films British black-and-white films British and Dominions Studios films Films shot at Imperial Studios, Elstree 1930s British films {{UK-musical-film-stub