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The Merry Widow

The Merry Widow

Comedy · Music · Romance · 1934

A prince from a small kingdom courts a wealthy widow to keep her money in the country.

Movie details

The Merry Widow

“Let Joy be Unconfined!”

1934 Comedy · Music · Romance 1h 39m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

A prince from a small kingdom courts a wealthy widow to keep her money in the country.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Merry Widow?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Music and Lyrics

Music and Lyrics

Comedy · 2007

A washed-up '80s pop star gets a chance at a comeback when reigning pop diva Cora Corman invites him to write & record a duet with her, but there's a problem--Alex hasn't written a song in years; he's never written lyrics and he has to come up with a hit in a matter of days.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Ernst Lubitsch

Written by

Samson Raphaelson · Ernest Vajda

Maurice Chevalier

Maurice Chevalier

Count Danilo

Jeanette MacDonald

Jeanette MacDonald

Madame Sonia / Fifi

Edward Everett Horton

Edward Everett Horton

Ambassador Popoff

Una Merkel

Una Merkel

Queen Dolores

George Barbier

George Barbier

King Achmet

Minna Gombell

Minna Gombell

Marcelle

Ruth Channing

Ruth Channing

Lulu

Court is in session

Put The Merry Widow on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.