Mayerling (1936 film)

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Mayerling

Directed by	Anatole Litvak
Produced by	Nero-Film
Written by	Claude Anet (book) Joseph Kessel Irma Von Cube
Starring	Charles Boyer Jean Dax Jean Debucourt Marthe Regnier Danielle Darrieux Suzy Prim
Music by	Arthur Honegger
Cinematography	Armand Thirard
Editing by	Henri Rust
Distributed by	Pax Films
Release date(s)	1936
Running time	95 min.
Country	France
Language	French
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Mayerling is a 1936 French historical film drama directed by Anatole Litvak and produced by Seymour Nebenzal from a screenplay by Marcel Achard, Joseph Kessel and Irma von Cube, based on the novel Idol's End by Claude Anet.

The film stars Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux with Jean-Louis Barrault, René Bergeron, Jean Davy, Jean Dax, Jean Debucourt and Gabrielle Dorziat.

It is based on the real life story of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, his affair with the 17-year old Baroness Maria Vetsera and their tragic end at Mayerling.

The film was remade in English and in color by MGM in 1968. The remake starred Omar Sharif, Catherine Deneuve, James Mason and Ava Gardner.

[edit] Cast

Charles Boyer as Archduke Rudolph of Austria
Jean Dax as Emperor Franz Joseph
Jean Debucourt as Count Taafe
Marthe Regnier as Baroness Vetsera (Helene)
Danielle Darrieux as Marie Vetsera
Suzy Prim as Countess Larisch
Vladimir Sokoloff as Chief of Police
Andre Dubosc as Loschek the Valet
René Bergeron as Szeps
Gabrielle Dorziat as Empress Elizabeth
Raymond Aimos
Gina Manès as Marinka
Yolande Laffron as Stephanie

[edit] Restoration

Unfortunately, the 1936 film is in dire need of restoration. The video quality is passable, but in 1997, the film was issued on VHS with the soundtrack in appallingly bad condition, rendering the sound close to unlistenable, although it was later shown this way on Turner Classic Movies. Whether or not it is possible to repair this is still unknown. The film has not yet been issued on DVD, perhaps due to the bad sound quality.