Instrumentation
2(II=picc).2(II=ca).3(II=Ebcl.III=bcl).2(II=cbsn) - 4231 - timp - perc(3) - harp - org(=pno+cel) - strings (min 8.6.4.4.2)
Availability
Full score and parts for hire
Programme Notes
Starring: Erich von Stroheim, Fay Wray
Director: Erich von Stroheim
Production Company: Paramount USA, 1928
Film Print: 35mm restored print with original Technicolor sequences available from Photoplay Productions (Film Speed: 24 frames per second)
"In its Entirety an Erich von Stroheim creation" states an opening title - and as far as it goes, it is. Stroheim had in mind a much longer film, but he was eventually forced to stop shooting; and when the film was divided into two parts, only the first part was released in America. It is apparently a charming romance between a prince and an innkeeper's daughter, but soon a much darker aspect is revealed and the film depicts a corrupt society with startling cynicism. Photoplay Productions' restored print includes a 3-minute Technicolor sequence of the Corpus Christi procession outside the Stefansdom, Vienna.
Carl Davis's score, making extensive use of themes by the Viennese masters, including Johann Strauss II and Schubert, is thoroughly evocative of Vienna in the closing days of the Hapsburg Empire.