Look for 'ship free' to find qualifying products. Applies to mailiable products sold by Sears and Kmart. Excludes Marketplace and delivery items. Additional exclusions apply. Please see offer details on qualifying product pages
As a SHOP YOUR WAY MAX member, you get FREE 2-day shipping on many Sears and Kmart items plus FREE standard shipping on millions more. There is no limit and no minimum purchase. Products eligible for SHOP YOUR WAY MAX have this logo.
Cinematographer - William H. Daniels
Cinematographer - Oliver Marsh
Cinematographer - Ray Rennahan
Cinematographer - Benjamin F. Reynolds
Composer (Music Score) - Dr. William Axt
Composer (Music Score) - David Mendoza
Costume Designer - Richard Day
Costume Designer - Erich Von Stroheim
First Assistant Director - Louis Germonprez
From Opera by - Franz Lehár
Intertitle Writer - Marian Ainslee
Play Author - Leo Stein
Play Author - Victor Léon
Production Designer - Richard Day
Production Designer - Cedric Gibbons
Even though stars John Gilbert and Mae Murray were foisted on director Erich von Stroheim by MGM, THE MERRY WIDOW was released essentially as von Stroheim conceived it, and it became the year-old studio's first major critical and popular hit (and von Stroheim's last MGM film). Freely adapting Franz Lehar's Viennese operetta, von Stroheim spent a great deal of screen time on Murray's less-than-merry life as a showgirl and desired object of a baron/fetishist, a lecherous prince, and Gilbert's noble Danilo of "Monteblanco." Through lavishly depicted show numbers, orgies, boudoir assignations, and finally Sally's marriage and swift widowhood by the physically impaired baron, von Stroheim turned THE MERRY WIDOW into an examination of the decadence beneath the polished surface of the European nobility. Numerous cuts to feet (over the objections of production head Irving Thalberg) particularly reveal the nature of the baron's fetish; MGM cut a few scenes deemed too racy. Danilo and Sally still unite in the famed "Merry Widow Waltz," allowing love to triumph over sordidness and lead to a grand Technicolor finale. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
