The King Steps Out (1936)

Directed by

Josef von Sternberg

Genre

comedy film, musical film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 25m

Rating

6.0 of 10 from 10 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A young princess named Elisabeth catches the eye of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, who was originally set to marry her older sister. The story follows their courtship and marriage in the 1850s, with songs and comedic situations along the way.

lightheartedwhimsicalromanticbreezymusicalhistorical-fantasycharmingupbeatplayful

What happens

The King Steps Out is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Grace Moore, Franchot Tone and Walter Connolly. It is based on the early years of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as "Sisi" or "Sissi", and her courtship and marriage to Franz Joseph I of Austria, after he was initially engaged to her older sister Duchess Helene in Bavaria. The film is set from 1852 to 1854. The script was written by Sidney Buchman, based on a theatre play called Sissys Brautfahrt by Ernst Décsey and Robert Weil aka Gustav Holm. Columbia Pictures bought the rights from Ernst Marischka in order to make the film. The lyrics for the music were by Dorothy Fields and the music by Viennese composer and violinist Fritz Kreisler. Cinematography was by Lucien Ballard and the editing by Viola Lawrence. Costume design was by the Austrian Ernst Deutsch-Dryden. Future Broadway dancer Gwen Verdon made her movie debut doing a ballet solo at age 11, but was uncredited. The film had only minimal influence on the later Sissi trilogy from the 1950s by Ernst Marischka starring Romy Schneider and Karlheinz Böhm. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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