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Oh... Rosalinda!!

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Oh... Rosalinda!!
theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
Written byMichael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
Richard Genée (libretto Die Fledermaus)
Karl Haffner (libretto Die Fledermaus)
Henri Meilhac (play Le Réveillon)
Ludovic Halévy (play Le Réveillon)
Produced byMichael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
StarringMichael Redgrave
Mel Ferrer
Anthony Quayle
Ludmilla Tchérina
Anton Walbrook
CinematographyChristopher Challis
Edited byReginald Mills
Music byJohann Strauss (music)
Dennis Arundell (lyrics)
Distributed byAssociated British–Pathé
Release date
  • 18 November 1955 (1955-11-18)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office£95,833[1]

Oh... Rosalinda!! is a 1955 British musical comedy film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. The film stars Michael Redgrave, Mel Ferrer, Anthony Quayle, dancer Ludmilla Tchérina and Anton Walbrook and features Dennis Price.

The film is based on the operetta Die Fledermaus (The Bat) by Johann Strauss, but updated to take place in post-war Vienna as occupied by the four Allied powers: the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the USSR The music, played by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under conductor Alois Melichar,[2] has new lyrics by Dennis Arundell, and professional singers dubbed for some of the actors. The choreography is by Alfred Rodrigues, and the production was designed by Hein Heckroth.

Oh... Rosalinda!! is a light-hearted Technicolor romp that makes full use of the new CinemaScope process, and is not just a film of a staged production but a filmic operetta.

Plot

In 1955 Vienna, during its post-war occupation, the black-market dealer Dr. Falke (Anton Walbrook) moves freely through the French, British, American and Russian sectors, dealing in champagne and caviar amongst the highest echelons of the allied powers. After a costume party, French Colonel Gabriel Eisenstein (Michael Redgrave) plays a practical joke on a drunken Falke, depositing him, asleep and dressed as a bat, in the lap of a patriotic Russian statue, to be discovered the following morning by irate Russian soldiers. Falke is nearly arrested until his friend General Orlofsky (Anthony Quayle) of the USSR intervenes. A vengeful Falke plans an elaborate practical joke on his friend, involving Orlofsky, a British major (Dennis Price), Eisenstein's beautiful wife Rosalinda (Ludmilla Tcherina), her maid (Anneliese Rothenberger) and a masked ball where no one is what they seem. Complicating matters is American Captain Alfred Westerman (Mel Ferrer), an old flame of Rosalinda's who is determined to take advantage of her husband's absence.

Cast

Singing voices:

File:OhRosalinda.jpg
Ludmilla Tchérina

Cast notes:

Production

Oh... Rosalinda was filmed at Elstree Studios in Boreham Wood, Hertfordshire and on location in London.[6]

Powell and Pressburger had suffered through four box office disappointments in a row before this film, which is one reason that Bing Crosby, Maurice Chevalier and Orson Welles were approached about playing the roles of Alfred, Eisenstein and Orlovsky – however Oh... Rosalinda!! was not commercially successful.[7]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000
  2. ^ TCM Music
  3. ^ Oh... Rosalinda!! at IMDb
  4. ^ TCM Full credits
  5. ^ Allmovie Cast
  6. ^ IMDB Filming locations
  7. ^ Angelini, Sergio Oh...Rosalinda!! (BFI Screen Online)

Further reading

  • "Oh... Rosalinda!!". Reviews and articles at a website devoted to Powell & Pressburger.
  • Cairns, David (July–September 2005). "Oh Boy! Oh Rosalinda!! and The Boy Who Turned Yellow". Senses of Cinema (36). Sympathetic review of Oh... Rosalinda!! in the context of all films by Powell and Pressburger.