Harold French (director)
Network On Air (studio)
Cert U (certificate)
94min (length)
01 June 2015 (released)
08 June 2015
Back in the day, The Dancing Years was for many people the musical that was most identifiable with the dashing 20s matinee idol Ivor Novello, who composed this schmaltzy piece. Indeed, the first song we hear became synonymous with Mr. Novello’s face wherever it was shown.
This film is ALL Novello though he does not appear in it neither is it directed by him. Although it seems hard to believe that this saccharine infused musical was actually one of the most popular – if not THE most popular – West End shows during WWII, featuring a string of melodies that swept the nation.
In this 1950 film adaptation, Dennis Price (fresh from the far superior black comedy Kind Hearts And Coronets) steps into Novello’s shoes as lead Rudi Kleiber, a talented but impoverished composer in turn-of-the-century Vienna. Kleiber soon meets actress/singer Maria Zeitler (Giséle Préville) and naturally they fall in love. Due to her connections Kleiber is soon to become the toast of Europe, though it is a love story destined to go wrong. Through an unfortunate piece of timing, Maria overhears Rudi telling his former sweetheart Grete (Patricia Dainton) of his plans regarding Maria. Meanwhile, Maria stands undetected by the window and mistakenly thinks that his remarks are addressed to Greta and poor Rudi ends up with no one! Maria marries slippery old flame Prince Reinaldt (Anthony Nicholls) but shock horror, the son she has is actually Rudi’s. Outrageous for 1939…
Sheer unadulterated sentimental claptrap of the first order, with songs and dance numbers to match. It makes The Sound Of Music seem edgy by comparison! If there is any Novello fan out there over ninety or a hundred years old then this might just be the ticket. Personally, yours truly will stick to The Rocky Horror Show and such like!
SPECIAL FEATURES:
* Original Theatrical Trailer
* Image Gallery
* Original Promotional Material