Product: A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court/The Emperor Waltz - Double Feature (1948)
Rating: 3.0
No classics, but a satisfying double-bill
The Emperor Waltz has the unenviable reputation of being regarded as Billy Wilder's worst film, and while it certainly isn't good, it isn't THAT bad. Unfortunately the script is rarely very witty despite the Wilder-Charles Brackett pedigree and Bing Crosby and an unflatteringly photographed Joan Fontaine have almost zero screen chemistry, their hatred for much of the movie far more convincing than their inevitable romance. The real triumphs of this Viennese romance between a travelling salesman and an aristocrat are the lavish production design and the gorgeous Technicolor photography that are occasionally impressive enough to take your mind off what's happening in the paper-thin story. Still, the dancing chauffeur is fun.More successful by far is A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. It's not a particularly good picture anymore than it's a particularly bad one: it's lavishly staged in Technicolor with a decent cast and inoffensive but, with one exception, unmemorable songs. But it does have one of cinema's great moments of delight, as Bing, William Bendix (one of film noir's greatest thugs here cast in a very different guise as a blustering knight) and Sir Cedric Hardwicke's elderly King Arthur join forces for the delightful 'Busy Doing Nothing' - which is more than worth the price on its own.The two films are gorgeously restored, boasting great color and definition, though the only extra is the original trailer for Yankee.