The Great Waltz (1972)

MGM remade the musical biography of Johann Strauss Jr. in 1972. Unlike the studio backlot photographed 1939 B&W version, the 1972 version was shot in PANAVISION and was the last film to be theatrically shown in CINERAMA. MGM went all out in using on-location photography throughout Austria and Vienna, including the Blue Danube river. Horst Bucholtz and Mary Costa did a terrific job in the leading roles. Mary Costa, is an American opera singer who gave us the singing voice of princess Aurora in Disney’s animated 1959 Sleeping Beauty. The late Horst Buscholtz, was a very talented and versatile actor who played in many american movie classics including The Magnificent Seven. One of his last roles was that of a German officer in the italian released Life is Beautiful (1999). The Great Waltz is a very enjoyable musical review of the struggle of father and son in leaving the world with their great compositions. I found no trailers for the film which is about to celebrate it's 45th anniversary. I invested the time to put together my own trailer as a gift to fans of this movie which has never released on DVD. Thanks to TCM for recently airing this movie.