"CHAMPAGNE WALTZ."

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 18, 22 January 1937, Page 5

"CHAMPAGNE WALTZ."

A Colourful Picture. "Champagne Waltz," the gay musical starring Gladys Swarthout and Fred Mac Murray, which was privately screened late last night and is now the main attraction at the State Theatre, was specially made by Paramount Pictures for simultaneous release at 300 theatres all over the world in celebration of Mr. Adolph Zukor's jubilee. Mr. Zukor is the founder of Paramount and in celebrating his connection with the industry the company is also marking 25 years of existence. In making "Champagne Waltz" it has chosen to do this in an attractive way. The story is something new in films, for it brings to the screen the great name of Johann Strauss, the Waltz King of Vienna, and tells of the effect of jazz upon his once enormously successful Waltz Palace. It tells, also, ol the story of the love of Elsa Strauss, granddaughter of the present Johann, for Buzzy Bellew, the orchestra leader who brings his band to entertain the Viennese with the pranks and novel harmonies of the new music. They are disturbed at first, then intrigued, then conquered, to the immense satisfaction of Jack Oakie and Herman Bing who have the roles of the promoters of the new musical fare, but it is otherwise with the Strauss -family. Their Waltz Palace is empty, their efforts to master the intricacies of the new rhythms are useless and it is only when Elsa takes a hand, by seeking the intervention of the American Consulate, that events begin to move' in the direction which the Strausses desire. And their movement is .so odd, so unexpected, that no one Cart foresee the outcome. The story, replete with cheerfulness, is ornamented by the singing,of Gladys Swarthout, the -most beautiful of the stars of the New York Metropolitan Opera, the sincerity of Fred Mac Murray, and the comedy of Jack Oakie and Herman Bing. The spectacle of the great Waltz Palace, and the giant orchestras employed make the picture something different from the ordinary musical film.