WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

blanche-2 This 1952 version of "The Merry Widow" couldn't possibly compare to the 1934 Lubitsch production, but MGM went all out to make a lavish, colorful film starring Lana Turner and Fernando Lamas. To do so, all of the singing, except for one short section, was taken away from Turner. I guess someone thought a soprano voice coming out of her mouth would seem funny to 1952 audiences, which seems a strange decision. Some stars, like Ava Gardner, were dubbed constantly. Lamas did his own singing in a tremulous tenor. Considering the fact that "The Merry Widow" has been a staple of opera companies for years, it really needs some bigger guns. MGM had them but didn't use them."The Merry Widow" is about Crystal Radek (Turner), a wealthy widow living, in this version, in New York, whose husband was from a small country, Marshkovia. She is lured to Marshovia under false pretenses. The country is broke and Count Danilo (Lamas) has been asked to court and marry her so the debts can be paid. Danilo mistakes Crystal's attractive but older friend (Una Merkel) for Crystal and is reluctant to pursue her. Crystal finds out why she has been brought to Marshovia and takes off for Paris. Danilo follows her - still not knowing what she looks like - and she follows him to Maxim's and introduces herself as Fifi, a chorus girl. Danilo falls in love with Fifi, but his country has ordered him to marry Crystal.This film was nominated for best art direction and best costumes, and no wonder. "The Merry Widow" is absolutely gorgeous, with the most heavenly costumes and sets. Turner looks fabulous and despite the long gowns, gets to show off her legs. Lamas makes a handsome and charming Danilo. As Billy Crystal would say, he looks mahvelous.The supporting players - Thomas Gomez, Richard Haydn, Maurice Danilo, King Donovan, are all excellent, and if you think you recognize Gwen Verdon among the dancers at Maxim's, you do.The best part of the film is the waltz toward the end of the film, which is stunning. Hitchcock aficionados will recognize "The Merry Widow Waltz" from "Shadow of a Doubt" and get an eerie feeling every time they hear it - which in "The Merry Widow" is more than once.When Dore Schary took over MGM in 1951, he considered Lana Turner, at the age of 30, nothing more than an over-the-hill actress. She proved him wrong. Seeing her in "The Merry Widow" is a good indication that Dore Schary needed stronger glasses.

joseph952001 The one thing I like about this movie is that Lana Turner got a chance to do something that she normally wouldn't do; be in a musical. O.K., so she couldn't sing and the one song that she did sing was dubbed by Trudy Erwin who dubbed Kim Novak in Pal Joey! Big deal! So, all of the singing numbers went to Fernando Lamas who "could" sing, and he does them very well, but this film has a lot more going for it than what one would think. First of all, it's not as stuffy as the Jeanette McDonald version in which she is to fall in love with Maurice Chevalier and why would a beauty like Jeanett want to fall in love with Maurice? At least we have the beautiful Lana falling in love with the very handsome Fernado which they did when making this movie together and it shows. What doesn't show through the movie is Lana's wrists which were bandaged because of a suicide attempt. The Merry Widow Ballet at the end of the movie is just down-right glorious. The cast looks like they're having the time of their life including Una Merkel who didn't look like it in the Jeanette McDonald version in which she played the same role! In fact, in this version, the credits and one scene on the balcony makes you ask, "Is Una's name Kitty or Katie? When Lana enters Maximes, we see Gwen Verdon doing the Can Can and at that time she wasn't really that well known except for her dance number with Betty Grable "I Feel Like Dancing Tonight" is Meet Me After the Show! But, Lana Turner never looked more beautiful, Fernando Lamas was just terrific as Count Denilo, and you couldn't help wondering where you heard Richard Haydens voice until you saw Disney's Alice In Wonderland in which he spoke for the Catipillar! And, of course, years later, we would recognize him as Uncle Max in the movie version of "The Sound of Music", and even though it's trivia now, we have Fernando Lamas' impersonating Richard Hayden, and very well, saying, "It's your little Fifi" which is right in there with the trivia question "What did Klatu tell Patricia Neal to tell Gort is anything happened to him!. Klatu Barada Nico". So, all in all, the music is great, the performances are high camp at its best, and that great Ballet at the end, leading into Lana Turner asking Charles Gomez, "What did your Excellency exactly mean - heads will roll?" and that glorious Technicolor makes this great entertainment, but - again, I have to say that these movies were meant for the large movie theater screen, and without that screen you can not even imagine how wonderful this movie and other were in those days! That large screen "did" make the difference!

Clive T. Miller The script is not terrible, but much of it is simplistic and some of it doesn't make sense. The star soprano's arias have been transposed to the baritone's. She no longer sings the `Vilja' song about the woods maiden and the huntsman; instead he does, to a gypsy girl of that name. The film's biggest drawback is the direction, which is dull and sluggish. But 45 minutes into the movie, when Lana Turner and Una Merkel exchange identities, the pace picks up. What raises the film from 4 (Of Mild Interest) to 5 (Of Some Interest) is Fernando Lamas, appearing in only his third film, his first starring role. He not only is a handsome, dashing, and confident actor, but also has a good sense of comic timing. His warm speaking voice is part of his strength and appeal, and he sings with a very pleasant vibrato and a sophisticated use of dynamics and nuance.The movie lacks 1934's marvelous Ernst Lubitsch touch, not to mention the dark bizarreries of Erich von Stroheim's 1925 silent version. Lana is no match to Jeanette MacDonald as a charming, sophisticated comedienne. Happily in 1934 Jeanette had just arrived at MGM from Paramount and was being guided by the director who understood her best. Her new studio had not yet had a chance to stifle her personality by molding her into an icon. On the other hand, by 1952 MGM had transformed Lana from a sexpot into a lady, as they had done to Norma Shearer in the 1930s and to Greer Garson in the 1940s, squeezing almost all of the juice out of them. But Lana and Lamas were `an item' at the time (the reason he was cast over MGM's original choice, Ricardo Montalban), and their personal affair lends a modicum of interest, too.For the real thing -- Lehár's music done in authentic operetta style -- get the 1953 monaural EMI recording conducted by Otto Ackermann. It features Elizabeth Schwarzkopf as Hanna, baritone Erich Kunz as Danilo, tenor Nicolai Gedda as Camille, and soprano Emmy Loose as Valencienne. Ten years later Schwarzkopf and Gedda repeated their roles in a stereo recording, but the earlier version is better.

wench30 This movie is wonderful. You can relax and enjoy a romantic film with one of the most handsome and sensuous leading men in Hollywood history - Fernando Lamas. And Lana Turner is beautiful. The movie allows you to forget about your worries and just enjoy a wonderful, romantic time.