Mayerling is a 1936 French historical drama film directed by Anatole Litvak

Anatole Litvak

Anatole Litvak was a Ukrainian-born filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in a various countries and languages...

 and produced by Seymour Nebenzal from a screenplay

Screenplay

A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...

 by Marcel Achard

Marcel Achard

Marcel Achard was a French playwright and screenwriter whose popular sentimental comedies maintained his position as a highly-recognizable name in his country's theatrical and literary circles for five decades...

, Joseph Kessel

Joseph Kessel

Joseph Kessel was a French journalist and novelist.He was born in Villa Clara, Entre Ríos, Argentina, because of the constant journeys of his father, a Lithuanian doctor of Jewish origin. Joseph Kessel lived the first years of his childhood in Orenburg, Russia, before the family moved to France...

 and Irma von Cube

Irma von Cube

Irma von Cube was a German-American screenwriter. She began as an actress and a writer for films in Germany in the early 1930s, and continued when she arrived in the United States in 1938....

, based on the novel Idol's End by Claude Anet. The film stars Charles Boyer

Charles Boyer

Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found success in movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised romantic dramas,...

 and Danielle Darrieux

Danielle Darrieux

Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux is a French actress and singer, who has appeared in more than 110 films since 1931. She is one of France's great movie stars and her eight-decade career is among the longest in film history....

 with Jean-Louis Barrault

Jean-Louis Barrault

Jean-Louis Barrault was a French actor, director and mime artist, training that served him well when he portrayed the 19th-century mime Jean-Gaspard Deburau in Marcel Carné's 1945 film Les Enfants du Paradis .Jean-Louis Barrault studied with Charles Dullin in whose troupe he acted...

, René Bergeron, Jean Davy, Jean Dax, Jean Debucourt and Gabrielle Dorziat. It is based on the real life story of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria

Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria

Rudolf , archduke of Austria and crown prince of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, was the son and heir of Franz Joseph I, emperor of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, and his wife and empress, Elisabeth...

, his affair with the 17-year old Baroness Maria Vetsera

Baroness Mary Vetsera

Baroness Marie Alexandrine von Vetsera was a member of Austrian high society nobility and one of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria's mistresses...

 and their tragic end at Mayerling

Mayerling Incident

The Mayerling Incident refers to the series of events leading to the apparent murder-suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his lover Baroness Mary Vetsera. Rudolf was the only son of Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria and Empress Elisabeth, and heir to the throne of the combined...

.

The film was remade in English and in color by MGM in 1968. The remake

Mayerling (1968 film)

Mayerling is a 1968 romantic tragedy film starring Omar Sharif, Catherine Deneuve, James Mason, Ava Gardner, Geneviève Page, James Robertson Justice and Andréa Parisy. It was written and directed by Terence Young...

 starred Omar Sharif

Omar Sharif

Omar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...

, Catherine Deneuve

Catherine Deneuve

Catherine Deneuve is a French actress. She gained recognition for her portrayal of aloof and mysterious beauties in films such as Repulsion and Belle de jour . Deneuve was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1993 for her performance in Indochine; she also won César Awards for that...

, James Mason

James Mason

James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...

 and Ava Gardner

Ava Gardner

Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...

.

Cast

• Charles Boyer
  Charles Boyer
  Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found success in movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised romantic dramas,...
  
   as Archduke Rudolph of Austria
• Jean Dax as Emperor Franz Joseph
• Jean Debucourt
  Jean Debucourt
  Jean Debucourt was a French film actor. He appeared in 104 films between 1920 and 1958.-Selected filmography:* The Fall of the House of Usher * Mayerling * Devil in the Flesh...
  
   as Count Taafe
• Marthe Regnier as Baroness Vetsera (Helene)
• Danielle Darrieux
  Danielle Darrieux
  Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux is a French actress and singer, who has appeared in more than 110 films since 1931. She is one of France's great movie stars and her eight-decade career is among the longest in film history....
  
   as Marie Vetsera
• Suzy Prim as Countess Larisch
• Vladimir Sokoloff as Chief of Police
• Andre Dubosc as Loschek the Valet
• René Bergeron as Szeps
• Gabrielle Dorziat
  Gabrielle Dorziat
  Gabrielle Dorziat was a French stage and film actress. Dorziat was a fashion trend setter in Paris and helped popularize the designs of Coco Chanel. The Théâtre Gabrielle-Dorziat, a theater in Épernay, France is named for her.-Biography:...
  
   as Empress Elisabeth
• Raymond Aimos 
• Gina Manès
  Gina Manès
  Gina Manès was a French film actress.She appeared in the silent film Coeur fidèle , directed by Jean Epstein and played the title role in the film Thérèse Raquin directed by Jacques Feyder.A long career and lifeline Manes starred in some 90 films between 1903 and...
  
   as Marinka
• Yolande Laffron as Stephanie

Restoration

Unfortunately, the 1936 film is in dire need of restoration. The video quality is passable, but in 1997, the film was issued on VHS with the soundtrack in appallingly bad condition, rendering the sound close to unlistenable, although it was later shown this way on Turner Classic Movies

Turner Classic Movies

Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...

. Whether or not it is possible to repair this is still unknown.

A restored DVD was issued in the U.S. by The Criterion Collection (Essential Art House) on September 15, 2009.

External links

• film review