Oh... Rosalinda!!

Oh... Rosalinda!! is a 1955 British musical comedy film by the British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. The film stars Michael Redgrave, Mel Ferrer, Anthony Quayle, dancer Ludmilla Tchérina and Anton Walbrook and features Dennis Price.

The film is based on the operetta Die Fledermaus (The Bat) by Johann Strauss, but updated to take place in post-war Vienna as occupied by the four Allied powers: the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the USSR The music, played by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under conductor Alois Melichar,^[2] has new lyrics by Dennis Arundell, and professional singers dubbed for some of the actors. The choreography is by Alfred Rodrigues, and the production was designed by Hein Heckroth.

Oh... Rosalinda!! is a light-hearted Technicolor romp that makes full use of the new CinemaScope process, and is not just a film of a staged production but a filmic operetta.

Plot

In 1955 Vienna, during its post-war occupation, the black-market dealer Dr. Falke (Anton Walbrook) moves freely through the French, British, American and Russian sectors, dealing in champagne and caviar amongst the highest echelons of the allied powers. After a costume party, French Colonel Gabriel Eisenstein (Michael Redgrave) plays a practical joke on a drunken Falke, depositing him, asleep and dressed as a bat, in the lap of a patriotic Russian statue, to be discovered the following morning by irate Russian soldiers. Falke is nearly arrested until his friend General Orlofsky (Anthony Quayle) of the USSR intervenes. A vengeful Falke plans an elaborate practical joke on his friend, involving Orlofsky, a British major (Dennis Price), Eisenstein's beautiful wife Rosalinda (Ludmilla Tcherina), her maid (Anneliese Rothenberger) and a masked ball where no one is what they seem. Complicating matters is American Captain Alfred Westerman (Mel Ferrer), an old flame of Rosalinda's who is determined to take advantage of her husband's absence.

Cast

Anthony Quayle as Gen. Orlovsky Anton Walbrook as Dr. Falke Dennis Price as Maj. Frank Ludmilla Tchérina as Rosalinda Michael Redgrave as Col. Eisenstein Mel Ferrer as Capt. Alfred Westerman Anneliese Rothenberger as Adele Oskar Sima as Frosch Nicholas Bruce as Hotel receptionist Arthur Mullard as Russian guard Singing voices: Sari Barabas as Rosalinda Alexander Young as Capt. Alfred Dennis Dowling as Maj. Frank Walter Berry as Dr. Falke

Ludmilla Tchérina

Cast notes:

• Roy Kinnear is listed in the cast, but no role is specified.^[3][4][5]

Production

Oh... Rosalinda was filmed at Elstree Studios in Boreham Wood, Hertfordshire and on location in London.^[6]

Powell and Pressburger had suffered through four box office disappointments in a row before this film, which is one reason that Bing Crosby, Maurice Chevalier and Orson Welles were approached about playing the roles of Alfred, Eisenstein and Orlovsky – however Oh... Rosalinda!! was not commercially successful.^[7]

References

Notes

Further reading

• "Oh... Rosalinda!!".  Reviews and articles at a website devoted to Powell & Pressburger.
• Cairns, David (July–September 2005). "Oh Boy! Oh Rosalinda!! and The Boy Who Turned Yellow". Senses of Cinema (36).  Sympathetic review of Oh... Rosalinda!! in the context of all films by Powell and Pressburger.

External links

• Oh... Rosalinda!! at the Internet Movie Database
• Oh... Rosalinda!! at the TCM Movie Database
• Oh... Rosalinda!! at AllMovie
• Oh... Rosalinda!! at the British Film Institute's Screenonline. Full synopsis and film stills (and clips viewable from UK libraries).