Oh... Rosalinda!!

12/22/2023

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger have shifted this lively and engaging Strauss operetta to the scenario of post WWII Vienna and that allows for some pretty potent language from the top of his game Anton Walbrook's "Dr. Falke" delivering us a slightly more relevant critique of politics, hope, friendship and honour than might have emanated from the original timeframe. The thought of such monologues might be a little off-putting at first, but they are littered with powerful and emotionally charged messages that compliment really well the musical powerhouse that is "Die Fledermaus". On that latter front, Michael Redgrave ("Col. Eisenstein") impresses with his singing and his dancing; Dennis Price features sparingly but effectively as "Maj. Frank" and P&P regular Ludmilla Tcherina actually