Goodnight, Vienna is a 1932 British musical film

Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

 directed by Herbert Wilcox

Herbert Wilcox

Herbert Sydney Wilcox was a British film producer and director.-Early life:Wilcox's mother was from County Cork, Ireland, but he was born in Norwood and attended school in Brighton...

 and starring Jack Buchanan

Jack Buchanan

Walter John "Jack" Buchanan was a British theatre and film actor, singer, producer and director. He was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town in the tradition of George Grossmith Jr., and was described by The Times as "the last of the knuts." He is best known in...

 and Anna Neagle

Anna Neagle

Forming a professional alliance with Wilcox, Neagle played her first starring film role in the musical Goodnight Vienna , again with Jack Buchanan. With this film Neagle became an overnight favourite...

 and Gina Malo

Gina Malo

Gina Malo was an American film actress, born Janet Flynn in Cincinnati, Ohio. She appeared in a number of British films in the 1930s, often playing an American.-Filmography:* In a Monastery Garden * A Tight Corner...

. Two lovers in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 are separated by the First World War, but are later reunited.

It was based on a radio operetta

Operetta

Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...

 written by Eric Maschwitz

Eric Maschwitz

Albert Eric Maschwitz OBE , known as Eric Maschwitz and sometimes credited as Holt Marvell, was an English entertainer, writer, broadcaster and broadcasting executive.-Life and work:...

. It features the song Good-night, Vienna (song)

Good-night, Vienna (song)

"Good-night, Vienna" is the title song of an operetta written by Eric Maschwitz and composer George Posford. It was first broadcast by BBC radio in 1932 and was subsequently an international hit for Jack Buchanan when it was filmed....

. Wilcox reportedly cast Neagle, whom he would later marry and direct in many films, after discovering her by chance in a stage show.

Plot

Max is an Austrian officer in the army and son of a highly placed general. His father wants him to marry a Countess but he has fallen in love with Vicki. Attending a party given in his honour, they are informed that war has broken out. Max writes a note to Vicki and goes off to war. Unfortunately the note is lost. Some time after the war, Max is just a shoe shop assistant while Vicki is now a famous singer. They meet and at first she snubs him but then falls in love with him again.

Cast

• Jack Buchanan
  Jack Buchanan
  Walter John "Jack" Buchanan was a British theatre and film actor, singer, producer and director. He was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town in the tradition of George Grossmith Jr., and was described by The Times as "the last of the knuts." He is best known in...
  
   - Captain Maximilian Schletoff
• Anna Neagle
  Anna Neagle
  Forming a professional alliance with Wilcox, Neagle played her first starring film role in the musical Goodnight Vienna , again with Jack Buchanan. With this film Neagle became an overnight favourite...
  
   - Vicki
• Gina Malo
  Gina Malo
  Gina Malo was an American film actress, born Janet Flynn in Cincinnati, Ohio. She appeared in a number of British films in the 1930s, often playing an American.-Filmography:* In a Monastery Garden * A Tight Corner...
  
   - Frieda
• Clive Currie - General Schletoff
• William Kendall
  William Kendall (actor)
  -Filmography:* Good Night, Vienna * That's a Good Girl * The King's Cup * Doctor's Orders * Debt of Honour * This'll Make You Whistle * Sweet Devil * The Sky's the Limit...
  
   - Ernst
• Joyce Bland
  Joyce Bland
  -Career:Entered Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and made stage debut on tour in 1927 in The Constant Nymph. She then returned to London and understudied Tallulah Bankhead...
  
   - Countess Helga
• Gibb McLaughlin
  Gibb McLaughlin
  Gibb McLaughlin was an English film actor. He appeared in 118 films between 1921 and 1959. He was born in Sunderland, England and died in London, England.-Selected filmography:* The Road to London...
  
   - Max's Orderly
• Herbert Carrick - Johann
• Clifford Heatherley
  Clifford Heatherley
  -Selected filmography:* The Tavern Knight * The Autumn of Pride * Mademoiselle from Armentieres * The King's Highway * The Constant Nymph * Champagne * The W Plan...
  
   - Donelli
• O. B. Clarence - Theatre Manager
• Peggy Cartwright
  Peggy Cartwright
  Peggy Cartwright was a Canadian silent film actress perhaps best known for her short stint as the leading lady of the Our Gang comedies. She appeared in four shorts in 1922 and, possibly, the pilot for the series, Our Gang .Her first husband was Phil Baker with whom she had four children...
  
   - Greta
• Muriel Aked
  Muriel Aked
  Muriel Aked was a British film actress. She was a student at Liverpool Repertory Theatre for six months but left to do war work. She made her screen debut in 1920 in A Sister to Assist 'Er...
  
   - Marya
• Aubrey Fitzgerald
  Aubrey Fitzgerald
  -Selected filmography:* The Last Witness * The King's Highway * Good Night, Vienna * Discord * The Little Damozel * Peg of Old Drury * When Knights Were Bold * Song of the Forge...
  
  - Waiter