Directed by Anatole Litvak, Mayerling recounts the tragic, real life, love affair of Archduke Rudolph, the son of Emperor Joseph (played by Jean Dax) and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his mistress, Marie Vetsera, a minor noble. This 1936 effort is based on Claude Anet's novel and stars Charles Boyer (as Rudoph) and the beautiful Danielle Darieux (as Marie). Filmed in the classic style the French New Wave directors so loved to hate, Mayerling captures the liberalization so rampant within Vienna at the time as it efficiency spins the tragedy of Rudolph and Marie. When his father demands he break off the affair, the couple spend one final weekend at Mayerling, the royal hunting lodge. There, early on a cold January morning in 1889, the crown prince shoots Marie and then commits suicide. Roll the 'fin'. With no heir, Rudolph's cousin becomes crown prince only to be assassinated with his wife in Sarajevo, an act that ignites World War I.
Rich and engaging and for highlighting one of the last century's enduring mysteries, my rating 8 out of 10.
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