Bing's 'Emperor Waltz' - Songs, Sources and Spin-Offs

Bing serenades what appears to be
a stuffed likeness of Joan Fontaine

In his postwar films, Bing Crosby continued his picaresque adventures, with or without Bob Hope. Today we'll look at the music from his 1948 film The Emperor Waltz, where he was a plucky turn-of-the-century gramophone salesman. The story involved Bing trying to get the emperor of Austria to buy a new-fangled Victrola, so as to give it some much needed publicity. The crooner also gets to romance a Countess, played by Joan Fontaine.

At the time, Paramount's (or Bing's) usual ploy was to engage Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen for his movie songs, so that a big element of the film's success was ensured.

For this score, however, the duo was employed only for the minor number "Get Yourself a Phonograph," and Bing didn't even make a commercial recording of the piece.

Instead the big tunes (relatively speaking) were taken from existing sources. First, the title song, an adaptation of the Johann Strauss II composition, with Burke's lyrics added.

The other numbers were more obscure, at least to American audiences. "The Kiss in Your Eyes" was a version of a piece from Richard Heuberger's 1898 operetta Der Opernball. "Friendly Mountains" was reputedly based on Austrian yodels. And "I Kiss Your Hand, Madame" is a Ralph Erwin song from a 1929 German film of the same name (Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame) that starred Marlene Dietrich and Harry Liedtke. Burke provided the English lyrics for the first two; Sam Lewis and Joe Young the latter, back when the film was new.

In this post we'll present Bing's commercial recordings, a selection from a promotional disc, and the sources of the songs, as appropriate. And we'll add a few surprises.

The Emperor Waltz

First, we have the "The Emperor Waltz" with Bing's reading of Burke's at times clunky lyrics ("Like poets say, 'It's perfectly swell!'"). Bing does his best, but the number doesn't come off completely. The transfer is from the Decca recording.

For contrast, we have the original composition (Kaiser-Waltzer, Op. 437) from a superior 1950 recording by the eminent conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler and the Vienna Philharmonic. You will note that Strauss's composition is much more complex than the Bing/Victor Young adaptation (as might be expected).

Wilhelm Furtwängler

Friendly Mountains

On the soundtrack, "Friendly Mountains" does indeed start with Bing's version of a yodel - characteristically including any number of "bum-bum-bums." The soundtrack has fun with elaborate echoes. ("Let the friendly mountains sing along," Crosby advises.) This transfer comes from the Paramount promotional disc at right. 

Also included is Bing's commercial recording, in which the echo effects are not quite as prolonged; even so, the device gets tiresome.

I Kiss Your Hand, Madame

As noted, "Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame" comes from a 1929 film of the same name, with the famed tenor Richard Tauber providing the vocal on the otherwise-silent soundtrack. He is not seen in the film, but nonetheless appeared in the publicity along with the principals (below). We have his recording from the German Odeon release.

Harry Liedtke, Marlene Dietrich and Richard Tauber

Bing himself had recorded "I Kiss Your Hand, Madame" with the Lewis-Young lyrics back in 1929. The arrangement accentuated the tango rhythm, with Eddie Lang on guitar, Roy Bargy on piano and Matty Malneck on viola, all uncredited.

Crosby's 1947 commercial recording is very fine, appropriately dreamy with luscious backing by Victor Young and orchestra. It's my favorite of the three readings.

Tauber, 1929 Bing, 1947 Bing, and Spike

Even a good record deserves a parody, and Spike Jones provided one that, if anything, has become better known than either of Bing's efforts. There is a straight presentation of the tune from Paul Judson and choir before transitioning to a chorus of gunshots, cow bells and the like. Then the choir offers a cooing reading of the lyrics interspersed with rude noises and sound effects, followed by a tasteless bravura close. Richard Tauber died at about the same time as this record came out. Coincidence?

The Kiss in Your Eyes

Richard Tauber

Heuberger's "Im Chambre Séparée" was transformed by the film into "The Kiss in Your Eyes," here transferred from Crosby's Decca recording. The original is represented by Tauber's 1931 Parlophon disc, with an orchestra led by an uncredited Frieder Weissmann. It's a beautiful piece, well served by both artists in their own ways.

"Im Chambre Séparée" gained another life a few years after the film. In 1953 Dorcas Cochran came up with a song titled "Suddenly," somehow forgetting to credit Heuberger for its melody. Les Baxter recorded it for Capitol with a very good solo vocal by Bill Kennedy. It, too, is in the download.

In addition to the various permutations in the download, the "Emperor Waltz" and "Kiss in Your Eyes" did occasion a good number of cover records, presumably trading off Bing's popularity, if not Strauss or Heuberger.

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The film itself wasn't a huge success. Made in 1946, it wasn't released until 1948 and while it did recoup its investment, it wasn't a blockbuster. During the filming, Bing was reportedly chilly to co-star Joan Fontaine and resistant to direction from Billy Wilder. The director, who had lived in Vienna when young, was disappointed by the final film.

The recordings have been restored from Internet Archive transfers.

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