Director Terence Young spins a romantic tale based on Rudolph's doomed relationship with Baroness Maria Vetsera (Catherine Deneuve). Rudolph yearns for Maria, but he's been forced by his overpowering father, Emperor Franz Josef (James Mason), into a loveless marriage with Crown Princess Stephanie (Andrea Parisy). Stephanie's sour personality drives Rudolph to an affair with a young actress (Fabienne Dali), as well as to a dalliance with morphine.
When Maria is sent to Venice to discourage the possibility of an illicit romance, Rudolph is encouraged by his sympathetic mother, Empress Elizabeth (Ava Gardner), to bring her back. Unfortunately, Rudolph's involvement in a failed Hungarian political uprising is suddenly revealed, much to the dissatisfaction of his father. With their future together looking bleak, Rudolph and Maria decide to seal their fate with a final, irrevocable act.
At the time of its release, critics agreed that the best performances in Mayerling were delivered by the old pros, Ava Gardner and James Mason, although many people complained that Gardner was too young to play Sharif's mother. Gardner was 45 when she accepted the role of the 60-year-old Empress Elizabeth. However, the actual Empress was famously youthful-looking, so Gardner fit the role better than most people realized. (A few years later, in the blockbuster, Earthquake, 1974, Gardner portrayed Lorne Greene's petulant daughter while being [and looking] a mere seven years younger than Greene. Even the studio's publicity department couldn't explain that one.)
Mayerling was originally planned for the husband-and-wife team of Mel Ferrer and Audrey Hepburn, both of whom participated in a disastrous televised version of the story in 1957. Hepburn received rave reviews for her work in Young's cult thriller, Wait Until Dark (1967), so she was upset when Sharif and Deneuve were cast. But it may have been for the best. By the time filming commenced on Mayerling, Ferrer and Hepburn were preparing to divorce.
Producer: Robert Dorfmann
Director: Terence Young
Screenplay: Terence Young, Dennis Cannan, Joseph Kessel
Editor: Monique Bonnot
Cinematographer: Henri Alekan
Music: Francis Lai
Production Designer: Georges Wakhevitch
Art Director: Maurice Colasson, Tony Roman
Costumes: Marcel Escoffier
Principal Cast: Omar Sharif (Crown Prince Rudolph), Catherine Deneuve (Baroness Maria Vetsera), James Mason (Emperor Franz Josef), Ava Gardner (Empress Elizabeth), James Robertson Justice (Edward, Prince of Wales), Genevieve Page (Countess Larisch), Fabienne Dali (Mizzi Kaspar), Maurice Teynac (Mortiz Szeps).
C-128m. Letterboxed.
by Paul Tatara
