Anxious to finish off his contract with British International Pictures,
Alfred Hitchcock agreed to direct Waltzes from Vienna, a schmaltzy musical about "waltz king" Joseph Strauss and his son Joseph Jr.
Edmund Gwenn stars as the elder Strauss, with
Esmond Knight as his talented progeny. The crux of the film is the intense rivalry between the two Strausses, which is somehow resolved by the inaugural performance of Joseph Junior's "The Blue Danube." Displeased with his work in this film, Hitchcock at one point threw up his hands and confessed to his actors "I hate this sort of stuff. Melodrama is the only thing I can do." Hitch regarded Waltzes in Vienna and his silent
Champagne as his worst films, and never directed anything like them again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide