Sissi (1955) [NR] ****

Film biographies (biopics) were big in the 1940s and 1950s. Whether it was Gary Cooper playing Lou Gehrig, Greer Garson playing Marie Curie, James Cagney playing George M. Cohen, James Stewart playing Charles Lindberg or Danny Kaye playing Hans Christian Andersen, audiences enjoyed watching their Hollywood heroes playing real-life ones.

In Europe, though, one biopic towered regally over all the rest: the phenomenally popular Sissi trilogy from director Ernst Marischka, starring Romy Schneider. In Sissi (1955), Sissi: The Young Empress (1956), and Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress (1957), Schneider played Princess Elisabeth (Sissi) in Bavaria, who went on to marry Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, played by Karlheinz Boehm (Böhm). As Empress, Sissi reigned alongside Franz Joseph from 1854-1898, and was instrumental in uniting Austria and Hungary in the Austria-Hungary Empire which lasted until 1918, the end of World War I.

By today’s standards, all of the post-WWII German and Austrian biopics seem sanitized and romanticized. They were termed Heimat films, meaning home or homeland, and Sissi is a classic example. This cheerful blend of history, comedy, and romance covers Sissi’s teenage years growing up in Bavaria through her wedding to Franz Joseph. Elisabeth grows up in the Royal Bavarian House of Wittelsbach, with her father Duke Maximilian (Gustav Knuth), her mother Duchess Ludovika (Magda Schneider, Romy Schneider's real-life mother) and sisters and brothers including her older sister Helene or Nene (Uta Franz) in the family castle in Bayern (Bavaria), Schloss Possenhofen, on the western shore of Starnberger See (Lake Starnberg) southwest of Munchen (Munich). Sissi is fond of horseback riding, fishing, hiking, and accompanying her father - the robust and unabashedly uncouth Duke Max - on his hunting excursions. The family enjoys life and all its simple pleasures, whether sharing a big pot of sausage or laughing at Max's latest affronts to aristocratic conventions. Sissi has a pet fawn and pet birds and thoroughly enjoys her life, wishing for nothing more.

Meanwhile, Franz Joseph’s mother, Archduchess Sophie (Vilma Degischer) has decided it’s time for her son to marry, and she has picked out the perfect partner for him, Nene, the eldest daughter of her sister Ludovika. She has even planned for Franz to announce his engagement at his 23rd birthday celebration at their Bad Ischl, Austria palace on 18 August 1853.

To disguise the true purpose of their journey from Possenhofen to Bad Ischl, Ludovika brings Sissi along with Nene, and during one of the intimate court events to which she is not invited, Sissi sneaks out, goes fishing in a nearby stream and while fly fishing accidentally hooks Franz who just happens to be passing by in his open carriage on the way to Bad Ischl. Franz is instantly smitten with Sissi, and invites her to meet him to go on a deer hunting excursion at 5:00 PM later that afternoon. Sissi tells him her name is Liesl of Possenhofen, so Franz has no idea who she really is until, later that evening at the ball, she is presented to him. Franz practically begs her to marry him, but Sissi wants no part of Austrian court life and so he has no choice but to publicly announce their engagement, despite her objection.

Franz and Sissi’s romantic meet-cute is perfectly suited to the story, and while the acting is more than competent, the director’s attention to detail captivates us nearly as much as the actors and the story. Whether it’s seeing the toys that children played with in an 1850’s nursery or lavish ballroom dances and public performances, viewers are given a glimpse of the life of royalty in the 1850s. In addition to Schneider’s captivating performance, and the comic relief provided by Gustav Knuth and an overzealous military attaché named Böckl (Josef Meinrad), Sissi offers enjoyable, light entertainment.

Sissi was the film that made Viennese actress Romy Schneider an international star, and there is definitely something about the way she inhabits the character and exudes country-girl charm that makes you accept her innocence and naive optimism resulting from her upbringing in rural Bavaria, far from the sophistication of courtly life in the Shoenbrunn Palace in Vienna.

The three films of the Sissi Collection are presented in digitally remastered widescreen color in German with English subtitles. They are lavishly produced films that seems to have spared no expense, plus there’s an incredible amount of rich detail in the background of every frame. The three films are seamless and feel like one long film with a continuous narrative rather than an original with two sequels, so they feel like the mini-series of today. Each film is roughly 1hr 45min in length, so the series is just over five hours in total.

Franz Joseph and Sissi became engaged on August 18, 1853 and married in Vienna on April 24th, 1854, eight months later. The film skips over this eight-month period except for a short scene in which Nene and Sissi reconcile in Possenhofen. There is no mention of any connection between Franz and Sissi during this period. Frankly, the film would have been much richer and more romantic for me had Franz made the journey to Possenhofen to spend time with Sissi and her family.

Labels: Cinderella-story, comedy, drama, history, Romy Schneider
IMDb 70/100
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=NA, viewers=86)
Blu-ray
Wikipedia Empress Elisabeth of Austria
Vienna Tourist - Sissi's Vienna