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Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Victoria in Dover (1954) [NR] ****

Victoria in Dover, also titled The Story of Vickie and originally titled Mädchenjahre einer Königin (literally girl years of a queen) is a delightful Austrian historical romantic comedy about Queen Victoria’s youth, directed by Ernst Marischka and starring Romy Schneider as Victoria, Adrian Hoven as Price Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Magda Schneider, Romy’s real-life mother, as her confidant Baroness Lehzen. It is a remake of the 1936 Erich Engel film Victoria in Dover, which was based on a 1932 play by Sil-Vara. Romy Schneider's performance as a spirited young royal was a lead-in to her role in Sissi and its sequels, which made her an internationally recognized star.

Upon the death of her uncle, King William IV in June, 1837, Victoria, who had just turned eighteen, became queen. Totally unprepared, she was ably assisted and coached by Lord Melbourne (Karl Ludwig Diehl), her Prime Minister. However, by the spring of 1839, Victoria was nearly twenty and her mother, the Duchess of Kent (Christl Mardayn) and Lord Melbourne decided it was time for her to marry. Three royal suitors were selected, one of whom was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Victoria’s first cousin (Albert’s father was the brother of Victoria’s mother).

When Victoria heard about the plan, she realized that she had no experience with eligible young men and romance, so she would be unable to make a good choice. She decided to go, incognito, to Paris, the City of Love, to get some experience. Taking only her confidant Baroness Lehzen and her butler George (Rudolf Vogel) she escaped from Buckingham Palace, but when they reached Dover there was a raging storm, so they took shelter in an inn, where Victoria asked a young man, whom she assumed was an employee, to start a fire in her room. Unbeknownst to her, this was Prince Albert, who, accompanied by his tutor Prof. Landmann (Paul Hörbiger), was on his way to London for Victoria’s birthday celebration.

Later that evening the four of them (Victoria, Baroness Lehzen, Albert and Prof. Landmann) sat at the same table for dinner, and Albert pointed out Johann Strauss, who was also on his way to London for Victoria’s birthday celebration and who wrote waltzes, the new dance form. Albert offered to teach Victoria to dance the waltz and she accepted.


Before the evening was over, the two had fallen in love, and Albert had told Prof. Landmann that he wasn’t going to London, but rather he was going to follow Victoria to Paris. Prof. Landmann reminded Albert that he had done this sort of thing many times before, and the outcomes were rarely good. And, besides, he was expected at Buckingham Palace for Queen Victoria’s birthday celebration. Unable to persuade Albert, he then went to Victoria, confided in her who the young man really was, that he HAD to go to London, and offered to give her thirty pounds if she would leave immediately. Graciously, Victoria accepted five pounds to pay their bill (neither she nor George nor the Baroness had brought any money) and informed the Baroness that they would be leaving immediately. They returned to London just in time for Victoria’s birthday celebration, Albert and his professor arrived later, recognized Victoria, danced with her, and the rest is history.

Victoria in Dover
is included in the Sissi Collection because there are strong links between this film and Sissi, over and above its lead Romy Schneider and its director Ernst Marischka. Everything about Victoria in Dover, from its title sequence, to its basic plot involving a royal meet-cute culminating in a predestined royal marriage makes this film play like a pilot film for Sissi. Victoria in Dover is a bit more consistently light-hearted than Sissi, perhaps approaching more of a traditional comedy of manners.

The coupling of Hoven and Schneider may not have quite the romantic chemistry of that between Karlheinz Böhm and Romy Schneider in Sissi, but this film's overall lighter tone helps to balance that issue. Also, much like Sissi, Victoria in Dover plays very much like a live-action fairy tale, with a princess who finds her prince and lives happily ever after without too much anxiety and tension. Victoria in Dover may not be historically accurate, but it's fun and engaging, sort of like a Hallmark movie.

Released in 1954, Victoria in Dover was likely filmed in the summer and autumn of 1953, when Romy Schneider (b. Sept. 23, 1938) was turning fifteen. She is radiantly lovely and continues to be so throughout the three films of the Sissi Collection.


If you prefer something much more historically accurate, with a better script, direction, acting, editing, costumes and sets, I can highly recommend The Young Victoria (2009) with Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend and Paul Bettany.

Labels: comedy, history, romance, rom-com-faves, Romy Schneider

IMDb 65/100

Blu-ray

Amazon TV 

Blu-ray.com review by Jeffrey Kauffman

Wikipedia (film) 

Wikipedia Queen Victoria

Wikipedia Prince Albert 

Top Five Victoria & Alberts on Screen 



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