Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria clashes with his father, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, over implementing progressive policies for their country. Rudolf soon feels he is a man born at the wrong time in a country that doesn't realize the need for social reform. The Prince of Wales, later to become Britain's King Edward VII, provides comic relief. Rudolf finds refuge from a loveless marriage with Princess Stéphanie by taking a mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera. Their untimely demise at Mayerling, the imperial family's hunting lodge, is cloaked in mystery.
Cinematography
Gilded cages never looked so suffocatingly gorgeous.
Acting
Omar Sharif's despair could power a small city.
Costume
Sisi's black gowns alone deserve their own Oscar.
Director
Terence Young
Omar Sharif
Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria
Catherine Deneuve
Baroness Mary Vetsera
James Mason
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Ava Gardner
Empress Elisabeth of Austria
James Robertson Justice
Prince of Wales
Geneviève Page
Countess Marie Larisch von Moennich
Andréa Parisy
Princess Stéphanie
Ivan Desny
Count Josef Hoyos
Fabienne Dali
Mizzi Kaspar
Véronique Vendell
Lisi Stockau
Howard Vernon
Prince of Montenuovo
Irene von Meyendorff
Countess Stockau
Mony Dalmès
Baroness Helen Vetsera
Maurice Teynac
Moritz Szeps
Charles Millot
Count Taafe
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Terence Young directed this between two Bond films—explaining why Rudolf's political schemes feel oddly like spy thriller pacing in a corset.
The real Mayerling incident remains Austria's greatest mystery; the 1889 deaths destabilized the empire and arguably set the stage for WWI's collapse of dynasties.
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