Bing Crosby Collection – The Emperor Waltz / A Connecticut Yankee Bing Crosby

In ‘The Emperor Waltz’ (1948) a traveling gramophone salesman Virgil Smith (Bing Crosby) wants to sell his Gramophones in pre-WWI Austria. Toget the ball rolling, he hits on the idea of going straight to the top and selling one to emperor Franz Joseph (Richard Haydn). First off, the palace guards think he is carrying a bomb and he’s arrested. He subsequently meets the Countess Johanna von Stolzenberg-Stolzenberg (Joan Fontaine) and, after the usual misunderstandings, falls in love with her. She falls in love with his dog, Buttons. The relation is fraught with obstacles and the Emperor thinks royal blood marrying a commoner is bad darts altogether – what is to become of Smith and his countess? In ‘A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court’ (1949), a lowly Connecticut mechanic, Hank Martin (Crosby) bumps his noggin and, in his mind, is sent back to 528 A.D. Britain and the court of King Arthur. His former life as a mechanic stands him well, as he is able to utilize techniques (and humour) that the Arthurians are thousands of years away from getting. Taken under the wing of Sir Sigamore le Desirous (William Bendix), Smith is soon comfortably in love with the King’s neice, the beautiful Alesande (Rhonda Fleming). Her fiance, the dashing Sir Lancelot (Henry Wilcoxon), is understandably miffed and high jinx ensues.