I don't know if it wass intentional or not, but it feels like Bing's character was turned up to 11 on the usual persona. For example, Blue Skies' Bing, while featuring all of the traits of Bing's character here, is a much more mellow character. Whether this was intentional or not, I think it definitely makes me like it more with just how expressive he is in this.

I think it works in the context of this movie, but it weren’t for the context I don’t think it would work nearly as well.

So I watched The Emperor Waltz finally. I used to think what was wrong with the film was Bing having a more aggressive personality. However, it is not that too much over the top. I feel what is lacking in the movie is chemistry between Joan Fontaine and Bing. They did not seem to mesh well.

Bing had wanted Deanna Durbin or even Greta Garbo! 

What makes the movie great is the music!

Lobosco wrote:

I feel what is lacking in the movie is chemistry between Joan Fontaine and Bing. They did not seem to mesh well.

At least with the movie's I've seen her in, she hasn't had too great of chemistry. Part of it is, I think, is that her characters' continuously estrange themselves from the stars.

I also think part of it is that, the mood on the set wasn't the greatest, as there had been stories, I am not sure of the truth of them, that it wasn't the best behind scenes with Bing and Billy Wilder. Apparently though Joan Fontaine's appearance on Bing's TV they had much better chemistry.

Archiefit wrote:

I haven't seen the video of Emperor Waltz yet but some here have talked about Bing's over aggressive style being off putting.  Now I can't comment on it in this movie but I can say having just watched "Welcome Stranger" that Bing was really overly aggressive in this movie.  Talk about not taking a hint, he just keeps on moving in no matter how obvious the rebuffs.  This might all be just a matter of today's ever so sensitive feewings about men being men instead of cream puffs.   I like the days better when men were men and women were glad of it.

I think by 1947/148 Bing had played "Bing" so many times, that he was looking for different angles for his characters in movies. I liked Welcome Stranger and I liked The Emperor Waltz more than I thought I would, but I did not care for Bing and Joan Fontaine as love interests. Now Bing and Joan Caulfield were another story...for another time!
 

Here is an interesting "what if" question...

Do you think the movie would be viewed differently today if Greta Garbo would have starred in it?