Forget all the mush for a moment (and what a mushy film this is!) and bear in mind that we are in Germany just ten years after the war. Well, we are in Austria, but the references (and the actors) are all very clearly pan-German. Indeed, with settings in Bavaria and Austria, we are very precisely in the homeland of one Herr Adolf Hitler. By a happy coincidence the same Haydn melody was used for the Austrian national anthem (played at Sissi's arrival in Austria) before the First World War as was adopted for the German national anthem after the First World War and which was still in use (in Germany) in 1955 and is of course still in use today.While Germany itself was in a state of unresolved guilt combined with intense denial, Austria, as is often pointed out, had neatly evaded all "denazification" after the war. As such it became a sort of alibi-country for the German world. The Marischka brothers, Hubert and Ernest (who directs these films) were very Vienna and had always been more operetta and waltz music than sturm und drang and blut und boden - the acceptable if frivolous side of Germanic culture.When Werner Krauss, great actor but notorious anti-semite, was unable to work in Germany, he moved to Austria, took Austrian citizenship and continued his career until rehabilitated and restored to his German citizenship in 1951. He was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz (German "order of merit")just the year before this film came out and, on his death in 1959 the Iffland-Ring (traditionally held by the finest living German actor)passed not as expected to Oskar Werner (a noted anti-Nazi ) but to another Austrian, Josef Meinrad whose comic major in the Sissi films is amongst his most notable film appearances.Magda Schneider, for her part, lived on in Bechtesgarten where she had been Hitler's neighbour, friend and favourite actress. Romy, herself too young to have been involved in "you know what", trod gingerly in her mother's footsteps she would for instance play the same part as her mother had played in Christine in 1957, a remake of Max Ophül's 1933 Lorelei). Unlike her mother, she was Austrian born (Vienna) so was the perfect representative both of a continuity with pre-war Germany and of an innocent new generation, uninvolved in the awkward bit that came in between.The same might be said of Karlheinz Böhm whose father, the conductor Karl Böhm, has publicly welcomed Hitler's annexation of Austria in 1938 and conducted the concert given on the occasion. He has himself, it should be said, been a notable philanthropist as well as appearing (to is cost) in one of the most remarkable and disturbing films ever made about the father-son relationship - Michael Powell's Pepping Tom.While fifties Germany avoided the spectacular in cinema and specialised in the "heimatfilm", celebrations of all those good, old-fashioned German virtues that could not be mistaken for Nazism, Austria was the perfect place to produce a kind of postwar pan-Germanic epic that is rather like a glorified version of the heimatfilm (hunting and fishing, Bavarian beer and skittles).Historical verity has necessarily to take a back seat so that the portrayal of this part at any rate of the Germanic world can be seen as entirely sympathetic and all the reverse of "you know what". Franz Josef was a deeply conservative ruler who ferociously oppressed all opposition and the Austro-Hungarian state in reality had a secret police that were worthy predecessors of the Gestapo, but not in this film. Here Franz Josef is a charming, well-meaning fellow and Herr Meinrad's policemen are just a version of the Keystone Kops.Do not get me wrong. I am not blaming Germans for wanting to make films like this. They had a ghastly reality to live with and live down and, As D. H. Lawrence once famously remarked, we have to go on however many skies have fallen. One can even enjoy the mush but it is as well to understand, at the same time, that it represented a kind of exercise in camouflage.

"Sissi" is an Austrian German-language movie that is having its 60th anniversary this year. And it is not only the defining film in Romy Schneider (too short) career, but often also considered one of the best and most known period pieces that do not come from the United States. Here in Germany, everybody knows this movie, even younger generations, at least by name. The writer and director is Ernst Marischka, who has already made films for over 40 years when he made "Sissi". And he was also an Academy award nominee for writing the screenplay "A Song to Remember". There's 2 more Sissi films by Marischka and this trilogy is certainly his most known legacy. All 3 films star Romy Schneider, her mother Magda and Karlheinz Böhm as the male lead.I must say Romy Schneider is absolutely stunning and in terms of costumes, sets and basically all kinds of visuals, this is a very decent watch. Too bad, the story is not even close to that level of quality. It is cheesy, predictable and does not include convincing character elaborations. Sadly, the acting is not exactly that good either. But in all fairness, the material is so weak at times that it would be pretty much impossible for any actor to make this work, or even make it a compelling watch. The ending of the film obviously indicated that there would be a sequel, but to me another "Sissi" movie was not necessary judging from the first. The characters are all so stereotypical, all good or bad, but really hardly any shades at all. And the way you will inevitable feel for Sissi is not enough to make up for everything that's wrong with this movie. Apart from that, it also comes somewhat short on the emotional side compared to what it could have been. The humor (mostly about Böhm's character's assistant) is bearable at best, rarely funny, occasionally cringeworthy. The political aspects are references at times, but never really elaborated on, which makes this movie pointless in terms of history. A disappointing film that does not deserve its cult status. Not recommended.

I was born in Germany and grew up with the Sissi movies. Romy Schneider and Karl Heinz Boehm really had chemistry. I have been in the States since 1962 and just discovered all 3 movies again.Since then I must have watched them over and over again, most of the time without sound since I know them by heart. Just love to see the scenery (Austria and the Alps, the castle Schoenbrunn and those beautiful rooms! Make a long story short - I love the movies, I adore Romy Schneider and, of course, Karlheinz Boehm (by the way, he passed away on May 29', 2014 age 86). Romy Schneider died May 29, 1982 - she was 42 - coincidence?? Both of them made another movie together 'Kitty und die grosse Welt' (kitty and the big world) - I liked that too, but the Sissi movies were better. I liked Franz' father, he was really funny. But you had to understand German because the translation was not accurate.

Romy Schneider is "Sissi" in this 1955 film, the first of a trilogy about Empress Elisabeth of Austria.Sissi is not someone we are very familiar with in the United States, but in Europe, she enjoys a popularity similar to Princess Diana's. She is everywhere - candy boxes, dolls, you name it.This first film tells the story of the 15-year-old Sissi and her meeting with the man who would become her husband, Emperor Franz Josef, who was intended to be her sister Helene's husband; however, Josef fell for Sissi instead.Sissi fortunately lived at a time when there were no tabloids or tell-all books. She was a complicated woman who is seen as a romantic figure. In truth she was either bulimic or anorexic, though the latter appears to be the case, she had psychosomatic illnesses related to being at court - whenever she got away from the court, she recovered. She was incredibly vain, obsessed with her appearance to the extent that she never allowed anyone to paint her after the age of 30.Sissi also was a free spirit who had difficulty handling the constraints of court. We see in the film that she was raised by a father who was very gemutlichkeit, fun-loving, and he encouraged his children to play and enjoy life. She was responsible for the good relations between Austria and Hungary -- in fact, Sissi is even more idolized in Hungary than in Austria, if that's possible. Her son, Rudolf, was found dead with his lover at Mayerling, a hunting lodge, a story which has been told in film and books often. And her cousin was Mad Prince Ludwig.This film covers the time up to her marriage, and Romy Schneider is both beautiful and charming in the role. The film is so pretty, with gorgeous scenery and costumes, as well as some beautiful classical music. Schneider went on to play Sissi in the two other films.These movies are shown in Europe at Christmas.Sissi has been the subject of a musical and an operetta (that I know of), several plays, two ballets, countless films, TV mini-series, several books, and is the subject of a song. This film is like something Disney would produce, very lovely, and more a fairy tale than the real story.