Reunion in Vienna (1933)

"Reunion in Vienna" is a trapped-in-amber adaptation of Robert Sherwood's popular stage play. John Barrymore brings virtually the only life to the proceedings as an amorous Austrian archduke, long exiled from his homeland. Returning to Vienna after twelve years, Barrymore tries to take up where he left off with his former mistress Diana Wynyard, who has since married likeable Freudian psychiatrist Frank Morgan. Since Morgan feels that the best way to dispel past "ghosts" is to confront them, Wynyard is permitted a reunion with Barrymore. Much of the risque comic thrust of Sherwood's stage play is blunted in the finalisation of Reunion of Vienna-though those art-deco sets are a joy to behold.