Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor main poster

Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor

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5.8/10 • 12

1953-12-220h 9m

Documentary

Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor [also known as The Merry Wives of Windsor Overture] is a 1953 American short musical film produced by Johnny Green. The film consists of the MGM Symphony Orchestra playing the Overture to Otto Nicolai's opera The Merry Wives of Windsor, also conducted by Johnny Green. It won an Oscar in 1954 for Best Short Subject, One-Reel.

Directors
Johnny Green
Editors
John McSweeney Jr.

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Johnny Green

    Johnny Green

    Johnny Green

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jul 10, 2025

6/10

It’s not so much a film this as an early music video depicting the mastery of their instruments by the members of MGM’s in-house orchestra. As it says on the can, these musicians are playing the overture from Otto Nicolai’s operatic adaptation of Shakespeare’s comedy. It uses fairly standard filming techniques and is actually something you could just as easily close your eyes and listen to as watch, but this is clearly a classy operation at work and it is good to hear the woodwind section get more prominence during the eight minutes. The one thing I did find curious was that there only appeared to be two women in this orchestra, both violinists, but otherwise it’s an unremarkable piece of film-making.

Media

  • Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor poster
  • Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor poster
  • Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
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