刘别谦初嚐美高梅大制作的派头，一切笔法更神采飞扬。开敞的场景、空前的排场让人物里里外外恣意张开：寡妇的心更显孤独，男女的爱更加没处安放。坐拥小国大部分财富的寡妇忽然要搬到巴黎重新寻找生活色彩，国王唯恐国祚不保来一招美男计，派出风流种子色诱寡妇。本来一个用情一个求性，几番邂逅与折腾，改写了男男女女的基本需要。歌与舞没有卖弄甜腻，反而放在爱情的沉重中换来了歌颂。歌与影无间交流，刘别谦轻歌剧巅峰之作，亦成了荷里活极有代表性的一章。司花利亚与珍娜．麦当奴最後一次合作，後者散发从未有过的成熟韵味。堪称最性感的音乐剧。　　Rated the sexiest musical in the thirties, The Merry Widow could well be the sexiest musical ever. Jeannette MacDonald, sensual and majestic as a Persian cat, is the wealthiest widow in the kingdom of Marschovia. On a visit to Paris, she attracts a flurry of gold-diggers. To prevent her fortune from passing to foreign hands, the king sends a romantic envoy to court her. He chooses Captain Donilo, whose cavalier attitude to women is not limited to his rapport with Maxim's girls, girls, girls. Osé but not blasé, this elegant adaptation of Franz Lehar's operetta out-classed von Stroheim's silent in opulence, culminating in the grandest of grand balls.　　Source 28th HKIFF