Reunion in Vienna

Reunion in Vienna (1931), a comedy by Robert Sherwood. [Martin Beck Theatre, 264 perf.] Ever since her marriage, Elena Krug (Lynn Fontanne) has been measuring her psychoanalyst husband Anton (Minor Watson) in terms of her first love—the one that got away, Rudolf Maximilian Von Hapsburg (Alfred Lunt). Prince Rudolf had been forced into exile and into driving a cab in Nice after the downfall of the Austro‐Hungarian Empire. When Anton learns that Rudolf has returned secretly to Vienna for a reunion of old aristocrats at the Hotel Lucher, he encourages Elena to visit Rudolf in hopes that a fresh perspective will break the spell. The former lovers meet and take up their romance where they left off, but only for a while. The couple eventually accept reality and Rudolf returns to France and Elena to Anton. Although many critics complained that the play did not come alive until Rudolf first appears and the lovers meet in the second act, the scintillating dialogue and the brilliant acting of the Lunts was ample compensation and the Theatre Guild production was a success.