The Great Waltz is a 1972 American biographical musical film directed by Andrew L. Stone, and starring Horst Buchholz, Mary Costa, and Nigel Patrick, that follows 40 years in the life of composer Johann Strauss (the Younger, known as the "Waltz King") and his family. It is based on the musical The Great Waltz, and was Stone's final film. M-G-M released a previous film adaptation in 1938, which is about a different phase of the younger Strauss's life. The film earned $1,650,000 in North American rentals in 1973.