 The 1957 version stars Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer, Raymond Massey, Diana Wynyard, Basil Sydney, Judith Evelyn, Isobel Elsom, Lorne Greene, Nancy Marchand, David Opatoshu, Suzy Parker, Nehemiah Persoff, Pippa Scott, Monique van Vooren, and Lilia Skala.The story of "Mayerling" is based on the historical Mayerling incident, the tragic love affair between Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his mistress, Baroness Mary Vetsera, and the mystery surrounding their apparent murder/suicide on January 30, 1889, at the imperial hunting lodge in Mayerling, Lower Austria.Ferrer and Hepburn were reportedly in negotiation for two and a half years to make the special.