Moulin Rouge

I watched the Grapevine video edition of Moulin Rouge, and their old tapes are not particularly known for excellent video transfers or scores. However after about the first 15 minutes, in which we are treated to some rather frenzied nightlife location shots in Paris, the main characters are finally introduced and the action quickly gets steamy, thanks in no small part to the chemistry between Olga Tschechowa and the male lead, Jean Bradin, which is immediate and compelling.

The story involves a love triangle between mother - daughter - prospective son-in-law. The daughter (Eve Gray) never seems to realize that her fiancée has the hots for her own mother. The audience keeps waiting for the light bulb to go off in her head, but she just charges ahead, completely trusting in her mother and young lover, with dangerous consequences.

Olga Tschechowa (a paramour of Adolph Hitler) struck me very much as almost a carbon copy in looks and acting mannerisms to Pola Negri. In fact I kept visualizing Pola in this role as a I watched Olga. Olga was just as good an actress as Pola; every scene she is in your eye gravitates to her first. Effective use of close-ups and intelligent discourse between the characters, reflected in the title cards, adds to the pleasure of this sultry concoction. If you are into romantic foreign silent films this version of Moulin Rouge will prove enjoyable to you.