LOLA MONTES

Martine Carol and Anton Walbrook in the Bavarian Royal palace

LOLA MONTES (1955). Director: Max Ophuls. This is the remastered and completely restored version as it was first made by Max Ophuls.

"When such a woman spends more than five minutes with a man, that's enough to start rumors."

In her later years, the still attractive dancer and notorious lady Lola Montes (Martine Carol), is exhibited as an attraction in a circus, with the various acts presenting tableaus relating to her scandalous life. Now and then she thinks back to things that happened in her past: her affair with Franz Liszt (Will Quadflieg); her early marriage to Lt. James (Ivan Desny of Anastasia), who was her late father's adjutant; and her becoming the mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria (Anton Walbrook of Gaslight), a situation which nearly drives the whole country into a civil war before she flees in a coach with a handsome young student (Oskar Werner). Her infamous life and behavior have now literally turned her into a sideshow freak.

Martine Carol and Peter Ustinov

Lola Montes was based on a novel which was a fictionalized version of the life story of the real "Lola Montes," the stage name of the Irish-born dancer and entertainer Eliza Gilbert. Frankly Gilbert's fascinating life should have made a much more interesting picture than Max Ophuls has provided. After its release, the picture was trimmed of about half an hour with the narrative being presented in chronological order. Restoring the movie to its original shape hasn't done it much good, as it never builds up any suspense, introduces characters only to have them disappear a moment later, and has too many of those long and rather boring circus sequences. It doesn't help that in the lead role Martine Carol gives a performance that can only be described as adequate. The other actors make a better impression, especially Walbrook as King Ludwig, and Oskar Werner as the student, who catches Lola's eye but is seen on screen all too briefly.

Martine Carol

Lola Montes is dramatically bankrupt, with one-dimensional characters that never really engage the attention or sympathies of the audience. For much of the movie cinematographer Christian Matras seems to have trouble filling the CinemaScope frame with attractive compositions or even covering the action in a compelling or professional fashion. Faces often seem to be photographed through screens or lattices. For some reason there is s big improvement in the scenes that take place in Bavaria, which are striking. However, most of the settings and the lighting schemes throughout the movie are eye-appealing.

Martine Carol and Oskar Werner

One suspects that the main reason for the circus framing device was that it was cheaper to show Lola "carried off by Cossacks" by using clowns and the like in a theatrical setting than to use scores of men on horseback in a real location. Peter Ustinov has the thankless role of the circus' master of ceremonies. Georges Auric's [Dead of Night] score is occasionally powerful but it can't do enough to save the movie. Lola Montes has its admirers, but despite my admiration for many foreign films, I suspect this would have been much better had it been made in Hollywood. (Speaking of Hollywood, Ophul's best film may well be Letter from an Unknown Woman.) Today Martine Carol is pretty much forgotten (except for this film's enthusiasts) but she amassed fifty credits before dying in her forties and her real life had its own share of scandals.

Verdict: The material was certainly there for a great movie, but this is not the film it should have been. **1/4. 

DEAD OF NIGHT (1945)

Michael Redgrave

DEAD OF NIGHT (1945). Directors: (Alberto) Cavalcanti; Charles Crichton; Basil Dearden; Robert Hamer.

Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns of Edward, My Son) comes to a house to see about a possible restoration, and encounters a group of people that he has seen in a dream. He wants to leave, because in his nightmare things end very badly, but some of the guests tell of their own peculiar experiences. Grainger (Anthony Baird), a racer who nearly died, has a vision of a hearse that warns him of disaster; a young girl, Sally (Sally Ann Howes) discovers the ghost of a little boy (uncredited) during an party in an old house; Peter Cortland (Ralph Michael) is given an antique mirror whose original owner comes to possess him; a triangle over a woman, Mary (Peggy Bryan) and two golf enthusiasts leads to comical, supernatural complications; and Dr. Van Straaten (Frederick Valk of Bad Blonde) relates the tale of a ventriloquist (Michael Redgrave), who is convinced that his dummy, Hugo, is alive and wants a new partner. The best tale by far is the last of the five, and it boasts an intriguing script and a superb performance from Redgrave, whose despair is palpable. The mirror story isn't bad, but the other two aren't that well developed. The fourth story about the golf enthusiasts is pretty stupid and not especially amusing. Georges Auric [Caesar and Cleopatra] has contributed an interesting score. In addition to the ventriloquist story, the most memorable sequence details poor Walter's exacting and delirious nightmare.

Verdict: Redgrave and the dummy make the movie. *** out of 4.

CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA

CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA (1945). Director: Gabriel Pascal.

Caesar (Claude Rains) and Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh) meet cute in Egypt in what seems like a black comedy based on the play by George Bernard Shaw, who also did the screenplay and therefore has to take most of the blame. Pseudo-Shakespearean, this minimally holds the attention but never quite becomes totally convincing. Rains is miscast as Caesar -- there's nothing wrong with showing a more vulnerable Caesar but it's hard to see this foppish fellow leading conquering Armies. The carpet scene where Caesar discovers Cleo in a rug was done better in the Elizabeth Taylor version. Leigh is excellent, and so are Flora Robson as her lady-in-waiting, Ernest Thesiger of Bride of Frankenstein fame as Theodotus, and the boy who plays Cleo's younger brother. Georges Auric's musical score has its moments, and the production values are generally excellent. But this is a poor excuse for drama. It has absolutely no climax!

Verdict: Lots of effort to little effect. **.