#503: OPHULS, Max: Lola Montès (1955)
OPHULS, Max (France)
Television program
Lola Montès [1955]
Spine #503
Blu-ray
Blu-ray
Lola Montès is a visually ravishing, narratively daring dramatization of the life of the notorious courtesan and showgirl, played by Martine Carol. With his customary cinematographic flourish and, for the first time, vibrant color, Max Ophuls charts the course of Montès's scandalous past through the invocations of the bombastic ringmaster (Peter Ustinov) of the American circus where she has ended up performing. Ophul's final film, Lola Montès is at once a magnificent romantic melodrama, a meditation on the lurid fascination with celebrity, and a one-of-a-kind movie spectacle.
114 minutes
Color
Color
Stereo
in French
2:55:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2009
Director/Writers
Based on the novel by Cécil Saint-Laurent; screenplay by Ophuls and Annette Wademant; dialogue by Jacques Natanson.
Ophuls was 53 when he directed Lola Montès, his final film.
Max Ophuls, née Oppenheimer, changed his name so as not to embarrass his father in case he failed.
He was successful in both theatre and films in Germany, but foresaw the rise of the Nazis, and fled. He made a few successful Hollywood films in the postwar period, but moved to France in 1950. Today, Ophuls is primarily known for the four films in the Collection: La Ronde (1950); Le Plaisir (1952); The Earrings of Madame De ... (1953) and Lola Montès.
Other Ophuls films in the Collection:
The Film
Poor Ophuls. His final film — his first in color and widescreen — met with derision and disaster at the Paris premiere on December 22, 1955, and was thereafter mutilated by its producers (who removed all the flashbacks and re-edited the film so it ran in chronological order) ...
The restoration of his film is an example of what these companies can do with an old, butchered mess — turning it into something probably nearly identical to Ophuls’ original final cut.
The camera moves like a swan through this movie. It glides, it soars (gorgeous, stately crane shots) and it searches. Ophuls is quite the composer, keeping every shot framed, sometimes by multiple verticals.
A circus of a film. Ophuls likes to film with strong verticals (stovepipes, etc.) — there is one scene where it completely covers Carol’s face as she’s speaking. It’s a weirdness you get used to.
Martine Carol is Lola Montès (a real person [1821-1861]), multilingual Peter Ustinov is the Ringmaster, Anton Walbrook is Ludwig I, king of Bavaria (also real, 1786-1868), and Oskar Werner (Jules and Jim; Fahrenheit 451) is the Student.
The music by the great French composer, Georges Auric, is sensational — and always completely appropriate to the action.
Film Rating (0-60):
The Booklet
54
The ExtrasThe Booklet
24-page booklet featuring an essay by critic Gary Giddins
Commentary
featuring Ophuls scholar Susan White
Commentary
featuring Ophuls scholar Susan White
Nonstop and excellent ... as they say, she wrote the book.
Television program
"Max Ophuls ou le plaisir de tourner," a 1965 episode of the French program Cinéastes de notre temps, featuring interviews with many of Ophul's collaborators
At the very beginning, a clip which actually shows how horrible the (black-and-white) print looked at that time!
Documentary
Documentary
Max by Marcel, a new documentary by Ophuls about his father and the making of Lola Montès
Silent footage
of actress Carol briefly demonstrating the various glamorous hairstyles in Lola Montès
Theatrical trailer
Theatrical trailer
Rerelease from Rialto Pictures
Beautiful, showcasing the awesome restoration ...
Extras Rating (0-40):
Extras Rating (0-40):
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