Lola Montès (1955)

Director:

Max Ophüls

Writers:

Cécil Saint-Laurent (novel)
Annette Wademant (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

12 January 1956 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

The film tells the tragical story of the life of Lola Montes who was a great adventurer and stopped...

Plot Keywords:

Circus | Male Female Relationship | Curtain | 1850s | Exhibition

Cast

Martine Carol	...	Lola Montes
Peter Ustinov	...	Circus Master
Anton Walbrook	...	Ludwig I, King of Bavaria
Henri Guisol	...	Horseman Maurice
Lise Delamare	...	Mrs. Craigie, Lola's mother
Paulette Dubost	...	Josephine, The maid
Oskar Werner	...	Student
Jean Galland	...	Private Secretary
Will Quadflieg	...	Franz Liszt
Héléna Manson	...	Lieutenant James' Sister (as Helena Manson)
Germaine Delbat	...	Stewardess
Carl Esmond	...	Doctor (as Willy Eichberger)
Jacques Fayet	...	Steward
Friedrich Domin	...	Circus Manager
Werner Finck	...	Wisböck, The artist

Also Known As:

Lola Montès (UK)
Lola Montez (West Germany)
The Sins of Lola Montes

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

France | West Germany

Language:

French | English | German

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | UK:PG (2000 video) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Gamma Film

Trivia:

This is the only film ever to be shown at three New York Film Festivals.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Tirez sur le pianiste (1960)

phew!

Max Ophuls' final film, which I viewed in its restored German version, is quite the visual onslaught in widescreen - the extravagant framing device depicting the historic bed-hopper as a circus 'freak' among many, many acrobats and jugglers is the work of someone slaving feverishly to dazzle us. The distanced spectacle sucks us in, and it all looks great, but the toil of the film-making efforts end up deflecting attention from Lola herself - maybe Martine Carol isn't up for the job like everyone says, but more importantly all that metaphor stuff seems to crowd out time she could use to draw us in. The dalliance in the palace through the third act supplies Ophuls' requisite plot disfigurement - everything I've seen except Madame De... has SOME kind of unsatisfying ding in the arc. And the 'sumptuous' color compositions - which are pretty overwhelming in and of themselves, especially when the restoration is working from top sources - seem to limit the opportunities for the big Ophuls Camera Swoops that usually lively things up.