Lola Montes, is the story of a dancer and courtesan who was involved with Liszt, the King of Bavaria and a whole bunch of lovers. It was filmed in Technicolor and CinemaScope on a very large budget. It is quite something to see. The film was also a box office disaster when it was originally released.
Lola Montes is a great film and it's made with a lot of style and flair. Unfortunately these aren't always things that are appreciated by film audiences. The idea of using a circus performance as a way of illustrating scenes in her life is very clever and extremely well done. However it's a concept that an average audience used to more linear story content might find somewhat difficult to follow.
The film is very well cast. The central role was played by the actor Martine Carol, a blond who was a French Marilyn Monroe who usually played sexpots. Ophuls colored her hair and ramped down the sexuality, unfortunately audiences that went to a Martine Carol film were expecting to see their French sexpot in action not performing in a film that was a meditation on the nature of love and romance.
In spite of all the baggage the film carries, it is a brilliant technical and artistic achievement on almost every level. Ophuls was famous for his tracking shots and moving that big CinemaScope camera to get those shots must have been an immense challenge. The color photography looks good and the lavish sets are very impressive.
This is a film that deserves to be seen several times although it will probably be appreciated more by film buffs.
115 minutes.
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