pppatty

I could not be more pleased that Lobster Films in cooperation with various European cinematheques have seen fit to preserve this footage which is primarily a compilation of acts from the Folies Bergere and other Parisian variety shows. Included are two clips with Josephine Baker who was actually a pretty clunky dancer, but a larger than life personality. The framing story of a young girl hoping to hit it big in the business can be dismissed, as can the sub-plot of her claiming to be robbed in order to attract publicity. However, the early two-strip color filming of the various artistes is not to be missed by any one interested in the development of film techniques. It's a pity however that the orchestral score was so out of keeping with the period.

I was bemused reading the previous comment. I recently saw a 2003 restoration of this film which ran 90 minutes, not the 80 minutes listed in the combined details. However apparently the sixth reel is lost and the action is delineated by intertitles on a black screen -- this includes the heroine's rescue from the mountain (not by a plane -- that only appears at the very end of the film). I wonder how the previous reviewer could have seen the complete film or at least not mentioned that an important part of it is missing. Despite the obvious propaganda, the acting, particularly by Yelena Kuzmina, is first-rate.

How to marry a brilliant gothic expressionistic style with repulsive subject matter? While I am pleased to have had the opportunity of seeing this film which is firmly in the great Czech fantastic/grotesque tradition my enjoyment of the visuals was ultimately marred by the storyline which only an anti-semite could love. I felt I needed a long soak in a hot bath afterwards.