L'étoile du Moulin Rouge

Don't be misled by the title of the film. Moulin Rouge does not take place in Paris at all. It's a pleasant backstage musical comedy story though no one will mistake it for 42nd Street.

It gives Constance Bennett a chance to imitate Fifi d'Orsay and play a dual role as twin sisters. Once upon a time Connie and Connie were a sister act. But one Connie went to France and became a big musical French star like a Caucasian Josephine Baker and the other Connie stayed in America and married Franchot Tone. But no one knows American Connie has a twin sister with a decided French accent like Fifi d'Orsay.

French Connie's been imported by producer Tullio Carminati to star in his Broadway revue. American Connie wants to get back into show business, but husband Tone isn't having that at all.

Anyway French Connie wants a break, so the sisters agree to switch. Of course this causes complications as Franchot is much taken with who he thinks is a French star that bears a fascinating resemblance to his wife and Carminati is on the make himself for her.

I think most of you can see where this is going. Like the Busby Berkeley films which Moulin Rouge tries so hard to imitate, the plot is just a flimsy device for the final numbers in the show.

The film has two things going for it that make it slightly better than some ersatz Berkeley. The first is the song writing team of Harry Warren and Al Dubin, imported from Warner Brothers and some Berkeley films they were writing. The second is choreographer Robert Muskert who has only two film credits, Moulin Rouge and the Paul Whiteman revue, The King of Jazz. But he's more importantly known as the founder and first choreographer of the New York City Radio Hall Rockettes. Look in that chorus line and you might spot a young Lucille Ball.

Bennett gets to sing two great Harry Warren songs. The first is a duet with Russ Columbo later re-prised by the Boswell Sisters, Coffee in the Morning. And the second is that famous torch ballad Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Two decades later Boulevard of Broken Dreams was revived and became a big mega-hit for a young and up and coming singer named Tony Bennett.

I have to say Constance Bennett did quite well with both numbers. She also turned in a fine performance. And Franchot Tone got to wear tails again.

And you thought he'd get a break from that just cause he was on a loan out from MGM.

A sumptuous retread of the old chestnut about a spouse impersonating a fictitious love rival which provides a sadly brief chance to admire Constance Bennett as a brunette and the pre-Code costumes of the chorus girls.

Ms Bennett actually supported Garbo a few years later in 'Two-Faced Woman' (1941), yet another version of this particular tale...

Despite the title, this film has nothing to do with either the biography of Toulouse-Lautrec nor the famous musical. Instead, it's a silly and forgettable comedy starring Constance Bennett and Franchot Tone. While I love old films, I had a real difficult time enjoying this one.

When the film begins, you learn that Helen (Bennett) loves her husband, Douglas (Tone), but longs to go back on stage. Some time ago, she was the other half of an act...but he insists (like most men of his day) that she stay home and be his dutiful wife. But she decides to play a trick on him when she learns her old partner Raquel (also Bennett) is coming to America. As the two are identical strangers and equally talented, she asks Raquel to let her pretend to be her to see how Douglas reacts. Naturally, she is a perfect duplicate for Raquel in every way and she's a success...but it also appears as if Douglas is ready to now dump his wife for Raquel!

The film's success all depends on the audience's ability to accept a very bad (in my opinion) cliché--the identical stranger. Shows like "I Dream of Jeanie", "Bewitched" and "The Patty Duke Show" all devoted much of their content to this sort of plot device...and in many ways the film comes off more like a bad 60s sitcom than a movie someone would actually pay to see. Additionally, way too much uninteresting music made this one a chore to finish. Not among the actors' best work, that's for sure.

The story is one we've seen before, and will again, even though cinema of the 30s and 40s seems especially full of like fare. That doesn't mean that another rendition can't be entertaining and worthwhile in and of itself as a woman with aspirations is held back by a bull-headed, domineering husband, and she finds her own way around that obstacle - with its own fireworks to follow. By all means, in the broad strokes this looks and feels much like any contemporary comedy; what might be most distinguishing about it is simply its name, not least as it shares it with highly acclaimed pictures to follow in subsequent years from John Huston and Baz Luhrmann. Yet for any similarities that 1934's 'Moulin Rouge' may bear with other movies, let there be no doubt that this is great fun all on its own, and remains a delightful, quick watch.

Though the narrative is relatively common, the screenplay is nonetheless filled with cleverness and good humor to let this telling stand by itself. The specific scenario (show business!) and the characters are a joy, lent power by the musical flavors; the dialogue and scene writing is sharp and witty across the board, even as they dally with recognizable strains of gender dynamics and romance. The cast are clearly having a blast with the silliness, inhabiting their roles with spirit, vitality, and warmth, and it's hard to pick a favorite between Constance Bennett, Franchot Tone, and Tullio Carmineti. Their co-stars in supporting parts are just as splendid, though, including Helen Westley as put-upon Mrs. Morris. I rather think the writers and the actors evenly split credit for the lion's share of the film's value, for both contribute their own brilliant sparks to what 'Moulin Rouge' represents. As such, even a running side gag that in another title might quickly wear thin (interactions between Le Maire and a belligerent drunk) instead only adds to the frivolity.

This is hardly to discount the hard work of all others involved. The costume design and hair and makeup are lovely; the production design and art direction are very well done and quite fetching, surely almost as grand as anything we'd expect in like works. Both these facets are surely bolstered by the musical sequences that are a minor joy, with kitschy but welcome variety, and the sheer number of extras on hand. And kudos to director Sidney Lanfield for ably tying together all these moving parts; his orchestration of each scene somewhat seems to me to defer to the strength of the writing and the acting, only loosely and mindfully further shaping what already has found its own terrific form.

Highly enjoyable as it is, there's nothing about this that completely leaps out as a singular stroke of genius. For that matter, for any modern viewers who have difficulty engaging with older cinema, there's not necessarily anything here to change one's mind. Then again, there's no rule that says every movie of any esteem needs to be lightning in a bottle. Personal preferences vary. All I know is that I sat down hoping to have a good time, and 'Moulin Rouge' provided just that. It's lighthearted merriment that's well made, with fine writing and acting; what else should it be? Don't feel like you need to go out of your way for it, but if you have a chance to check it out, this is well deserving of a mere 70 minutes.

Constance Bennett wants to go back on the stage, but husband and songwriter Franchot Tone wants her to stay home. What he doesn't know is that the Parisian singer he is hiring for his new show used to be in a sister act with Miss Bennett; she agrees to let Miss Bennett take her place for rehearsals. Over this time, she entrances not only Tone, but his best friend, Tullio Carminati.

It's one of the few musicals that Zanuck's 20th Century Productions turned out before the merger with Fox, and as usual, no expense was spared. Warren & Dubin provided three songs, including "Boulevard of Broken dreams"; Russell Markert did the choreography; and Russ Columbo and the Bosworth sisters perform. Helen Westley gets most of the good lines in a script written by Nunnally Johnson and Henry Lehrman, and director Sidney Lanfield offers a sprightly opening, with the set-up being explained while acrobats audition or the show. The story, of course, is trivial, the old chestnut about spouses in disguise seducing each other. But the excellence of the production makes it watchable throughout.