Lola Montes is a 1955 historical romance film starring Martine Carol and Peter Ustinov. It is the last completed film of German-born director Max Ophüls. Based on a novel, it depicts the life of Irish dancer and courtesan Lola Montez (1821–1861) -though her actual life was a much rougher tale than this- and tells the story of the most famous of her many notorious affairs, those with Franz Liszt and Ludwig I of Bavaria. A co-production between France and West Germany, the dialogue is mostly in French and German, with a few English-language sequences. This is another from my Max watchlist.
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Slant Magazine says, "Lola Montès is Ophüls’s boldest vision of film as a medium that reveres beauty in order to both nurture and mock dreams." Criterion opens by calling it "visually ravishing, narratively daring". FrenchFilms has a positive review. Roger Ebert gives it 3.5 out of 4 stars, praising the director but criticizing the casting of Martine Carol in the lead. 82% of Rotten Tomatoes critics give it a positive review.
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I'd probably pass on this one, but you are really making headway on your HBOMax list--LOL! ;)
ReplyDeleteI keep adding to it, though lol I do mean to drop it when our annual membership expires and maybe pick up Criterion instead.
DeleteIt seems sad when you write that she had a rougher life than in the film. Usually they exaggerate the plot for drama!
ReplyDeleteShe died at 39 of tertiary syphillis. They just didn't want to go there...
DeleteI 'spect I'll pass.
ReplyDeletebut Peter Ustinov! It showed up on one of those "best" lists or I'd never've watched it.
DeleteBtw, I have the song "Red Hot" stuck in my brain since your blog post 🤣
ReplyDeleteMy gal is red hot!
DeleteI cooked roulades for lunch, baked a wonderful plum cake for afternoon coffee and we went for a walk in the forest... in the rain... and now :-) it's movie time.
ReplyDeleteToo bad I can't discover Lola Montes, but I did find the classic with Alain Delon from 1967... "Der eiskalte Engel" in German - "Le Samourai".
It's a pleasure to read your tips. Thanks.
Happy movie watching!!! to you.
Hug
Alain Delon is perfection! and I liked Le Samourai :)
DeleteThis sounds interesting, but aren't movies often different from books or truth? Screen writing has to do a big story in such a small amount time, so it makes sense. Happy new week Nita.
ReplyDeleteHer life was such that showing it in truth wouldn't have gotten the film shown at all in 1955. She died of tertiary syphillis.
Delete...I remember Cinemascope.
ReplyDeleteIt was the best of its time. Progress!
DeleteI will have to look this one up too.
ReplyDeleteIt was new to me.
DeleteI saw the film on (I think) Turner Classics years ago. The woman was shameless and caused the downfall of many men.
ReplyDeleteShe was indeed a wild one and powerful in her influence for a while, but one of those many men gave her syphilis. She began wasting away and died of it at age 39.
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