Review of Viva Maria!

Those expecting a clever well paced romp similar to "French Cancan" will be quite disappointed as will those who would expect a great dramatic director like Louis Malle to have a deft hand with comedy. Actuall it may not be Malle who is so much to blame. Every time the film finds a nice pace it is slowed down by the extremely dull musical numbers. Bardot and Moreau play early Twentieth Century strippers but since they never really strip there's no payoff from that angle either.

Malle slips in some clever bits of business that probably were intended to live up the dull script but they aren't enough. The dialogue is faux clever and works now and then but there isn't enough of it to occupy the mind the way the costuming and landscape occasionally catch the eye. True the colors are lovely and vibrant and the film has that big "movie" look of some of the great Technicolor romps of its period but like the strip shows it lampoons the film is all come on and no payoff. It doesn't help that leading man chores are handled by George Hamilton who is actually quite capable of rising to good material but is here symbolic of the weak and shallow nature of the film itself. Not recommended for fans of Bardot, Moreau or Malle. In fact I can't recommend it to anyone.