This movie is great for the cancan scenes, and opportunities to enjoy the wonderful screen presence of Jean Gabin, but it's overly long by a half-hour and marred by melodrama.
Screen icon Gabin, even with gray hair and a cane, is always a delight to watch. I very much wanted to waltz with him!
Francoise Arnoul is also good as laundress-turned-high-kicking chorus girl, but I tired of the histrionics of Marie Felix as a cast-off lover of the impresario. One never cares about this fiery drama queen, but is forced to spend a lot of time with her.
A cameo appearance by Edith Piaf is wonderful, albeit too short. And strains of Offenbach, so much associated with the petticoat-baring dance form, add excitement as the film nears its dazzling conclusion.
Director Jean Renoir does a painterly job of conjuring scenes of the Moulin Rouge immortalized in works by his famous father.
Screen icon Gabin, even with gray hair and a cane, is always a delight to watch. I very much wanted to waltz with him!
Francoise Arnoul is also good as laundress-turned-high-kicking chorus girl, but I tired of the histrionics of Marie Felix as a cast-off lover of the impresario. One never cares about this fiery drama queen, but is forced to spend a lot of time with her.
A cameo appearance by Edith Piaf is wonderful, albeit too short. And strains of Offenbach, so much associated with the petticoat-baring dance form, add excitement as the film nears its dazzling conclusion.
Director Jean Renoir does a painterly job of conjuring scenes of the Moulin Rouge immortalized in works by his famous father.