Post by rmichaelpyle on Apr 19, 2009 5:45:02 GMT -6
Last night I watched "Moulin Rouge" (1934) with Constance Bennett and Franchot Tone. Five films have been made since 1928 with that title, the latest in 2001, and so it's easy to confuse them, though they are all different in their themes. I own three different ones of the five, the '28 directed by A. E. Dupont, this one, and the '52 with Jose Ferrer. This one is a wonderful film, unfortunately forgotten because when the 1952 version with Jose Ferrer came out the studios had this one buried so there would be no confusion between the two. Constance Bennett plays two parts in this one, and she really gets to act up a storm. She's very good, really enjoyable to watch, playing an American playing a French actress - in both parts!! I won't give away the plot, but it's a fun romp watching Franchot Tone chase his wife, so to speak, and in the end, get her - ah, back! This is a musical of sorts, and Bennett gets to sing, too, and she's not bad. The Boswell Sisters are in this one, too, along with Russ Columbo, Tullio Carminati, Helen Westley, and Hobart Cavanaugh. I have a feeling this one was given to Connie Bennett so that she could say she actually got to do something besides another tough and brassy girl in a pre-code style film, the stuff she'd been doing for about four straight years. This gave her a chance to spread her acting wings. She didn't get another large chance like this until "Topper" came along three years later. But the lady had talent; it just needed to be tapped a little to find it. Recommended!
I never cared much for the Jose Ferrer version. Franchot Tone was a hot ticket in 1934 because he had married Joan Crawford. His career never did take off, but he was highly-regarded at the time.