Lola Montès (The Fall of Lola Montes) (The Sins of Lola Montes) (1955)

86% of critics liked it
(29 reviews)
77% of users liked it
(1,172 ratings)

Max Ophuls' final film (and his only movie in color) is a cinematic tour-de-force masquerading as a biography, in this case a dazzling fictionalized life of the notorious 19th century dancer, actress, and courtesan. A still beautiful, but weary and disillusioned (and, as we later discover, ailing)… More Max Ophuls' final film (and his only movie in color) is a cinematic tour-de-force masquerading as a biography, in this case a dazzling fictionalized life of the notorious 19th century dancer, actress, and courtesan. A still beautiful, but weary and disillusioned (and, as we later discover, ailing) Lola Montes (Martine Carol) is first seen as the featured attraction at a seedy American circus, appearing at the center of a series of various tableaux depicting the scandalous events for which she is known. With a strangely sincere yet sinister and manipulative ringmaster (Peter Ustinov) providing color commentary, some of it very ironic on two or more levels, the movie flows between these staged recreations in the circus and the events as recalled by the subject. In a series of dissolves, the film takes us through her girlhood with her mother, interrupted when her mother's lover (Ivan Desni) becomes attached to the daughter; her unhappy marriage and its aftermath; romances with composer Franz Liszt (Will Quadflieg), abduction by a Russian general (in the arms of Cossacks, no less); her affairs across the landscape of Europe with men great and notable; her thwarted aspirations as a dancer; and her romance with King Ludwig I (Anton Walbrook) of Bavaria, which led to her being made Countess of Landsfeld, and, later, to his abdication. The gracefulness of Ophuls' cyclical narrative, and the transitions between the recalled elegance of the locales, and the people with whom her romances and affairs took place, and the seediness of the circus -- where she is also compelled, in the course of performing, to perform as an aerialist -- were lost on viewers in 1955. And for many years the movie only existed in a version re-cut without the director's approval, in which the story was presented in linear fashion. It was only in the 1960's, long after Ophuls' death, that efforts were made to restore the original structure, and in 2008 the movie's original Technicolor luster was restored to its full depth and richness. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 55 min.
Directed By: Max Ophüls
Written By: Annette Wademant, Max Ophüls
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Dec 23, 1955 Wide
On DVD: Feb 23, 1999
Studio: Rialto Pictures

Critic Reviews

John Anderson, Washington Post
Watch Lola Montes and you may never watch a movie the same way again.
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
Lola Montes is mainly a triumph of vibrancy and metaphor. Nonetheless it's quite an experience.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
Seen on a big screen, this is a movie to get drunk on.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Max Ophüls' 1955 masterpiece gets a superb restoration.
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com
In some odd way, the huge production scale and marvelous widescreen color scheme make Lola Montès seem more distant and artificial than Ophüls' smaller-scale black-and-white films.
Variety Staff, Variety
Some fetching period observation appears from time to time, but life is rarely breathed into this frilly opus.
Christopher Long, Movie Metropolis
The net result is pure Ophuls, his signature recognizable in nearly every scene and, despite its very poor initial reception, one hell of a movie.
Travis Crawford, Slant Magazine
The restoration is a major accomplishment, and this Criterion release is highly recommended.
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
as Lola, Martine Carol should compel our attention, but instead merely toys with it
Sean Axmaker, Seanax.com
Ophuls... contrasts the outrageous sensationalism of her reputation... with offstage moments of tender candor and poignant, poetic flashbacks
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
With all due respect to film critic Andrew Sarris, Max Ophüls' legendary Lola Montès is not 'the greatest film ever made.'
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
Lola Montès could never be confused for realism in any format: home video, theater or iPod. But its effectiveness as a tragedy relies on Ophüls setting out a luxurious spread for his hapless heroine.
Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews
Ophüls' style co-stars, paralleling and reinforcing stage artificiality with tracking and crane and pan shots, fluidly tilting to emphasize romance as opposed to "reality."

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Bob S

Well, I love Ophuls but the Fox Lorber DVD sucks - maybe Criterion will release this by which time I will have done my due diligence and upgraded my crap 27" screen. Although it had moments of brilliance -, for the most part I found this flick very stilted and lacking the… More
Well, I love Ophuls but the Fox Lorber DVD sucks - maybe Criterion will release this by which time I will have done my due diligence and upgraded my crap 27" screen. Although it had moments of brilliance -, for the most part I found this flick very stilted and lacking the usual Ophuls' grace and charm. Some high hopes dashed. Update 2009 - OK I saw the latest restoration on a big screen - and the net gain is one half a star. There is no getting around the fact that this was a troubled, compromised production as well as Ophuls' first foray into color and Cinemascope. Among many flaws - I found the image distortion of the wide-screen format and Ophuls' ever moving camera to be highly imcompatible. That being said - the circus scenes and Peter Ustinov's performance are wonderful.
Eric B

Too much old-fashioned romance for my tastes, but the sets and use of color are gorgeous. The film's most interesting aspect is not its unremarkable tale of a seductive, Evita Peron-like character who became a notorious scandal in Europe, but the plot's added framework: the… More
Too much old-fashioned romance for my tastes, but the sets and use of color are gorgeous. The film's most interesting aspect is not its unremarkable tale of a seductive, Evita Peron-like character who became a notorious scandal in Europe, but the plot's added framework: the presentation of Lola's exploits as an impossibly ornate circus show, with Peter Ustinov as the grandiloquent ringmaster. Watching Lola negotiate her way through the various shifting tableaux is what's truly dazzling. Otherwise, "Lola Montes" concentrates on frame composition and lavish sets almost to a fault. There are very few tight shots of the characters, and thus an emotional intimacy is missing. We don't connect with the players. It doesn't help that Martine Carol isn't much of an actress.
Walter M

Little thought is usually given to a movie's framing device, as it is normally just a jumping off place to tell the story.("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" being a particular exception to this rule.) What the mesmerizing "Lola Montes" does is reverse… More
Little thought is usually given to a movie's framing device, as it is normally just a jumping off place to tell the story.("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" being a particular exception to this rule.) What the mesmerizing "Lola Montes" does is reverse that by staging most of its action in its lavishly decorated present while skipping around in the past. This is still not as unusual as Peter Ustinov speaking French. Trapped in the present as the main attraction in a circus, Lola Montes(Martine Carol) spends each night reliving the events of her scandalous life, starting with her mother(Lise Delamare) abandoning her after the death of her father, a British colonial officer. Lola ends up making her way from one end of Europe to the other, as an actress and dancer. In the meantime, she romances some of the most renowned men of her time including Franz Liszt(Will Quadflieg). I thought at first the circus might be in hell but it turns out only in a figurative, not a literal sense, as she answers questions from the paying customers while trying to maintain her dignity. While questioning who is the real freak, the movie says quite a lot about those of us sitting in the peanut gallery who live our lives vicariously through somebody like Lola who lived life to the fullest and had lots of fun. That's not to mention that the sex was probably pretty good, too. While in the present, Lola might not be on top anymore, at least the film's director Max Ophuls went out on top with "Lola Montes," his exemplary final film.
Chris B

With the 2008 restoration that made the film the closest to Ophul's original concept and vision, Lola Montes is mesmerizing! Shot in beautiful Technicolor and showcasing the wonderful settings and beautiful locations Lola Montes looks just as amazing as Martine Carol does… More
With the 2008 restoration that made the film the closest to Ophul's original concept and vision, Lola Montes is mesmerizing! Shot in beautiful Technicolor and showcasing the wonderful settings and beautiful locations Lola Montes looks just as amazing as Martine Carol does portraying her. Deep, complex and with extreme emotion and drama throughout there is no way to take your eyes off the screen. Recommended.
Linda K

Very interesting camera work! I think Baz Luhrman was inspired with this film to make Moulin Rouge. If not, it strangely looks the same.