This film is part of Rentals
Moulin Rouge
E. A Dupont’s (Piccadlly, Variete) tale of intrigue amid the famous dance-halls of Paris was one of the most lavish British films of the silent era.
Director: E.A. Dupont
Overview
One of the most lavish British films of the silent era in both budget and scope, Moulin Rouge stars Jean Bradin, Eve Gray and Russian-German screen sensation Olga Tschechowa in the story of a young aristocrat driven to a suicide attempt after falling in love with a young dancer and her elegant, ravishingly beautiful mother.
Set in and around the famous dance-halls of Paris, Moulin Rouge showcased British International Pictures' engagement of leading Continental film-makers during the late 1920s. The first British film directed by expressionist pioneer Ewald Andre Dupont (Piccadilly, Variete), it also features Werner Brandes' stylish, distinctively European cinematography and art direction by Oscar winner Alfred Junge. A note on the soundtrack: The initial 1928 theatrical release was silent (accompanied in cinemas by live music) but the 1929 shortened re-release had a new score by John Reynders, and this has been re-purposed for this longer version. Due to occasional spot effects, the longest uninterrupted piece of ‘clean’ music was only three minutes in duration but there were over forty minutes of picture missing audio so it was a rather arduous task to select cues that were appropriate for the visuals. Overall, 120 music edits were made to fit the audio to the images. The operation sequence at the end of the film is deliberately mute as per the short version soundtrack to convey tension.
