Lola Montes On DVD!

Out now on DVD, via Criterion, is Lola Montes, Max Ophuls's 1955 masterpiece, fully restored in dazzling color and wide screen splendor. It's about the life of an adventuress and a cabaret dancer, Lola Montes (Martine Carol), whose notorious, purported affairs with composers like Franz Liszt were legendary. Her dalliance with the King of Bavaria caused a revolution and resulted in a handsome student (Oskar Werner) escorting her safely out of the country in the dead of night. The film takes place in a circus with the ringmaster (Peter Ustinov) showing his audience the highlights from Lola's scandalous life -- with Lola in the center ring. Filled with Ophuls's trademark amazing tracking shots (just watch the scene where the King asks for a needle and thread and you'll be dumbfounded at the camera movement). The restoration is exquisite and the extras (including a fascinating French TV episode in which Ophuls's collaborators lovingly discuss the director and his films).