A study of bohemian life in 1890s Paris, centered on the Moulin Rouge and the dramatic episodes in the life of painter Henri Toulouse-Latrec.

A beautifully made film, with many fine performances (including Zsa Zsa, surprisingly enough!), but especially a wonderfully bitter and sardonically tragic one by Ferrer that manages to surpass the rather silly cinematic artifice used to make him appear as short as the real painter. The real star is the cinematography, which looks unlike anything else of its time and is remarkably fresh and modern even today. It is amazing that of all the Oscar nominations this film received, Best Cinematography was not one of them. Certainly none of the nominees that year, let alone the winner (The Quiet Man) approach the technical perfection seen here--it's no surprise that Freddie Francis was the camera operator.

Moulin Rouge did deservedly win two Oscars, for Art Direction and Costume Design; ironically a much later (and slightly inferior) film of the same name won the same awards in 2001. And probably the last film one would expect to find both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in!

Note:The IMDb listing for this film is particularly sloppy, and I have made corrections where possible, especially as concerns character names (i.e. King Milan of Serbia, not 'Milo'). Credited actors are listed first, followed by uncredited roles in order of appearance. This is followed by a list of actors listed as having been in the film, but whose roles I have not been able to determine at present.