Shadows of the Moulin Rouge (1913)

—

Fraunie Fraunholz | Claire Whitney | Alice Guy (Director | Producer | Story)

Rest of cast:

Joseph Levering | John Scott | George Paxton | Mrs. Baker | Audine Stark

—

“The Shadows of the Moulin Rouge”

A Solax feature in four parts.

Reviewed by W. Stephen Bush.

This is undoubtedly the best feature that ever came out of the Solax studio. It was directed by Madame Blache [Alice Guy] who has made notable progress in the art of staging and directing feature productions.

The story is distinctly French in plot and in flavor. The idea of the play has evidently been taken from one of the best tales of Balzac. Balzac was a master of invention and in proper hands his works ought to be a treasure house for the producer who does not specialize in freak features. The directress has achieved such pronounced success in this instance because she has understood how to condense and how to keep away from the diffuse style of the Balzac narrative. This, however, is by no means the only merit of the play. The plot hinges on the substitution of a dead woman for a living one. A series of thrilling, and at times mystifying, adventures follow, the interest of the spectator is kept at high tension through every change in the situation while every trace of confusion is happily and skillfully avoided. In the course of the story, and as necessary parts of its development, many of the famous and some of the notorious resorts of Parisian life are introduced. The arrangement of the groups in these scenes, the settings and the selection of characteristic types entitle the director to great credit.

With all the sensations in the plot, and with all the introductions of scenes from the seamy side of life, there is not the faintest trace of any objectionable feature. The acting in this production is decidedly above the average. Throughout I noticed the sympathetic and intelligent co-operation between directress and artists, without which no good picture is possible and which is doubly important in the production of a feature of some pretensions.

Another point of merit, which must not be passed over, is the absence of lost motion. It would be impossible to cut even fifty feet from this feature without endangering its dramatic development and dulling the edge of its climaxes. The settings are superb all the way through and the highest praise must be bestowed upon the photography and the camera work generally.

—

Scene from The Shadows of the Moulin Rouge (Solax)

—

Collection: Moving Picture World, January 1914