User Reviews

Worthwhile if superficial documentary about the Moulin Rouge that includes extracts from the revue "Femmes, Femmes, Femmes", which at the time of filming had been running for two years. The most interesting interviews are with long-serving performers Debbie de Coudreaux and Elaine Thomas. De Coudreaux is ambiguous about the long hours (two shows a day, seven days a week) and pay. We also hear from showgirls (many of whom are British), German choreographer Doris Haug, people in the street, and Marty Pasetta, who seems to be directing the film we're watching but doesn't get a credit for it. There's next to nothing about the history of the theatre (then approaching its 100th anniversary), apart from quick references to Toulouse-Lautrec and Josephine Baker, and there are only glimpses backstage. This was not what the TV audience wanted. The film was made in the early days of the Playboy channel, whose viewers are finally rewarded with copious footage of topless women and a swimmer whose speciality is eating a banana underwater. Despite the many claims about "spectacle", the show comes across as anything but spectacular, more an old-fashioned floor show of the type that was already going out of fashion. But for those who can't afford the sky-high ticket prices for the Moulin Rouge, here at least is some eye candy. Veteran American voice actor Melendy Britt does the narration in a French accent!