Moulin Rouge

1934
Approved
1h 10m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Constance Bennett in Moulin Rouge (1934)

A singer marries a famous composer, and after a while she gets the itch to go back on the stage. However, her husband won't let her. When she hears that a popular French singer named "Raquel... Read allA singer marries a famous composer, and after a while she gets the itch to go back on the stage. However, her husband won't let her. When she hears that a popular French singer named "Raquel" is coming to New York, she decides to go to Raquel with a plan--unbeknownst to her husba... Read allA singer marries a famous composer, and after a while she gets the itch to go back on the stage. However, her husband won't let her. When she hears that a popular French singer named "Raquel" is coming to New York, she decides to go to Raquel with a plan--unbeknownst to her husband, "Raquel" is actually her sister, and her plan is for them to switch places so she can ... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

185

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos39

More like this

7.1

Bombshell

6.3

Devil and the Deep

6.5

Murder at the Vanities

6.7

5.6

7.1

6.6

6.6

6.4

6.0

6.5

6.2

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
The film's songs were penned by Harry Warren and Al Dubin on the heels of their prolific, back-to-back scores for 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933 and Footlight Parade, all produced in 1933. Under contract to Warner Bros., this film was one of only two loan-outs for the team. The other was Roman Scandals (1933) for producer Samuel Goldwyn.

Goofs
Raquel signs in at the hotel as Mlle. (Mademoiselle). But the clerk addresses her as Madame.

Quotes
Douglas Hall: Vicky, never marry a woman whose had any connection with the stage no matter how much you love her.

Connections
Featured in The Voice That Thrilled the World (1943)

Soundtracks
The Boulevard of Broken Dreams
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Performed by Constance Bennett in rehearsal
Reprised by Constance Bennett and chorus in the show finale

User reviews11

Review

Featured review

3/10

Much like a bad sit-com plot....one with the identical stranger cliché!

Despite the title, this film has nothing to do with either the biography of Toulouse-Lautrec nor the famous musical. Instead, it's a silly and forgettable comedy starring Constance Bennett and Franchot Tone. While I love old films, I had a real difficult time enjoying this one.

When the film begins, you learn that Helen (Bennett) loves her husband, Douglas (Tone), but longs to go back on stage. Some time ago, she was the other half of an act...but he insists (like most men of his day) that she stay home and be his dutiful wife. But she decides to play a trick on him when she learns her old partner Raquel (also Bennett) is coming to America. As the two are identical strangers and equally talented, she asks Raquel to let her pretend to be her to see how Douglas reacts. Naturally, she is a perfect duplicate for Raquel in every way and she's a success...but it also appears as if Douglas is ready to now dump his wife for Raquel!

The film's success all depends on the audience's ability to accept a very bad (in my opinion) cliché--the identical stranger. Shows like "I Dream of Jeanie", "Bewitched" and "The Patty Duke Show" all devoted much of their content to this sort of plot device...and in many ways the film comes off more like a bad 60s sitcom than a movie someone would actually pay to see. Additionally, way too much uninteresting music made this one a chore to finish. Not among the actors' best work, that's for sure.