La Revue Des Revues

"La Revue des Revues" must surely count as one of the most unusual and perhaps unique films from the silent era, being more of a 1927 cabaret show than an actual traditional silent film. In fact, you could well be excused for thinking that you are watching a contemporary albeit somewhat other-worldly music and dance show most of the time, thanks to the Pathe stencil technique used to colour the twenty or so revue scenes in this 100-minute film. Coming just a few years after an entire full-length film was colourized in this time-consuming Pathe stencil process, namely for "Cyrano de Bergerac", the colourful dance scenes in "La Revue des Revues" are definitely the highlight of this film even today, ¾ of a century later. Unlike filming in colour using coloured filters, the stencil process gives the picture a soft, pastel tone like watercolour which is easy on the eye while also giving it a touch of the surreal. This is especially notable in the gold and other shimmery metallic colours of some costumes and curtains. There are opening title cards introducing the name of each revue as well as the names of the performers so that watching this film is really like stepping back into time to experience the famous (or infamous!) Jazz Age of `gay Paris' in its notorious nightclubs of 1927. The modern-sounding original musical score is Jazz in many varying styles, and although not authentic from that period, is still quite well suited to the dances, setting and overall mood. No doubt it will have varied reactions from viewers and might take some getting used to at first, especially when it accompanies the rest of the actual silent film, but it might become more acceptable when viewed as something of an historic time capsule capturing the essence of the nightclub shows in Paris 80 years ago. Personal musical tastes aside, the many spectacular and colourful dance scenes, often with outrageous hats and costumes, are really something to see, as well as being an education in general, and surely also a treat especially for those interested in dance and entertainment.One note of disappointment might be the misleading credits which give the impression that the highest paid music hall entertainer, Josephine Baker, features prominently in this film, while in fact she only appears in two rather short revues that appear over an hour into the film. Even so, it is worth the wait to see what all the fuss was about, and why this long-legged, exotic dark beauty became such a huge star. Some of her unusual dance moves are slightly reminiscent of Michael Jackson's `moonwalk'. The main character in the actual film - which are the black & white scenes with intertitles - stars a blonde actress named Helene Hallier who plays the role of an average young woman working a dull job in a clothes factory but dreams of being on stage one day. She gets her big break when her small feet are the right size for some Cinderella-style slippers, and just like the fairytale, she finds love and success thereafter, but not before a few little hiccups. The actual story is rather short and superficial, and basically only serves as the foundation to present the many varied revue shows, long and short, exotic, bizarre and amusing, but always thoroughly entertaining and surely also fascinating for us in our day to see these shows pretty much as they were back in 1927. It is for this reason, its unique nature and beautifully coloured `blast from the past' that I give this DVD 5 stars.

WOW!I love this film! It is unique in cinema history. Is there another film that shows what stage reviews at the Moulon Rouge and other Parisian nightclubs actually looked like during the roaring twenties? This film does. The amazing costumes and the great artists, including Josephine Baker are a delight to behold even if they are covered up a bit more than usual for the filming.The print used for this video release was found after an extensive search through European film archives. The stencil printed colors are fresh and gorgeous.This was a silent film and there is a long tradition of providing new music when there isn't an existing written score. The new music used here is experimental in flavor and does not immitate music of the era but it works in most of the film.Surrounding the musical numbers is a paper thin plot to hold it all together but you can use the menu to go to your favorite numbers.I love this film!

More interesting than engaging. Certainly the only "silent" musical I've ever seen. The title "La Revue des Revues" is quite accurate. It's really more a series of filmed musical numbers than an actual movie although as noted by others, it does have a nominal plot. I found the modern jazz score disconcerting, but I suppose trying to match the dance routines to actual 20's music was too hard to attempt. The dance routines lack the flash and polish of the later Busby Berkely movies, a fair number of these folks would have been cut during the tryouts in "42nd Street", but many of the dance numbers remain fascinating to watch and some are fairly eccentric. And then, of course, there's the great Josephine Baker. Even though she is in only 2 numbers, she is indeed the primary reason to watch this film. Alas, none of her famous "banana costume" numbers, but she is infintely more alive than any other dancer in this film. It's not hard to understand how she captivated her European audience.

An interesting and rare video.

This turns out to be a drama - not the sexy + silly dancing film I had hoped for. It is still a moving piece of work, from a time when things were so very different from now.

WARNUNG - es geht hier um einen Stummfilm mit neulich dazugefugte, tielweise unpassende Musik. Schlimmsten ist, aber, dass Josephine Baker NICHT die Hauptdarsteller dieses Filmes ist: sie macht zwie ziemlich kurze Auftrite und diese NICHT in "ihrem legendären Bananaröckchen".

les deux numéros plus une petite partie du bonus où on voit Josephine Baker sont un régal: elle était absolument exceptionnelle, par son style, sa chorégraphie, ses prouesses physiques, ses grimaces... et avait un corps superbe, comme on le devine sur la couverture alors qu'elle est très habillée dans le film! Rappelons que la Revue Nègre de 1926 a fait une révolution comparable aux ballets russes.Mais voilà, pour les 90 minutes du film on la voit 3 minutes et demie, et le reste des chorégraphies n'a vraiement rien d'exceptionnel.En résumé, il n'y a que Joséphine qui soit éblouissante, et on la voit à peine.