Moulin Rouge

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Huston directs. Oswald Morris behind the camera. Georges Auric scores. Ralph Kemplen cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $1.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 274 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
• 4Directed by John Huston, shot by Oswald Morris. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Georges Auric. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Ralph Kemplen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7José Ferrer and Zsa Zsa Gabor and Colette Marchand carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "Wild, wicked, wonderful Paris...all her loves, ladies and lusty legends!".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0044926 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Classified under 15 themes, including "prostitute", "dancer", "paris, france", "cabaret".

The technical file

Cinematography

Oswald Morris

Original score

Georges Auric

Editing

Ralph Kemplen

Production design

Marcel Vertès

Costume design

Schiaparelli

Makeup / hair

Eileen Bates

Runtime

119 min · 1h 59m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$1,500,000

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Moulin Rouge (1952) ↗

Also by

John Huston

• 
  The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

  1948 · ★ 8.0
• 
  The Maltese Falcon

  1941 · ★ 7.7
• 
  The Asphalt Jungle

  1950 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Independence

  1976 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Key Largo

  1948 · ★ 7.5
• 
  The Man Who Would Be King

  1975 · ★ 7.5

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Ernest Dickerson on MOULIN ROUGE

  Featurette
• 

  ▶
  Moulin Rouge Official Trailer #1 - JosÉ Ferrer Movie (1952) HD

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• CinemaSerf2024-03-22
  ★ 7/10

  Rushing to meet his returning father, the young Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec takes a tumble down their elegant marble staircase and that leaves him with broken legs that will stunt his growth. Struggling to come to terms with his disability, he (José Ferrer) turns to a more Bohemian life in Paris where he makes a decent living as an artist whilst frequenting the world famous "Moulin Rouge" where he feels entirely at home amongst the dancers, creative and debauched types. The story here doesn't so much feature on his artistic talents, but more on the two loves of his life. The first is "Marie" (Colette Marchand) who makes a living as a lady of the night, and with whom he has at best a rocky sort of relationship. The second is the more sophisticated but troubled "Myriamme" (Suzanne Flon). His life is now in a maelstrom of turmoil from which he (or we) can see no obvious path of escape. This is quite a showcase for the on-form Ferrer whose naturally understated style of performing works well here with both Marchand and Flon. The writing is succinct and allows the contrasting nature of his relationships - not just with the women in his life, but with his family too - to develop effectively, if at times a little too slowly. It's Zsa Zsa Gabor who rather let's the side down. I was never quite sure what her talents were - but singing and/or dancing can't really be said to be amongst them as her musical numbers fall pretty flat. Still, the costumier and production designers give a vibrancy and authenticity to the look of this film and Georges Auric goes to town on a score that complements the whole thing in a lively, even stirring, fashion. It's not an history so don't expect any sort of meaningful chronology of the man's life or work - it's more of a soap. A classily designed and well acted one, but a Pernod-soaked soap nonetheless.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• RO

  Romulus Films

  GB

Key crew

• ProducerJohn Huston
• EditorRalph Kemplen
• NovelPierre La Mure
• Camera OperatorFreddie Francis
• Sound RecordistA.E. Rudolph
• LyricistPaul Dehn
• Art DirectionPaul Sheriff
• Music DirectorLambert Williamson
• Second Unit CinematographerCyril J. Knowles
• HairdresserEileen Bates
• LyricistJacques Larue
• Costume DesignSchiaparelli
• ChoreographerWilliam Chappell
• Costume SupervisorJulia Squire
• Dialogue CoachElsie Foulstone
• Assistant DirectorAdrian Pryce-Jones
• Production ManagerLeigh Aman
• Sound RecordistE. Law
• Makeup ArtistConnie Reeve
• Sound EditorEric Wood
• ContinuityAngela Allen
• Camera TechnicianIan Craig
• Associate ProducerJack Clayton
• Boom OperatorKevin McClory

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• prostitute
• dancer
• paris, france
• cabaret
• artist
• painter
• biography
• historical fiction
• disabled
• bohemian
• cancan dance
• montmartre, paris
• cabaret dancer
• 19th century
• moulin rouge

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1952-12-23NR

Also known as

International titles

• 물랑 루즈KR