With Hélène Hallier, Josephine Baker, Pépa Bonafé. c.103min
Beautifully restored in 2005 by Lobster Films with the Danish Film Institute, La Revue des Revues is a formidably audacious and colourful parade of sets, costumes and dances. Its frothy plot involving a seamstress’s rise to stage glory is a thinly veiled excuse to feature authentic stage choreographies from legendary establishments Folies-Bergère, Palace and Moulin Rouge, including those of Josephine Baker and the Russian trio Komarova, Skibine and Gretchikine. Taking silent cinema’s attraction to the grand spectacle of the music halls to a new level, this fast-paced, fast-changing, dazzlingly kaleidoscopic show is pure spectatorial pleasure.