French Cancan

Nineteenth-century Paris comes vibrantly alive in Jean Renoir’s exhilarating tale of the opening of the world-renowned Moulin Rouge. In this 1955 musical comedy-drama film, Jean Gabin plays the wily impresario Danglard, who makes the cancan all the rage while juggling the love of two beautiful women—an Egyptian belly-dancer and a naive working girl turned cancan star. With visually stunning evocations of the Impressionists, including Renoir's own father Pierre-Auguste Renoir, this homage to 19th-century Parisian café-concert is an infectious celebration of art, music, and dance.