A Farrago of Nonsense? The French Revolution in the Cinema

Peter Burley looks at how changing times and political climates are echoed in the 20th-century's view of the Revolution on film.

Critical audiences hopes are generally not high when looking to the commercial cinema for interpretations of complex and controversial historical topics such as the French Revolution. They might be tempted to feel that the quotation in the title - from a review of Scaramouche (USA, 1952) - says it all.

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