This is an interesting film - made in the U.S. but set in and around the French Navy of 1914, at the start of WW I. The cast includes Warren William and Walter Huston in lead roles, and talented German actress Lil Dagover.
"The Woman from Monte Carl" was released on Jan. 9, 1932, and is the only film that Dagover made in Hollywood, during a stay there in 1931. She also went to England for a year, but lived and filmed most of her life in Germany and Austria.
Dagover was fluent in English and this film is a good look at this talented actress, who performed until near her death in 1980 at 92 years of age. She stayed in Germany during WW II and averaged one movie a year during the war. She entertained German troops on the Eastern Front during the war.
The film was shot at Warner Brothers studios with some archival footage of Monte Carlo, Monaco, and the Cote d'Azur. The naval battle scenes are some of the first such wartime action put on films. While no doubt impressive for 1932, they show how crude early filming techniques were.
The plot of this film is most interesting and quite unusual. It has a very interesting and un-Hollywoodish ending. This film will be of most interest to movie buffs and aficionados. General modern audiences may find it too slow and even boring.
