Queen of the Tabarin Club

La reina del Tabarín is an undemanding rags-to-riches story with a sweet centre. … In light of Jess Franco’s later career it’s something of an aberration, shot in a staid, bourgeois style that lacks many of the director’s signature touches, but it’s worth a look to see him helming a mainstream movie, and a musical at that, so early in his career. … Lacking the avant-garde flourishes of Tenemos 18 años or the stylish noir chic of Labios rojos, the film relies heavily on dialogue to move things along. In future productions Franco would show a greater and greater aptitude for visual storytelling…