MISTRESS OF ATLANTIS (1932) - This German film starts out with the premise that Atlantis is in the Sahara desert of North Africa which is a fasinating idea. French Legionaires are listening to a radio broadcast in a desert fortress. The radio broadcast tells of a tale of Atlantis and one of the Legionaires tells his own story about what happened to him in the desert. A few Legionaires set out on camelback into the desert and come to an oasis. They run into some bedoin types and the two friends are seperated. One goes looking for the other and he finds some tunnels where a man in a European suit who tells him about "her" while another European in the next room is dying slowly from opium consumption. Finally he gets to meet "her" and all he wants from her is to find his friend. After meeting the "Mistress of Atlantis" something happens between him and the strange man in the suit when all of a sudden we are being entertained by can can girls doing a stage routine. This is what you would call a surreal 1930's film for sure. It is part of the Mills Creek 50 Pack: Nightmare Worlds. I liked the story, but wasn't crazy about the can can dancers and ultimately the lead female isn't that interesting, but for fans of cinema you should at least take a look.
(6 out of 10 Stars) If they could only have brought the viewer more of Atlantis than the den of this mistress.
