The life and sins of Lola Montès (Martine Carol), the famous courtesan and mistress to Franz Liszt and the king of Bavaria, is recounted in lavish color against the backdrop of a 19th-century circus. Controversial upon its release, the film was eventually butchered by producers and the original negative nearly destroyed. But technology has finally allowed film archivists to restore Ophüls' widely considered masterpiece.

The at-long-last restored Lola Montès was a sensation at 2008's Cannes Film Festival.

Bill Arning, director of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston picked Lola Montès as part of a series that invites notable local celebrities to share a favorite film in Brown Auditorium Theater.