Slick lawyer Thomas Farrell has made a career of defending Chicago mobsters in court. At a party for mob boss Rico Angelo, he meets chorus girl Vicki Gaye, who accepted $100 to attend the party and another $400 from another gangster, Louis Canetto, from his gambling winnings.
Farrell gives her a ride home, each expressing disapproval at the way the other makes money. Vicki finds her roommate Joy dead by suicide, pregnant by a married criminal. After a long night of questioning by police, Farrell asks that Vicki be given a raise and featured number on stage at the Golden Rooster club, which Rico owns.
The lawyer and Vicki begin a romance. She's struck by the way Farrell, who is lame, uses his disability to manipulate jurors while getting Canetto off on a murder charge. A surgeon is found who might be able to properly mend Farrell's hip, so he goes to Stockholm for the operation.
A cold-blooded killer, Cookie La Motte, is coming up for trial, but Farrell's frame of mind has changed and he would rather not defend such a man. Rico threatens violence against Vicki if the lawyer doesn't do his job. Cookie jumps bail, tired of the long wait in court, and plans to eliminate prosecuting attorney Stewart while at-large. Cookie and his men are gunned down by other racketeers, however, at an Indiana diner.
Stewart decides to pressure the mob by going after anyone connected to it. He begins by placing Farrell under arrest. Canetto goes to Vicki offering to protect her, but takes her prisoner instead. The district attorney releases Farrell, hoping to smoke out the mobsters who employ him. Canetto, caught in a crossfire, is killed.
Farrell then confronts Rico, but the gangster picks up a bottle of acid that he intends to disfigure Vicki with if the lawyer refuses to do what he says. A fight erupts, with the bottle smashing into Rico's face. Eyes and face burning, he plunges from a window to his death.
Gloria Wood providing the singing voice of Cyd Charisse
Erich von Stroheim Jr., the son of the noted director, has a bit part as a police lieutenant, and was also the assistant director on the film.[2]
Party Girl was Cyd Charisse's last film for MGM after 14 years at the studio. It was also Robert Taylor's next-to-last film in his 25 years at the studio, although it was the last to be shot in Hollywood: his final film, The House of the Seven Hawks was shot in England.[2] Charisse and Taylor were the last two contract stars at MGM.[1]
Production
The song under the opening credits, "Party Girl", was written by Nicholas Brodszky (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics), and was sung by Tony Martin, who was Cyd Charisse's husband.[2]
Robert Taylor's character, Tom Farrell is loosely based on Dixie Davis, who was a lawyer for mob boss Dutch Schultz and later became an informant,[7][1] although film noir historian Eddie Muller claims that Louie Cuttner, a lawyer for Al Capone, was the model. Coincidentally, director Nicholas Ray would end up hiring Cuttner some years later, having no idea of the connection.[5] Ray was impressed with the way Taylor worked, comparing him favorably with Method actors, citing Taylor's conferring with an osteologist to gather information on how Tom Farrell's limp could be realistically portrayed.[1][5]
According to Eddie Muller, Lee J. Cobb's character, Rico Angelo, is a "not too veiled caricature of Al Capone".[8] The scene where Angelo beats up Frankie Gasto – played uncredited by former wrestler Aaron "Lord Spears" Saxon – was based on an incident supposedly involving Capone; it was also used by David Mamet in his screenplay for the 1987 film The Untouchables.[5]
Making Party Girl was not a good experience for Ray. Having had problems with his last two, independently-produced films, and physically debilitated by the experiences, he signed to direct a studio film for MGM in order to get the security of one of the major Hollywood studios, and to work again with an earlier collaborator, Charles Schnee; the two had worked together on 1948's They Live by Night, and Schnee was scheduled to be the producer of Party Girl. MGM was interested in Ray because he had grown up and gone to college in Chicago during Prohibition and could recreate the atmosphere of the time and place, which Ray was eager to do. Schnee, however, was replaced by Joe Pasternak, a specialist in musicals, and Ray discovered that he had little input into the writing of the script, which was already finished when he signed on, by comedy specialist George Wells.[1][8]
Ray was barred by MGM's protocols from being involved in the direction of the musical numbers, even to the extent of discussing Charisse’s character in relation to the numbers. Ray also wanted to use period music to help recreate the era, but MGM, concerned that it would limit the film's public appeal, rejected that idea. Ray had also planned on three days of location shooting in Chicago, but when the film went past its schedule – partly because of the musicians' strike, partly due to Charisse's long illness[5]– these days were cancelled. In the end, Ray had limited input into the film, besides personal directorial style.[1][8] Ray said about the film:
When I couldn't contribute as much as I wanted to the script, I tried to do the next best thing in color and performance, to [capture] the kind of bizarre reality [of the time], which permitted people who lived that life to believe that theirs was the only reality.[1]
Film noir historian Eddie Muller called Ray's use of color in Party Girl "nothing short of dazzling".[8]
Musical numbers
The musical numbers were choreographed by Robert Sidney, who was forced to rehearse in Mexico with stand-ins because of a musicians' strike which ultimately caused the studios to disband their in-house orchestras.[5] When Charisse filmed her numbers, she danced to a pre-recorded drum track in one case, and to performers who were miming in the other. After the strike was settled, Andre Previn composed the music, uncredited.[1] Director Ray was not allowed to direct the musical numbers, because MGM's policy was that musical numbers were directed by the choreographer. He was not even allowed to talk to Charisse about her acting when it concerned the numbers.[8]
Box office
According to MGM records, the film earned $1,130,000 in the US and Canada and $1,250,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $454,000.[3]
Critical response
At the time of its release, critical response to Party Girl in the United States was generally dismissive, but European critics saw it as confirming their view that director Nicholas Ray was a master of "mise-en-scene".[5]
A. H. Weiler, film critic for The New York Times, gave the film a mixed review: "Party Girl, it should be noted at once, is handsomely accoutered in color and CinemaScope and professionally handled by Nicholas Ray, director, and Joe Pasternak, producer, who approach their subject as if the explosive Chicago of the early Thirties was something they had just discovered. The fact is that Party Girl, like the Charleston, is old hat, an old hat that would be amusing if it weren't so frighteningly reminiscent of a past best forgotten ... There is little that is novel or exciting about this Party Girl, despite her trappings or the occasional gunplay that surrounds her.[9]
TV Guide's review praised the performances: "Party Girl offers only a standard story, but director Ray makes more of it through clever setups and inventive techniques, drawing forth excellent performances from Taylor (who is playing a role loosely based on Dixie Davis, lawyer for mob boss Dutch Schultz of New York, who later turned informant and married a beautiful showgirl). Cobb turns in a "Wild-Man-of-Borneo" performance wherein he not only eats the scenery but spits it out and chews on it again and again. Charisse, who performs two sensuous nightclub dances, does a commendable job with her cliché role."[7]
Film critic Bruce Eder liked the film and wrote, "Party Girl is regarded by many Nicholas Ray fans as the most beautiful looking of all of his films. Shot in CinemaScope and color, and starring Cyd Charisse (with Robert Taylor), it gave cinematographer Robert J. Bronner one of the best showcases he ever had for his work, and was a treat to the eye of the viewer, a veritable explosion of color and motion for many of its best sequences."[10]
Film critic Dennis Schwartz wrote, "Ray does wonders with George Wells' slight script through his masterful use of the camera to evoke the characters' alienation and vulnerability, and by also including exotic dance numbers and diverting costumes he creates some stunning visuals that have an eye-catching surreal look ... It's a honey of a film, never mind the superficial flaws."[11]
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 80% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on ten reviews.[12]
Slightly in advance of the film's release, as was the custom of the era, a paperback novelization of the film was published by Gold Medal Books. The author was renowned crime and western novelist Marvin H. Albert, who also made something of a cottage industry out of movie tie-ins. He seems to have been the most prolific screenplay novelizer of the late '50s through mid '60s, and, during that time, the preeminent specialist at light comedy.
The Band Wagon is a 1953 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. It tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway show will restart his career. However, the play's director wants to make it a pretentious retelling of the Faust legend and brings in a prima ballerina who clashes with the star. Along with Singin' in the Rain (1952), it is regarded as one of the finest Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals, although it was a modest box-office success on first release.
Cyd Charisse was an American dancer and actress.
That's Entertainment! is a 1974 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate the studio's 50th anniversary. The success of the retrospective prompted a 1976 sequel, the related 1985 film That's Dancing!, and a third installment in 1994.
That's Entertainment! III is a 1994 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate the studio's 70th anniversary. It was the third in a series of retrospectives that began with the first That's Entertainment! (1974) and That's Entertainment, Part II (1976).
The Harvey Girls is a 1946 Technicolor American musical film produced by Arthur Freed for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Samuel Hopkins Adams, about Fred Harvey's Harvey House waitresses. Directed by George Sidney, the film stars Judy Garland and features John Hodiak, Ray Bolger, and Angela Lansbury, as well as Preston Foster, Virginia O'Brien, Kenny Baker, Marjorie Main and Chill Wills. Future star Cyd Charisse appears in her first speaking role on film.
Torch Song is a 1953 American Technicolor musical drama film distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Joan Crawford and Michael Wilding in a story about a Broadway star and her blind rehearsal pianist. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes and Jan Lustig was based upon the story "Why Should I Cry?" by I.A.R. Wylie in a 1949 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. The film was directed by Charles Walters and produced by Sidney Franklin, Henry Berman and Charles Schnee. Crawford's singing voice was dubbed by India Adams.
Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 American musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, primarily directed by Vincente Minnelli, with segments directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, and George Sidney, the film's original director before Minnelli took over. Other directors that are claimed to have made uncredited contributions to the film are Merrill Pye, Norman Taurog, and Charles Walters. It stars many MGM leading talents, including Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, James Melton, Victor Moore, William Powell, Red Skelton, and Esther Williams.
That's Entertainment, Part II is a 1976 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a sequel to That's Entertainment! (1974). Like the previous film, That's Entertainment, Part II was a retrospective of famous films released by MGM from the 1930s to the 1950s. Some posters for the film use Part 2 rather than Part II in the title.
Till The Clouds Roll By is a 1946 American Technicolor musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a fictionalized biopic of composer Jerome Kern, portrayed by Robert Walker. Kern was involved with the production, but died before its completion. It was the first in a series of MGM biopics about Broadway composers.
Charles Schnee was an American screenwriter and film producer. He wrote the scripts for the Westerns Red River (1948) and The Furies (1950), the social melodrama They Live by Night (1949), and the cynical Hollywood saga The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), for which he won an Academy Award.
Deep in My Heart is a 1954 American MGM biographical musical film about the life of operetta composer Sigmund Romberg, who wrote the music for The Student Prince, The Desert Song, and The New Moon, among others. Leonard Spigelgass adapted the film from Elliott Arnold's 1949 biography of the same name. Roger Edens produced, Stanley Donen directed and Eugene Loring choreographed. José Ferrer played Romberg, with support from soprano Helen Traubel as a fictional character and Merle Oberon as actress, playwright, librettist, producer, and director Dorothy Donnelly.
It's Always Fair Weather is a 1955 MGM musical satire scripted by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who also wrote the show's lyrics, with music by André Previn and starring Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Dolores Gray, and dancer/choreographer Michael Kidd in his first film acting role.
Silk Stockings is a 1957 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. It is based on the 1955 stage musical of the same name, which had been adapted from the film Ninotchka (1939). The film was choreographed by Eugene Loring and Hermes Pan.
Brigadoon is a 1954 American Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical film made in CinemaScope and color by Ansco based on the 1947 Broadway musical of the same name by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli and stars Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, and Cyd Charisse. Brigadoon has been broadcast on American television and is available in VHS, DVD and Blu-ray formats.
Two Weeks in Another Town is a 1962 American drama film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Kirk Douglas and Edward G. Robinson. The supporting players include Cyd Charisse, Claire Trevor, Daliah Lavi, George Hamilton, and Rosanna Schiaffino. The film was based on a 1960 novel by Irwin Shaw and depicts the shooting of a romantic costume drama in Rome by a team of decadent Hollywood stars during the Hollywood on the Tiber era. The picture contains several references to The Bad and the Beautiful, a previous successful MGM movie directed by Minnelli and produced by John Houseman a decade earlier, also with a screenplay by Charles Schnee, music by David Raksin, and starring Kirk Douglas as the lead character.
Meet Me in Las Vegas is a 1956 American musical comedy film directed by Roy Rowland, filmed in Eastman Color and CinemaScope, and starring Dan Dailey and Cyd Charisse. It was produced by Joe Pasternak for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
On an Island with You is a 1948 American musical Technicolor romantic comedy film directed by Richard Thorpe. It stars Esther Williams, Peter Lawford, Ricardo Montalbán, Cyd Charisse, Kathryn Beaumont and Jimmy Durante.
Dr. Kildare's Victory is a 1942 film directed by W. S. Van Dyke. It stars Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore. It is the ninth and last of the MGM Dr. Kildare movie series.
The Kissing Bandit is a 1948 American comedy musical western film directed by László Benedek. It stars Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson, with J. Carrol Naish in a supporting role, and Ricardo Montalbán, Ann Miller, and Cyd Charisse in cameo roles.
Sombrero is a 1953 American musical romance film directed by Norman Foster and starring Ricardo Montalbán, Pier Angeli, Vittorio Gassman and Cyd Charisse.
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