Plot
In Paris, American producer Steve Canfield wants Russian composer Peter Ilyitch Boroff to compose the score for his next picture. Three Soviet commissars Brankov, Bibinski, and Ivanov attempt to escort the composer back to Russia. To keep Boroff in Paris, Steve contests the composer's Russian citizenship by producing an affidavit disputing his parentage and insists it be resolved in court. Steve further convinces the commissars that Boroff's collaboration will earn them promotions in Moscow. Despite their initial resistance, the commissars consent to the collaboration.
Back in Moscow, Vassili Markovitch becomes the new commissar of art. He sends Russian agent Nina "Ninotchka" Yoschenko to retrieve Boroff from Paris. She meets the commissars in the hotel lobby. In their suite, Steve shows Ninotchka the affidavit and attempts to charm her with the locale, but Ninotchka insists that she will not be persuaded by the city's bourgeois.
Later that night, Hollywood actress Peggy Dayton arrives at the hotel, where several reporters interview her about her first serious role in an adaptation of War and Peace . The next morning, Steve escorts Ninotchka on a tour of Paris, alternating between boiler rooms and beauty salons. When they return to his hotel room, Steve sets a romantic mood with lower lights and music, but Ninotchka insists that romantic attraction is purely "electro-chemical". Steve and Ninotchka contrast their beliefs on romantic attraction, and after a waltz around the room, the two kiss.
Peggy walks into the room and insults Boroff, causing Ninotchka to leave. She tries to back out of the project because it's not a musical, to which Steve suggests she seduce Boroff into adapting his music to sound contemporary. At a costume fitting, Boroff, who is infatuated with Peggy, initially refuses to musicalize his compositions, but accepts the idea. Later that afternoon, Ninotchka locks herself in her room and dresses in Parisian lingerie. The same night, Ninotchka, dressed in a silky evening gown, joins Steve for a romantic evening. When Ninotchka returns to the commissars' room, they confess that Boroff's "Ode to a Tractor" is being rewritten into popular music for the film. Contrary to their suspicions, Ninotchka is delighted by the idea and dismisses them.
Alone with Steve, Ninotchka raves about Paris' beauty, convinced that love, not utilitarianism, leads to happiness. The next day, on a soundstage, Steve confesses to Ninotchka the affidavit was faked, and proposes to her. Swept away by their love, the two dance from one stage to another, finally arriving on set. As Peggy begins singing Boroff's revised music, he and Ninotchka are insulted by the changes. Steve defends it, asserting that Americans make popular songs out of classical music for audiences to enjoy. Angered, Ninotchka tells Steve that she is neglecting her duty and decides to return to Russia immediately with Boroff and the commissars.
Months later, Boroff and the commissars, who have been saved from punishment by Ninotchka's report, visit her at her apartment. Ninotchka attempts to read Steve's letter, which has been so heavily censored that only the salutation remains. Soon after, Boroff, now fascinated with Western music, plays his new composition on the piano, prompting Ninotchka, the commissars, and the tenants to dance. Shortly after, Markovitch sends Ninotchka back to Paris to retrieve the commissars, who have been sent there to sell Russian films. When she arrives, the commissars take Ninotchka to their new Russian café, where Steve performs a top hat routine.
Back at the hotel room, Ninotchka states she will return to Russia that night. Steve arrives in the room, revealing that he wrote the anonymous report in order to get her out of Russia. He also reminds her of the marriage proposal contained in his censored letter. In love, Ninotchka rips up her plane ticket and embraces him while the commissars celebrate.
Production
The musical Silk Stockings originated from Melchior Lengyel's story Ninotchka, which in turn was adapted into a 1939 film starring Greta Garbo. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1955, and during its run, producer Arthur Freed decided to acquire the screen rights, making it his first independent film project. He stipulated with MGM's parent company Loews Incorporation a 25 percent ownership stake with the films he produced with MGM's financing. Since MGM held the right of first refusal as it had owned the 1939 film, Freed purchased the rights for $300,000.
To write the screenplay, Freed hired Leonard Spigelgass. As the script was being written, Freed selected Rouben Mamoulian to direct Silk Stockings, having previously worked with him on Summer Holiday (1948). This was Mamoulian's first film in almost a decade, whereby he returned to Broadway to restage a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! (1943), and produced two other musicals and a play. Mamoulian was displeased with Spigelgass's first draft and added outlines of the scenes he had wanted. After a few more drafts, Spigelgass was taken off the project, and Harry Kurnitz was hired to revise the script. Kurnitz's drafts were also unsatisfactory, and Freed later hired Leonard Gershe to complete the script one month before filming.
Cyd Charisse, best known for her performance in Brigadoon (1954), was the first to be cast. Bing Crosby and Howard Keel were considered to star opposite of Charisse. However, Freed allowed Charisse to choose between Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire for her male co-star. She declared no contest, and chose Astaire. [13] At the time, Astaire had finished filming Funny Face (1957). He met with Freed at his San Diego ranch though he was ambivalent at accepting the role as he felt too old. Mamoulian met with Astaire at a luncheon, and after hearing Mamoulian's ideas for the film, Astaire agreed to do the film. Astaire worked with his frequent collaborator Hermes Pan on the choreography, and asked Cole Porter to compose a rock and roll number intended to prove he was still in touch with contemporary music. Porter listened to the appropriate records, and returned with the number "The Ritz Roll and Rock." [17]
Meanwhile, Freed had promised to cast Ann Miller in the role as Peggy Dayton, which had been a role she previously sought in the Broadway musical. [18] She was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts with the Broadway run. On the MGM studio lot, Miller arrived for a costume test but Freed instead cast Janis Paige. [19]
In his vision for Silk Stockings, Mamoulian was determined that the film would rely less on dialogue and instead dramatize the relationship between the two leads through elaborate dance numbers. He explained, "I had two of the best dancers in the world, and what interested me was to give greater importance to the dancing than to the action proper, which was merely a repeat of Ninotchka. The psychological and dramatic development existed only in the dances."
Principal photography began on November 7, 1956 and wrapped on January 31, 1957.
Retrospective appraisal
Film historian Tom Milne observed that even if Silk Stockings is not a facsimile of Cole Porter's Broadway production of Silk Stockings (1955) or Ernst Lubitsch's Ninotchka, Mamoulian improved on the these versions by giving it an emotional depth in line with the originals. Milne continued:
Silk Stockings is so crammed with delights that it seems incredible that anybody, let alone the entire pack of British critics, should have failed to respond. The catalog is endless...Perhaps, one day, critics, historians, and those who write about cinema will at last realize that is one of the great musicals."
Film historian Marc Spergel noted that Mamoulian's reputation with Hollywood executives had risen with Silk Stockings, writing: "Audiences and critics praised the film as an inventive, enjoyable entertainment, and Mamoulian restored his value as a marketable commodity."
Ninotchka is a 1939 American romantic comedy film made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by producer and director Ernst Lubitsch and starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas. It was written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, and Walter Reisch, based on a story by Melchior Lengyel. Ninotchka marked the first comedy role for Garbo, and her penultimate film; she received her third and final Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
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 revive 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 An American in Paris (1951) and Singin' in the Rain (1952), it is regarded as one of the finest Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals, although it was a box-office disappointment on first release.
Becky Sharp is a 1935 American Technicolor historical drama film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Miriam Hopkins, who plays the eponymous protagonist. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Other supporting cast were William Faversham, Frances Dee, Cedric Hardwicke, Billie Burke, Alison Skipworth, Nigel Bruce, and Alan Mowbray.
Arthur Freed was an American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture twice, in 1951 for An American in Paris and in 1958 for Gigi. Both films were musicals, and both were directed by Vincente Minnelli. In addition, he produced the film Singin' in the Rain, the soundtrack for which primarily consisted of songs he co-wrote earlier in his career.
Cyd Charisse was an American dancer and actress.
Silk Stockings is a musical with a book by George S. Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath, and Abe Burrows and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The musical is loosely based on the Melchior Lengyel story Ninotchka and the 1939 film adaptation it inspired. It ran on Broadway in 1955. This was the last musical that Porter wrote for the stage.
Rouben Zachary Mamoulian was an Armenian-American film and theater director.
Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 American musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 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.
High, Wide and Handsome is a 1937 American musical western film starring Irene Dunne, Randolph Scott, Alan Hale Sr., Charles Bickford and Dorothy Lamour. The film was directed by Rouben Mamoulian and written by Oscar Hammerstein II and George O'Neil, with lyrics by Hammerstein and music by Jerome Kern. It was released by Paramount Pictures.
Leonard Spigelgass was an American playwright, film producer and screenwriter. During his career, Spigelgass wrote the scripts for 11 Academy Award-winning films. He himself was nominated in 1950 for the story for Mystery Street and garnered three Writers Guild of America nominations over the course of his career. Spigelgass was also a friend of Gore Vidal who used Spigelgass as the model for Vidal's semi fictionary "wise hack" character in the latter's series of essays about Hollywood.
"Dancing in the Dark" is a popular American song, with music by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by Howard Dietz, that was introduced by John Barker with Tilly Losch dancing in the 1931 revue The Band Wagon. The song was first recorded by Bing Crosby on August 19, 1931 with Studio Orchestra directed by Victor Young, staying on the pop charts for six weeks, peaking at #3, and helping to make it a lasting standard.
Janis Paige was an American actress and singer. With a career spanning nearly 60 years, she was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
It's Always Fair Weather is a 1955 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. The film was scripted by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who also wrote the show's lyrics, with music by André Previn. It stars Kelly, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Dolores Gray, and dancer/choreographer Michael Kidd in his first film acting role.
Applause is a 1929 American backstage musical "talkie" directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Helen Morgan, Jack Cameron, and Joan Peers. It was shot at Paramount's Astoria Studios in Astoria, New York during the early years of sound films.
Golden Boy is a 1939 American drama romance sports film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou and William Holden. It is based on the 1937 play of the same title by Clifford Odets.
Summer Holiday is a 1948 American musical-comedy film, directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Mickey Rooney and Gloria DeHaven. The picture is based on the play Ah, Wilderness! (1933) by Eugene O'Neill, which had been filmed under that name by MGM in 1935 with Rooney in a much smaller role, as the younger brother. Although completed in October 1946, the film sat on the shelf until 1948.
Rings on Her Fingers is a 1942 American comedy film directed by Rouben Mamoulian for 20th Century Studios and starring Henry Fonda and Gene Tierney.
We Live Again is a 1934 American film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Anna Sten and Fredric March. The film is an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1899 novel Resurrection (Voskraeseniye). The screenplay was written by Maxwell Anderson with contributions from a number of writers, including Preston Sturges and Thornton Wilder.
The Gay Desperado is a 1936 American musical-comedy film starring Ida Lupino, Leo Carrillo, and Nino Martini and directed by Rouben Mamoulian, produced by Mary Pickford and Jesse Lasky and originally released by United Artists. The film is a spoof of the Hollywood gangster genre.
