"The Throb of Manhattan"

ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER, 1955, may well be my very favourite musical (after A STAR IS BORN and THE BANDWAGON of course) - it and those sophisticated musicals from 1957 [LES GIRLS, FUNNY FACE, SILK STOCKINGS, THE PYJAMA GAME, bits of PAL JOEY] are my perennial favourites, ever since I saw them as a child at Sunday afternoon matinees - BRIGADOON was another but it it not quite in that league, but I prefer them to the over-hyped SINGING IN THE RAIN or AN AMERICAN IN PARIS both of which show Kelly at his most grating (of course, as per Musicals label, I also love ON THE TOWN, MY SISTER EILEEN, KISS ME KATE, SWINGTIME, GYPSY, LES DEMOISELLES DE ROCHEFORT among others...)

Good to see that ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER is being revived by the London National Film Theatre in their season on MGM musicals - it cries out to be seen on widescreen, using as it does, multiple images when our 3 wartime buddies reflect on their lives now. It seems to have been a troubled shoot, co-directors Kelly and Stanley Donen fell out, Kelly and Charisse don't have any number together, she has one marvellous dance number "Baby You Knock Me Out" at the gym (where, as Pauline Kael put it, "Cyd Charisse is benumbed until she unhinges those legs") wearing that terrific Helen Rose ensemble, and Gene has the very inventive roller-skate number and of course when the 3 guys dance with the dustbin lids, so it is all very innovative, just as original musicals were dying, it was mainly films of Broadway shows after this.

It is the perfect mid-century story of 3 wartime buddies meeting up 10 years later in 1955 and realising that they don't like each other much now, and indeed Kelly and Dailey don't much like themselves either. Gene is mixing with hoods and managing a dumb boxer, while Dan Dailey has risen to "Executive Vice-President" level in advertising and is sick of the advertising game as he lets rip in his terrific solo number "Advertising-wise". Cyd Charisse is the television researcher who stumbles across the 3 wartime buddies and realises their reunion is ideal for her television show "Midnight with Madeline" for "The Throb of Manhattan" spot where saccharine stories are featured. This is the early days of live television and the movie is a splendid satire on those artificial tv hostesses like Madeline and her diva tantrums. Dolores Gray is stupendous here, and has one of the best numbers ever "Thanks a lot but no thanks" which is a delirious treat with that ritzy gown and that killer line:"I've got a man who's Clifton Webb and Marlon Brando combined"!. Then hood Jay C Flippen and his goons invade the studio where the live broadcast is being made, as they are after Gene who has thrown the fight once he realised his boxer has been bribed to lose it. Cyd gets the hoods to confess on live air, Madeline has a hit show, the 3 buddies realise they are still friends after all. It's a perfect conclusion as Cyd joins Gene and the the guys back at the bar where they vowed to meet up 10 years previously.



Choreographer Michael Kidd is ideal as the family man, Dailey has one of his best roles (apart from his father in THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS), Cyd and Gene sparkle as they spar with each other, and Dolores steals the show. What's not to love? It is a dark, sometimes bitter take on ON THE TOWN a decade later as the 3 buddies meet again - by 1955 though Sinatra had gone on to solo projects and was "difficult" and Jules Munchin was not a name enough. Produced of course by Arthur Freed, with songs by Andre Previn, script by Comden and Green; perfect entertainment then, but see the widescreen version, not panned and scanned! The DVD includes a fascinating 'Making-Of' chronicling the fallout between Kelly and Donen, and several out-takes including a terrific inventive (that word again) deleted number between Kelly and Charisse "Love is Nothing But a Racket" which has been unseen for far too long, and Michael Kidd's solo spot with some kids, but Gene did not want that included, after his number with kids in AN AMERICAN IN PARIS! Essential stuff then.

I met Gene at a recording of an interview of his for the BBC in 1975 - Donen of course went on to direct several of my enduing favourites: those Audrey Hepburn films like TWO FOR THE ROAD and CHARADE, Kendall in ONCE MORE WITH FEELING, Peck and Sophia ideal in ARABESQUE, and the marvellous BEDAZZLED with Pete and Dud and Eleanor Bron in 1967. We won't mention STAIRCASE or LUCKY LADY!

Hermes and Cyd on musicals ...

A fascinating new documentary on Sky Arts cable channel: Hermes Pan and Cyd Charisse on musicals, titled BROADWAY TO HOLLYWOOD. It of course re-cycles old interviews with a host of dazzling clips. I am not sure though about the morality of putting old stars' interviews into new material, making them work - as it were - after their lifetime ...

The very dapper Hermes Pan, with that useful resemblance to Fred Astaire, was born in 1909 (of Greek extraction) and died aged 81 in 1990. He was choreographer on Astaire pictures, including all the ones with Ginger Rogers, whom he danced with in other films as well. Hermes was one of the best choreographers and dance directors, choreographing, among others, dances in CLEOPATRA, MY FAIR LADY, PAL JOEY, CAN CAN, THE STUDENT PRINCE, JUPITER'S DARLING and others, as well as lots of tv shows. It is just fascinating hearing him discuss how they worked to create the magic we still experience now watching them. Charisse too was the ultimate professional during her long career, and a very edurite commentator on the old studio days. (Below: Hermes with Fred, and Ginger). The other great choreographer was of course the very individual Jack Cole at Fox, who did all those terrific Monroe and Jane Russell numbers.



Cyd - whom I loved seeing in musicals as a child - BRIGADOON, THE BANDWAGON, ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER, SILK STOCKINGS etc - the former Tula Ellice Finklea from Amarillo, Texas - was always a very elegant dancer, trained for ballet, in movies since the '40s, died aged 87 in 2008 (born 1921). I saw her in a London show in the 80s - a silly revival of CHARLY GIRL - but I had to say I had seen Cyd Charisse dance!



This documentary is artfully put together with lots of clips, Hermes chatting in a bar, and Cyd walking around the old MGM lot. Its as affecting as Fred walking past the remains of that train [where he sang "By Myself" at the start of THE BANDWAGON] in the THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT movie. This is more of the same - but for style and elegance Cyd and Hermes were hard to beat.

Cyd's green gloves, and shoes, and handbag ..

Bliss it is to watch THE BANDWAGON again, on the big screen. It is my favourite musical after all, as per label. Now though one could focus more on the decor and the costumes. Cyd Charisse has a terrific wardrobe here (like Grace Kelly in TO CATCH A THIEF). I was particularly taken with Cyd's dark green dress with those green gloves, green shoes and handbag - perfect for her first meeting with Astaire and in that red room. She actually has a lot of marvellous handbags here. Then of course there is the simple white outfor for "Dancing in the Dark", the sensational red dress for the "Girl Hunt", and just seen briefly that very Minnelli yellow dress with the splash of red. Divine!

Fabulous interiors

Or who lives in a house like this?

Bunny Watson's [Katharine Hepburn] New York apartment in DESK SET - it looks so comfy, particularly when the fire is lit!



Then we have that very roomy lush apartment belonging to Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall in 1958's THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE, with that corridor, and those very Minnelli touches: the yellow and red armchairs and lamps, and that perfect shade of green chair and matching lamp ...



Then more Minnelli: the red room and that yellow and white study in THE BANDWAGON, part of theatre ham Jeffrey Cordova's [Jack Buchanan] townhouse. I want to live there too ...



as I do of course in Julian Kay's [Richard Gere] perfect living space in AMERICAN GIGOLO.

Movies I love: Minnelli's Designing Debutante

"Watch out for the ravioli, Greg"!

I have written here previously [as per labels below] on those terrific '50s treats like Cukor's LES GIRLS, or Minnelli's DESIGNING WOMAN, THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE and the like. We did not have television when I was growing up in Ireland in the '50s (it did not arrive until the early '60s) so from 1957 onwards (when I was 11) we just had the cinema for our doses of glamorous people wearing great clothes and doing exciting glamorous things ....
here are some nice new images of Greg and Lauren and Dolores (just before she tips the ravioli into his lap) in that swellegant '57 treat DESIGNING WOMAN, and Rex and Kay (those Balmain gowns!) and Angela in '58 THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE (Angela was also great that year in THE LONG HOT SUMMER with Orson, Paul & Joanne, Lee Remick & Tony Francoisa) - and Kirk and Cyd in 1962's TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN.

New year's eve at the movies: Party Girl

PARTY GIRL - Nick Ray's 1958 melodrama plays like a '40s noir made in the '50s in colour and Cinemascope. It is full of striking images and vivid colours showing how the mobs in Chicago in the '30s operate. Lee J Cobb is of course terrific as Rico, the mobster with everyone in his pay, including Robert Taylor as the lawyer who gets his hoods acquitted and who long ago sold out for big bucks. Taylor is crippled and uses his limp to work the jury. He and Rico grew up as tough kids but their paths diverged and then Taylor ends up working for Rico....

Showgirl Vicki Gaye is also crippled, emotionally - she never lets men get too close and they eventually go away as she tells another showgirl. She though turns up as escort at various mob functions and collects a hundred dollars a time. One of Rico's underlings though, John Ireland, is taking too unhealthy an interest in her - and she uses Taylor to escort her out of one party. They get to know each other and start to fall in love. He uses his influence with Rico to get her a featured spot at the nightclub, so we get to see two Charisse numbers - where, as Pauline Kael once memorably put it, "Cyd Charisse is benumbed until she unhinges those legs". - though these are not in the '30 style but in that of the hip '50s!

The plot twists and turns, Taylor goes to Europe to have operations on his legs, the police are trying to finish the mobs who are busy on killing each other - Corey Allen (whose car went over the cliff in Ray's REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE) is a vicious hood here. Taylor and Charisse realise that selling their pride to the mob costs too high a price. Will they get out in time before Rico turns on them, or Ireland whom Taylor got off on a murder rap turns nasty?

It all climaxes at New Year's Eve at a party were Rico has Taylor and Charisse in his power. His threats to have Taylor's new leg damaged with a crowbar have not worked, but what if acid gets thrown in the face of the lovely Vicki? He demonstrates what acid does to a red paper decoration. The police arrive as Ireland grabs the bottle of acid and closes in on Vicki. Then Rico himself gets the bottle before spilling it on himself and exiting through the plate glass window. The sirens screech as our leads walk away ... That is the plot in a nutshell but it looks good, the colours and images are striking. Cobb has a field day chomping the scenery, Taylor has another good late '50s role (like his QUENTIN DURWARD and ROGUE COP) playing a man discovering his inner strength and Charisse as ever looks and sounds sensational. I enjoyed all this when I saw it as a kid, the acid melting the christmas decoration was very impressive!



Ray had his best era in the '50s what with JOHNNY GUITAR with Crawford, the endlessly iconic classic REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE with Dean, BIGGER THAN LIFE with James Mason, his Jesse James film with Robert Wagner and Jeff Hunter and this MGM melodrama with its bright vivid colours. But for Charisse those big musicals she made her name in (SINGING IN THE RAIN, THE BANDWAGON, BRIGADOON, ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER, SILK STOCKINGS) were on the wane so she featured in dramas like this and TWILIGHT FOR THE GODS with Rock Hudson. The 60s brought some further acting roles in films like MAROC 7 and THE SILENCERS and back with Minnelli for the stylish TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN. She featured in lots of live shows and appeared in London in the 80s in a revival of CHARLEY GIRL - one simply had to go and see the divine Cyd dance on stage ...

My new favourite '60s fun movie!

MAROC 7 is a riot of colour, girls, guns - a delicious crime caper from 1966 that plays like a UK version of those Dean Martin Matt Helm films such as THE SILENCERS. Here it is Gene Barry as the suave agent infiltrating a fashion shoot in Morocco - that endlessly fascinating mysterious exotic location (also well used in the caper DUFFY in '68, also reviewed here).

MAROC 7 was made about the same time as Antonioni's BLOW-UP and also features a photographer and lots of model girls - here though Leslie Philips (who also produces) is the snapper with crime on his mind, but its the girls who are the main interest. Cyd Charisse (for it is she) is the fashion editor using her magazine shoots to cover her criminal activities, top model girl is the stunning Elsa Martinelli (as nice here as for instance as her Dallas in Hawks' HATARI!) and that very intriguing Canadian actress Alexandra Stewart who had a career in European films (LE FEU FOLLET, DAY FOR NIGHT, ONLY WHEN I LARF with Hemmings, and Penn's MICKEY ONE with Beatty) and is still working now. She plays police inspector Denholm Elliot's assistant. Cyd and Leslie are ruthless in their ambitions, disposing of one of the girls who knows too much and the professor who won't reveal the whereabouts of a priceless medallion. The plot involves secret maps, robbing tombs and multiple double crosses, after a nice start with Evans breaking into Charisse’s house and stealing jewels while she returns and takes a shower. Then there is one of those ‘60s parties …… and then its off to Morocco with all those girls and those '60s outfits!

Above: girls on location.

It is all deliriously put together by director Gerry O'Hara, that '60s movie-maker of low budget independent glamour films (his THE PLEASURE GIRLS is an interesting minor 1964 film about girls in Swinging London) and he also helmed episodes of THE AVENGERS and, er, THE BITCH! This one kind of looks cheap but that suits it perfectly. It is great to see the mature Charisse, she is ideally cast here, her looks and voice are still sensational. I simply cannot wait to see it again .....it's a cult movie to match DANGER DIABOLIK!


Above: Elsa Martinelli, below: Alexandra Stewart and with David Hemmings in ONLY WHEN I LARF.

Best musical evah !

Its THE BANDWAGON natch! - it was on again yesterday afternoon so I cleared the decks and luxuriated in it all over again - enjoying Minnelli's palette of colours - all those yellows and reds - SINGING IN THE RAIN looks drab by comparison! SINGING by the way, which was on the day before just doesn't do it for me, I have enjoyed it all the times I have seen it but it just isn't that special for me, apart from every appearance and utterance of Lina Lamont.
But back to THE BANDWAGON - Fred is wonderful here in 1953, Cyd is at the pinnacle of her career, Fabray and Levant are fine and - maybe best of all - Jack Buchanan is an insane delight as highbrow theatre director Jeffrey Cordova, maybe based on Orson Welles - even the throwaway shot of that poster for his show Oedipus Rex (where we first see him hamming it up) has it billed as presented by, starring, written and directed by him. This Arthur Freed production, with Roger Edens also on board, the witty script satirising show business folk is by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, with Michael Kidd handling the dances and those Howard Dietz songs which all mesh perfectly without a dull moment, starting with that satire on ageing star Tony Hunter and the auction of his top hat and then his arrival in New York - where we have two of Fred's best ever numbers: the wistful "By Myself" as he leaves the train (those journalists were waiting for Ava Gardner!) - Judy makes this song an angry powerhouse statement (which is also perfect in its context) in her I COULD GO ON SINGING, but Fred's version is delightful here; and then we have that dazzling "Put A Shine On Your Shoes" with everything in the amusement arcade thrown in, before Fred meets the Martins (Nanette and Oscar) and their idea for a new show - which leads us to theatre egomaniac Jeffrey Cordova as we go backstage at his Oedipus Rex. Cue seeing ballet dancer Gabrielle Gerard (Cyd) on stage and then we all adjoin to Cordova's town-house and that perfect yellow and white study (pure Minnelli) while Gaby and her partner choreographer Paul Byrd (James Mitchell) are in an adjoining red room. We overhear Cordova wowing the investors as Fred and Cyd size each other up. There is also that delicious scene when Cordova calls Paul over at 3 a.m. and skillfully manoeuvers him into demanding that dancer Gaby is cast in the show! as Hal - Cordova's constantaly on-call assistant (or maybe more?) - wearily rings the papers. Minnelli's THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE in '58 also had decor to die for [as per my post on that].

Lots of amusement follows as the show is cast and begins to work and then we get that perfect number "Dancing in the Dark" as Fred and Cyd escape the rehearsals and take a horse and carriage to the park and the number expresses their concerns about dancing together as they effortlessly mesh together rising and falling until spent and exhausted they fall back into the carriage. Its a moment of pure rapture.


Then we have the giant egg with appropriate sounds as the opening peformance is a colossal flop - and Fred takes over and the show is re-done and we get one marvellous number after another: Cyd in that yellow dress with the splash of red, "Triplets", "Louisiana Hayride" and Fred and Jack in that delightful "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan". I really only know Buchanan from this movie, its a shame there were no later great musicals for him. Then we get the iconic "Girl Hunt" ballet where Fred and Cyd dazzle - when Cyd displays that red dress and those legs ... and finally that last reprise of the anthem "That's Entertainment" as Cyd tells Fred the show will run forever. Its all bliss, pure bliss. For me, the best MGM musical then, followed by KISS ME KATE - and Gene's later ones ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER and LES GIRLS. Time now to dig out the dvd and those extra features and making-of documentaries... Fred of course went on to those other favorites of mine FUNNY FACE and SILK STOCKINGS (sorry, not DADDY LONG LEGS). Perfect end comment: "This was THE smart and sophisticated musical comedy of the '50s, an era when New York adults still set pop trends and before American culture became corrupted and dumbed down by television. It's not just nostalgia to say they don't make them like they used to."