Party Girl

Interesting movie. Very interesting, though the title is inexcuseably misleading. Nicholas Ray directs and, not surprisingly, makes novel use of shadows, bold colors and wild camera angles. There is a bravura montage of an explosion of mob violence which is sudden and startling. Ray, best known as the director of "Rebel Without a Cause", takes a smart, tough script and; unlike many crime movies which contain similar ingredients but fail to resonate, gives the movie a soul. There's something about its tone and feel, some simmering menace and creeping regret that reminds one of another mob movie which would be released 15 years later: "The Godfather". And as in that classic, the Lawyer/Mob Boss relationship is complex and fascinating.

While much of the credit deservedly goes to Ray's maverick methods and genius, the cast is also very good. Robert Taylor never developed the kind of easily identifiable screen persona of a Bogart or Jimmy Stewart, but he was a sturdy leading man who usually served the material and could be depended upon to anchor a film. He pours his heart into this part, his last as an MGM contract player. Cyd Charisse was never known as a great actress but she is capable in her role as a feisty Show Girl, and she gets a good opportunity to show off perhaps the most eye-popping, perfectly sculpted figure in the history of motion pictures. And of course, nobody was better at playing hot-tempered thugs than the great Lee J. Cobb.

Turner Classic Movies is such a goldmine. It's so satisfying to see movies, such as this one, that know how to introduce plot points and convincingly tie them up and bring things full circle. "Party Girl" may not be quite a great film, but it is very, very good.

"Party Girl" is a rarely seen movie directed by Nicholas Ray. This 1958 picture mixes styles, and at times, it achieves an originality that only a director like Mr. Ray could give any movie he directed. Basically, we are given a situation in which a lawyer who defends the criminal element is caught in the way he must deal with a situation where he has to turn against his loyalty to his mobster employer because, at last, he sees the light and the consequence of his actions.

Robert Taylor plays the lawyer, Tommy Farrell. This was his last film that marks the end of his long and successful association with MGM. Robert Taylor makes an appealing Farrell, and even though one realizes he is defending people that are at the margin of the law, his character shows redeeming qualities that make him merit our sympathy. The actor is perfect in the role.

Cyd Charisse playing a dramatic role is a surprise. In fact, she was always seen in musical roles because of her talent as a dancer. In the film she plays a chorus girl that suddenly is elevated to a starring role in front of her former colleagues because of the influence Tommy Farrell had in those circles. Ms. Charisse holds her own against an accomplished actor like Mr. Taylor. This is one of her best opportunities in the movies.

Lee J. Cobb is seen as the criminal boss Rico, who has a tremendous power over Tommy Farrell. Mr. Cobb shows he could do anything in movies as well as on the stage. John Ireland plays the evil Louis Canetto.

This is a film that fans of the work of Nicholas Ray shouldn't miss.

Of course we have all seen this type of story line a few times, especially if you enjoy the film 'noire of the 1940s and 1950s era. What sets this crime/film 'noire/romance apart from others is the first class performances of the four main characters. The gorgeous gams of professional dancer Cyd Charisse are on full display in her role as Vicki Gaye and she is the love interest of the smartest criminal defence attorney Thomas Farrell played to perfection by Robert Taylor who unfortunately died in the prime of his life and in his career as a first rate Hollywood star.

Thomas Farrel is the lead counsel for mob boss Rico Angelo played by Academy Award best actor nominee Lee J. Cobb who rules his crime empire and the streets below him by fear of death or serious injury to anyone who would even consider double crossing him. Now lawyer Thomas Farrell does have a close working relationship with the mob boss Rico Angelo who pays him top dollar for keeping him and his cronies out of jail even when they are up on murder charges. Such is the case with Louis Canetto played by John Ireland who is charged with murder but gets off due to the masterful defence strategy used by his lawyer, Thomas Farrel.

Louis Canetto has his eyes set on the pretty party girl Vicki Gaye but so does defence lead counsel Thomas Farrel. It does not take the gorgeous Cyd Charisse who plays Vicki Gaye long to assess that she will have a much more loving relationship with lawyer Thomas Farrel than she would with the mob underling Louis Canetto.

So you can see that this film 'noire has the typical seedy criminal element who require a smart lawyer to continuously defend them, and it has the party girl turned love interest of the brilliant lawyer who is used by the mob boss to get what he wants out of his top notch lawyer Thomas Farrell. Where I see this film excels and where other similar pictures of the era falter is with the high caliber acting of these four main characters such that the film has ended when the audience wants to see more.

I give the film a pretty good 7 out of 10 rating.

Quite possibly Nicholas Ray's most visually eloquent film, the poorly- named Party Girl focuses not on the Cyd Charisse titular character but her romantic interest, mob lawyer Tom Farrell, played with great intensity and dedication by Robert Taylor.

Charisse is even more luminous than usual thanks in part to the mesmerizing lighting and camera work utilized by Ray in two major dance numbers obviously included to showcase MGM's most talented dancer. However, Ray was also able to elicit a rather touching albeit somewhat unrealistic performance from Charisse in playing a lonely showgirl drawn to Taylor's disfigured lawyer trapped in the world of defending known criminals.

Such a story had been done before many different ways, yet under Ray's direction the film achieves a certain sense of nobility and appreciation. It is not flashy, but not boring either. It is, as much of Ray's work was at the time, workman-like and beautifully crafted. Compared to much of the other features released at the time, Ray's films stand out today as rising above the material he was given to work with.

This is a late 50's gangsters movie in the line of the classical film "noires" of the 40's. The remarkable aspect here is that "Party Girl" is perhaps one of the most colorful movies ever made in the genre and perhaps out of it too. Right from the start and as a background for the titles there's an all color dancing sequence and from them on color is all around including bright red dresses Cyd Charisse wears throughout the entire film.

But beautiful color aside, Nicholas Ray ("King of Kings", "55 Days in Peking") delivers an interesting and entertaining gangsters movie about a crippled "Mafia" lawyer (Robert Taylor) -a sort of predecessor of "The Godfather"'s Tom Hagen- gets involved with a cabaret dancer (Cyd Charisse) and they try to start a new life together far from the man's dangerous clients; but the big man (Lee J. Cobb) is not willing to set Taylor free because he is a genius in his work that can keep him away from the electric chair and also because the lawyer "knows too much".

There's a fine performance by Taylor as the bitter-ed attorney and also by beautiful and "classy" Charisse who also has the chance of exhibiting her undeniable dancing skills (and her famous legs too). Cobb is perfect in a role with no secrets for him pretty much like the one he played before in the classic "On the Waterfront" and a year later in "The Trap". John Ireland and Kent Smith complete the main cast.

Though not perhaps a great film -not much action sequences for the genre- "Party Girl" stands as a good one in its line worth watching no doubt.