''Silk Stockings'' is a 1957 American
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film directed by
Rouben Mamoulian
Rouben Zachary Mamoulian ( ; hy, Ռուբէն Մամուլեան; October 8, 1897 – December 4, 1987) was an American film and theatre director.
Early life
Mamoulian was born in Tiflis, Russian Empire, to a family of Armenian descent. ...
, based on the 1955
stage musical of the same name, which itself was an adaptation of the film ''
Ninotchka
''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 o ...
'' (1939).
It stars
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history.
Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...
and
Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse (born Tula Ellice Finklea; March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008) was an American actress and dancer.
After recovering from polio as a child and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles usually featured her abilit ...
. The supporting cast includes
Janis Paige
Janis Paige (born Donna Mae Tjaden; September 16, 1922) is an American retired actress and singer. Born in Tacoma, Washington, she began singing in local amateur shows at the age of five. After high school, she moved to Los Angeles, where she b ...
,
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...
,
Jules Munshin
Jules Munshin (February 22, 1915 – February 19, 1970) was an American actor, comedian and singer who had made his name on Broadway when he starred in '' Call Me Mister''. His additional Broadway credits include '' The Gay Life'' and ''Barefo ...
, and
George Tobias
George Tobias (July 14, 1901 – February 27, 1980) was an American theater, film and television actor. He had character parts and supporting roles in several major films of Hollywood's Golden Age. He is also known for his role as Abner K ...
reprising his Broadway role.
It was choreographed by
Eugene Loring Eugene Loring (August 2, 1911 – August 30, 1982) was an American dancer, choreographer, teacher, and administrator.
Biography
Eugene Loring was born as Le Roy Kerpestein, the son of a saloon-keeper, grew up on a small island in Wisconsin's
M ...
and
Hermes Pan
Hermes Pan (born Hermes Joseph Panagiotopoulos, December 10, 1909 – September 19, 1990) was an American dancer and choreographer, principally remembered as Fred Astaire's choreographic collaborator on the famous 1930s movie musicals starring A ...
.
It received
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
nominations for Best Film and Best Actress (Charisse) in the Comedy/Musical category.
The score was embellished with the new song "The Ritz Roll and Rock", a parody of then-emerging rock and roll. The number ends with Astaire symbolically smashing his top hat, considered one of his trademarks, signaling his retirement from movie musicals, which he announced following the film's release.
Plot
A brash American film producer, Steve Canfield, wants Russian composer Peter Illyich Boroff to write music for his next picture, which is being made in Paris. However, when the composer expresses his wish to stay in Paris, three comically bumbling operatives, Brankov, Bibinski, and Ivanov, are sent from Moscow to take Boroff back.
Canfield manages to corrupt them with decadent western luxuries (champagne, women, nightclubs, etc.) and talks them into allowing Boroff to stay. He also arranges for his leading lady, Peggy Dayton, to "convince" Boroff to cooperate.
Fearful of his own precarious position, a commissar at the Ministry in Moscow summons a dedicated and humorless, fanatical operative, Nina "Ninotchka" Yoschenko, to bring all four men back home. Canfield succeeds in romancing her, despite her determination not to fall prey to the decadent attractions of Paris. He even proposes marriage. She and Boroff are horrified when they realize what changes have been made to Boroff's music. They decide to return to Moscow.
Canfield does not give up, arranging for the pliable Brankov, Bibinski, and Ivanov to be sent back to Paris, knowing that they will be seduced again by the city's charms. Ninotchka is sent after them, giving Canfield time to convince her to give in to her love for him.
Cast
*
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history.
Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...
as Steve Canfield
*
Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse (born Tula Ellice Finklea; March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008) was an American actress and dancer.
After recovering from polio as a child and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles usually featured her abilit ...
as Ninotchka Yoschenko
*
Janis Paige
Janis Paige (born Donna Mae Tjaden; September 16, 1922) is an American retired actress and singer. Born in Tacoma, Washington, she began singing in local amateur shows at the age of five. After high school, she moved to Los Angeles, where she b ...
as Peggy Dayton
*
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...
as Brankov
*
Jules Munshin
Jules Munshin (February 22, 1915 – February 19, 1970) was an American actor, comedian and singer who had made his name on Broadway when he starred in '' Call Me Mister''. His additional Broadway credits include '' The Gay Life'' and ''Barefo ...
as Bibinski
*
Joseph Buloff
Joseph Buloff (December 6, 1899 – February 27, 1985) was a Jewish actor and director known for his work in Broadway and Yiddish theatre. He received the Itzik Manger Prize for contributions to Yiddish letters in 1974.
Life and care ...
as Ivanov
*
George Tobias
George Tobias (July 14, 1901 – February 27, 1980) was an American theater, film and television actor. He had character parts and supporting roles in several major films of Hollywood's Golden Age. He is also known for his role as Abner K ...
as Vassili Markovitch, Commisar of Art
*
Wim Sonneveld
Willem "Wim" Sonneveld (; 28 June 1917 – 8 March 1974) was a Dutch cabaret artist and singer. Together with Toon Hermans and Wim Kan, he is considered to be one of the 'Great Three' of Dutch cabaret. Sonneveld is generally viewed as a Dutch cu ...
as Peter Ilyitch Boroff
Songs
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter.
* "Too Bad"
* "Paris Loves Lovers"
* "Stereophonic Sound"
* "It's a Chemical Reaction, That's All"
* "
All of You"
* "Satin and Silk"
* "Without Love"
* "Fated to Be Mated"
* "Josephine"
* "Siberia"
* "The Red Blues"
* "The Ritz Roll and Rock"
Production
MGM bought the film rights to the musical for $300,000. Dance rehearsals started on September 18, 1956, and filming ended January 31, 1957.
[Nat Segaloff, ''Final Cuts: The Last Films of 50 Great Directors'', Bear Manor Media 2013 p 182-184]
Reception
According to MGM records, the film earned $1,740,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $1,060,000 in other markets, resulting in a loss of $1,399,000.
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an aggregate score of 100% based on 5 critic reviews.
The film is recognized by the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
in these lists:
* 2004:
AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
** "
All of You" – Nominated
* 2006:
AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals
Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals is a list of the top musicals in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute at the Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Holl ...
– Nominated
See also
*
List of American films of 1957
A list of American films released in 1957. ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
A-B
C-H
I-N
O-Q
R-T
U-Z
See also
* 1957 in the United States
References
External links
1957 filmsat the Interne ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silk Stockings (Film)
1957 films
1957 musical comedy films
1957 romantic comedy films
1950s romantic musical films
Remakes of American films
American films based on plays
American musical comedy films
American romantic comedy films
American romantic musical films
CinemaScope films
1950s English-language films
Films about the Soviet Union in the Stalin era
Films based on musicals based on films
Films directed by Rouben Mamoulian
Films produced by Arthur Freed
Films set in Paris
Films with screenplays by Harry Kurnitz
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
1950s American films