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it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Terrible film version of a mediocre Broadway "hit" that ran for a little over a year, opening in February of 1955. The Broadway show starred Don Ameche, Hildegarde Neff, and Gretchen Wyler and did not earn a single Tony nomination.Nevertheless, MGM bought the film rights and created this bloated and dull film version that features Fred Astaire (20 years too old), Cyd Charisse (good dancer but she couldn't sing a note), and brassy Janis Paige (her role was trimmed). There also hired the tired Rouben Mamoulian to direct (his last film). Hermes Pan choreographed the Astaire dance numbers and Eugene Loring choreographed all the others.Based on Greta Garbo's hit 1939 film NINOTCHKA, which boasted "Garbo Laughs!" as its tagline, Charisse can dance, but her acting is only so-so (the accent comes and goes) and she brings none of Garbo's mystique to the role. She also obviously wearing a ton of make-up even when she's playing the dour Russian comrade.Adding the musical subplot only gives an excuse for the songs. The original story of the three Russians seduced by life in Paris remains and is just as dull as in the original film. It's far too long and heavy a subplot in a story about Ninotchka.For a major musical from MGM, the film editing of the dance numbers is atrocious, with cut after cut after cut (not the norm at all for an Astaire musical). The fact that Charisse is obviously NOT singing her own numbers doesn't help much. The visual design of the film is rather muddy and colorless (except for Janis Paige's outfits) and is filmed in Cinemascope for no reason at all.Paige is about the only real bright spot in the film, but for some reason is playing a "swimming movie star" obviously patterned on MGM's own Esther Williams. Was this is the Broadway musical? Why? It adds nothing to the plot. George Tobias recreates his Broadway role of Markovitch, but it could have been played by anyone.Peter Lorre is interesting as one of the escapees from Russia but doesn't do much despite his good billing. Jules Munshin mugs his way through his role. Several other characters are played by unknown actors.For a Broadway musical with songs by Cole Porter, this is a real disappointment with only one hit song, "All of You." The rest is totally unmemorable. Although some of the dialog lines have been updated to reflect the 1950s Cold War between the US and USSR, the only picture of a Russian leader is that of Lenin, who died in 1924. The finale also includes a "salute" to Rock and Roll (a huge misstep) only to give Astaire another number.The film was a big flop. It cost $2.5M and lost about $1.5M, closing out Charisse's career at MGM. Astaire basically retired from musicals after this one and concentrated on character parts.

I'd like to start off saying something unexpected. I was struck how much the basic plot resembles that of the previous musical "Belle of New York", also starring Fred, with another famous dancer: Vera Ellen, in Cyd's role. They both involve Fred taking on the challenge(why?) of trying to break through the thick ice of a beautiful, but emotionally repressed, young woman, who is always seen wearing a drab uniform. True , Cyd's character (Ninotchka) was a much harder case to crack, but eventually, Fred succeeded in both cases. In consequence, the singing(dubbed) and dancing of Vera-Ellen and Cyd is delayed compared to Fred's, and it takes time for their characters to fully warm up to Fred's lifestyle, including exuberant dancing. They both get a dance without Fred, in their bedrooms, when they first change from their drab uniforms into some sexy female clothing(including silk stockings). In both films, it looks like they will soon marry Fred at one point. But the woman then becomes disenchanted by something, and partially reverts to her old self until the finale, when their imminent marriage is again hinted. While the earlier film was set in turn of the century NYC, this film is set in contemporary Paris and sometimes Moscow. However, the combination of Fred and Janet Blair impart a significant American flavor to the film. Thus, two musical numbers lampoon the recent pop phenomenon of rock and roll, or several film enhancement technologies commonly adopted in recent times to try to lure potential customers away from their small- screen B&W monaural TVs, back into movie theaters. The present film is much longer than the earlier film, with a more interesting and complicated plot and more significant characters. However, we are stuck through most of it, even to the end, with Cyd's unpleasant arrogant robotic monotone Soviet persona, occasionally replaced by Janet Blair's blasé personality or snippets of Cyd's westernized personality. I would rate the songs in the earlier film as being, on the whole, better, while the dancing is more stimulating in this film. Cyd's solo dancing, in the several opportunities she is given, is especially interesting. There are an endless number of jabs at the stereotypical repressed lives of Soviets, half-truth Soviet propaganda about capitalism, and paranoia, to counter Ninotchka's constant criticisms of 'decadent' capitalism, as she saw it or had been indoctrinated to expect. At one point, Ninotchka, composer Boroff, and the 3 stooge-like commisars sent to bring him back from Paris, have returned to Moscow, reminisce about how they miss their brief stay in Paris, then stage an exuberant dance to music recently composed by Boroff, while singing that they have the "Red Blues": a nifty title. Comically, during this dance, a Soviet bureaucrat walks through the room twice, inducing all to revert to pretending they are discussing the virtues of communism over capitalism. Since Fred can't get a visa to visit Russia, he thinks up a trick to induce the turn of all to Paris...The overall theme of the film clearly is that the Soviet attempt to remake human nature to be interested only in basic survival mode and to only serve the interests of the state is flawed and will ultimately be rejected by real people.In the later part of the film, Ninotchka seemingly develops a split personality, occasionally succumbing to Fred's attempt to westernize her thinking and behavior and seduce her, but then reverting to her monotone Soviet personality. Seems like she mostly lets down her guard after she's had some Champagne. In the finale, she tears up her second plane ticket back to Moscow, after learning that Fred still wants to marry her, thereby presumably proving that even the seemingly most loyal adherents to the Soviet state, given the chance, will choose to live in a western country.The 3 clownish commisars sent to bring back the reluctant -to-leave-Paris composer Boroff rather remind me of the 3 sailors on leave in "On the Town". Jules Munshin served as one of the 3 in both groups, being much taller than any of the others. The choice of Peter Lorre and Joseph Buloff as the other two seems odd, as neither was musical and the singing of both was dubbed. Would have been interesting to have the Marx Brothers or 3 Stooges at their height in their places. But would have been considered overkill, I'm sure.I wonder why the screenwriters decided to subtly deride Esther William's acting ability in clearly casting Janis Paige in her likeness, with the implication that it was doubtful if she could carry a film that lacked her swimming ballets. Interestingly, Esther's long contract with MGM had rather recently been terminated. Seldom used Rouben Mamoulian, as director, was a controversial choice. His last film musical('48) was an expensive box office flop for MGM. However, he had directed some prior successful films , as well as the stage versions of "Oklahoma" and "Carousel". More significantly, he spent his youth in Georgia, where Stalin had also spent his youth. Thus, it was felt he could help provide a more authentic presentation of the Soviets.The non-musical "The Iron Petticoat" and "Jet Pilot", with similar themes of defecting Soviet women, were released about the same time, but were box-office flops, compared to the moderate success of this film.

There is a good reason so to why this is still well-remembered. I love this movie because Julie Newmar is in it. Isn't she beautiful? Classy, elegant, and smart!Actress Julie Newmar wasn't just a pretty face, she holds some patents for shaping pantyhose! This movie launched her career. What a success! It makes me nostalgic to watch this in a way because those women look so real. They don't pretend and they are not stick thin like these days. Their smiles are real.Jessica (blogger)Fantasy Stockings Blog www.fantasystockings.com

After an adaption to Broadway as the final stage musical of Cole Porter's career, Ernest Lubitsch's acclaimed film Ninotchka, now Silk Stockings is getting its film treatment. Silk Stockings ran for 478 performances on Broadway in the 1955-1956 season and starred Don Ameche and Hildegarde Neff in the roles originally played by Melvyn Douglas and Greta Garbo.For reasons I don't understand Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder's names are not given credit here. I distinctly heard a lot of lines from the original Ninotchka that came from them. I also heard some of the acid barbs of George S. Kaufman who worked with Abe Burrows on the book for Silk Stockings.Most of Cole Porter's score makes it intact to the screen, but since the male and female leads were now dancers, Porter wrote Fated To Be Mated and The Ritz Roll and Rock for Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. The latter is one of my favorite Astaire numbers from his film. Porter who was no mean satirist himself was having a bit of fun at the new trend in music called Rock and Roll in a spoof of Rock Around the Clock.The plot from the original Ninotchka was changed and updated from the time of the pre-World War II Soviet Union of Stalin to the Cold War. Commissar Ninotchka is no longer concerned with selling jewels of the former nobility, she's negotiating with an American producer who wants a famous Russian composer to score his film adaption of War and Peace. Curiously enough War and Peace did make it to the screen the previous year.Astaire as the producer also has a sexy, but very tough minded star in Janis Paige to contend with. Janis has her moments on screen with the song Josephine and singing and dancing with Astaire in Stereophonic Sound. The big hit song from the score, All of You is sung and danced elegantly by Fred and Cyd. As usual Cyd's vocals were dubbed in this case by Carole Richards who used to be a regular for a while on Bing Crosby's radio show.Peter Lorre, Jules Munshin, and Alexander Granach are the three commissars who Ninotchka has to bail out as in the original film. Granach repeats his role from Ninotchka. But George Tobias sets a record as the only player to appear in both film and the Broadway version. In the original Ninotchka he was the Soviet Embassy Official who balks at granting Melvyn Douglas a visa. On stage and on screen he plays the boss of Garbo/Neff/Charisse, a part that was done in the original Ninotchka by Bela Lugosi.The comedy is a lot more broad than in the Lubitsch film, but with that Cole Porter music and the charm and dancing of Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, Silk Stockings is a film you should not miss.