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Nice effects though.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A different way of telling a story

The first must-see film of the year.

Director Nicholas Ray made, Arguably, His Best Films in the 1948-54 Period. After that, it is a Spotty Output. This MGM, Clueless Picture is Punctuated with a Few Inspired Scenes and Performances.But the Goofy Presentation of Gangsters in the Early Thirties is so Out of Time/Space that the Movie is Failed from Frame One. As far as Labeling this a Film-Noir, well Good Luck with that because only in the Broadest of Definitions could or would this land in the Genre without Strong Disapproval.It's Deep Color and Cinema-Scope, Stagy and Brightly Lit Scenes, Broad Characterizations (why did Ray allow Cobb to Scream his lines half the time), all Presented with that MGM Musical Sheen are some of the Things that Push this Away from the Center of Noir and land it in the Periphery.Robert Taylor Scowls and is Determined to be taken Seriously as a Dramatic Actor, more of a Movie Star for sure, as He reaches Deep for Despair and Nobility. Cyd Charisse lets Her Legs do the Talking most of the Time with Anachronistic Dance Numbers, but does manage to Snap at John Ireland's Lech effectively now and then.Overall, it's a Watchable Misfire because of the Sleek Production but it is Not Great Cinematic Art, it is Commercial Product with an Artificial Soul and an Inauthentic Showpiece with some Scenes that Show the Director's Talent at Work.But most of the Time the Film is Flat, Dull, and Displays its Flaws under Glaring Light and a Vibrant Color Scheme.

Nobody could do musicals as well as MGM. Same with costume dramas and period pieces. But when it came to gangster films and westerns, MGM's obsession with production values and movie stars was no asset. In short, the studio over-produced its entries in these two genres that are spare and gritty by nature. Party Girl is a perfect example. For a gangster film, it's glamorized to a fault, from the candy- box colors to Charisse's elaborate wardrobe to the super clean sets to the parade of beautiful people (especially the chorines). And not even the two veteran heavies, Cobb and Ireland, can compensate. Thus, what should be explosive gangster grit turns instead into squishy studio eye-candy.But then no one can fault Robert Taylor for not trying. He's deadly earnest throughout as the crippled mob lawyer, but it's about as glum a leading-man portrayal as I have seen. Nonetheless, that's okay since we understand why he's so glum, being crippled and indentured to the mob. The trouble is that it puts a boring one-note performance in the movie's center—just count his changes of expression or even a smile. Charisse, of course, is a real treat for the guys, but no actress even though she too strives gamely. At the same time, the usually reliable Lee Cobb mails in one of his patented loud-mouth portrayals as the voluble mob boss. Still, I'm with the critic who wanted to see more of Corey Allen (Cookie) whose edgy hoodlum provides what the movie needs.Then too, I see nothing of the great director Nick Ray in the results, except maybe for one scene. That's where Angelo (Cobb) presents an award in highly unusual fashion before a banquet assemblage, a noisy El-train in the background indicating the trouble ahead. Then the violence comes like a bolt of lightning, a real stunner almost worth the whole movie. Otherwise, it looks to me like Ray was hemmed in by casting and scripting, and took the unfinished project (Bob Wise started it) as a payday.However that may be, MGM could have wisely gone the Funny Girl (1968) route and done a musical with underworld overtones instead of vice-versa. After all, musicals were the studio's specialty. Because, for all the talent involved, the Party Girl mix just doesn't gel.

The last film noir I saw was "Party Girl" (1958), directed by Nicholas Ray and stars Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse and Lee J. Cobb.The screenplay (by George Wells) is hardly anything unusual: Lawyer Thomas Farrell (Taylor) has made a career of defending gangsters and crooks in trials. But when he meets showgirl Vicki Gaye (Charisse) at a mob party held by racketeer Rico Angelo (Cobb) that he starts to come out of his shell. Farrell tries to quit, but Rico, whose partner is going to be indicted and needs Farrell more than ever, threatens to hurt Gaye badly if he quits.The rather passé script, however, is enlivened to tremendous effect, not just by Jeff Alexander's lush, Jazzy score, and Robert J. Bronner's vibrant cinematography, but cult director Nicholas Ray brings a measured grace to the proceedings that really lifts the motion picture out of the ordinary. Robert Taylor is very good as the lawyer but Lee J. Cob, as a Capone like mobster chews up every scene he's in with vigour. Although Chaisse hasn't much to do and John Ireland is slightly two dimensional, this is a classy, exciting film noir deserves to be ranked among Ray's best.

This movie makes more sense if you watch the documentary MGM: When the Lion Roars, about the history of MGM. According to the documentary, 1936-1946 was MGM's Golden Era. However, after the war, tastes in film changed, but MGM refused to change with the times or the tastes of post-war America. By the 1950's MGM was a Lion in Winter. Thus this rather split personality film begins to make sense from the context of its manufacturer. It can't decide what kind of film it wants to be, going back and forth between the big musical spectacles that MGM was famous for since the dawn of sound, to hard-hitting gangster characters and antics in the Warner Brothers tradition, to social commentary on the plight of the disabled in modern times and a beauty and the beast romance. If you know the chaos into which MGM is plunged by 1958, this enables you just to sit back and enjoy the film, which does have a great deal to offer.The movie is badly mislabeled, since it really is not that centered on party girls at all. Instead it is basically a prohibition era romance between a beautiful showgirl played by Cyd Charisse and a lame mob lawyer played by Robert Taylor. Already dumped by one glamor girl who just wanted his money but was repulsed by his misshaped body, Taylor's character is understandably reluctant to get involved again. However, soon the pair are in love and Taylor's character gains the confidence to want to stop being the mob's mouthpiece. However, leaving the mob is not such a quick and clean business, whether you are an attorney or just a muscle man.Taylor gives a very good performance in this one, and Lee J. Cobb's performance as a mobster looks like it was the inspiration for Robert De Niro's portrayal of Al Capone in 1987's The Untouchables, in at least one scene anyways. This one is definitely worth your time if it comes your way.