Customer Reviews

Party Girl [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
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At a party for gangster Rico Angelo (Lee J. Cobb), Vicki Gaye (Cyd Charisse), a showgirl, meets Thomas Farrell (Robert Taylor), Rico's lawyer. Although they get a rocky beginning, over time they fall in love. Farrell doesn't enjoy being a lawyer for a ruthless mobster, but when he tries to quit in order to live a happy, peaceful life with Vicki, Rico threatens to cripple him permanently and ruin Vicki's face with acid. Needless to say, Farrell decides to remain Rico's lawyer, even after Rico starts a bloody war with mobster Cookie La Motte (Corey Allen).

Because of the frequent bloodshed the police go after everyone in Rico's organization, and they arrest both Farrell and Vicki as witnesses. The police get no where after questioning Farrell repeatedly, so they get Vicki to convince him that helping them is the right thing to do. As time passes by, Farrell realizes that Rico has no intentions of bailing him out of jail. After finally telling the cops everything he knows, Farrell doesn't have to wait long before Rico's goons grab him off the street for a meeting with the boss. Both Farrell and Vicki are held prisoner by Rico and his mob, and it's up to Farrell to stall the hoodlums long enough for the police to show up and save the day. But stalling these psychotic killers proves to be difficult, and before long there's more blood being spilt.

1958's "Party Girl" is a very entertaining gangster movie directed by a man who was no stranger to crime films: Nicholas Ray. Robert Taylor and Cyd Charisse were great together, while Lee J. Cobb played the villian to perfection as usual. In great support was John Ireland as Rico's right-hand man, Louis Canetto. Usually not included when discussing Nicholas Ray's best films, "Party Girl" is nevertheless an underated crime drama, with a rich 1930's gangland Chicago atmosphere and exceptional performances. Plus, the showgirls look great.

The core of this 1958 movie is the relationship between a showgirl of somewhat loose morals and a sleazy but brilliant Mob attorney. The attraction is there from the beginning, but they shy away from each other until each demonstrates that he/she retains a modicum of integrity-she by returning the $400 "gift" she was given to be "nice" at a party, and he by refusing to dine with his gangster client. Over the rest of the film, their relationship develops against a background of 1930s Mob violence. She wants him to stop working for the Mob, but he knows too much and doesn't think he has any other professional options because of his tattered reputation. Crippled in a childhood accident, he leaves for Sweden to undergo a series of surgeries to cure the limp. This long, painful process marks a turning point symbolically in his moral transformation. When he returns, he's reluctantly drawn back into legal work for the Mob. If he doesn't, the boss will have his girl's face disfigured with acid. Arrested after a Mob blood bath, he continues to maintain his silence, again to protect his girl. Everything works out in the end, but not without a few suspenseful scenes.

"Party Girl's" plot is nothing special and is even a bit hackneyed at time. The power of love as redemptive is an old standard, but the movie is well done. The colors are rich and production values are high. The sexual aspects of the story are relatively frank considering the mores of the time. Cyd Charisse's dancing, for example, was steamy for the period. Lee J. Cobb and Robert Taylor as mob boss and lawyer respectively, turn in strong performances. There are a few scenes that edge on being over the top, but mostly they don't go beyond the sometimes overstated style of the 1950's. Cliched though it may be at times, "Party Girl" remains a decent movie for popcorn-eating afternoons.

***** 1958. Directed by Nicholas Ray. Chicago in the early 30's. A dancer, Cyd Charisse, falls in love with Robert Taylor, the lawyer of the local mob. She persuades him to start a new life. Last masterpiece of Nicholas Ray who pays tribute to all precedent gangsters movies. The dance acts of Cyd Charisse are sublime and Robert Taylor's performance beyond comparison. PARTY GIRL is a film that should be in every movie lover's library. If you own a multi-zone DVD player, you have now the opportunity to buy a zone 2 DVD of PARTY GIRL at Amazon.fr. No bonus features but a superb copy. Indispensable.

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 misshapened body, Taylor's character is understandably reluctant to get involved again. However, soon the pair are in love and Taylor has 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.

Although not specifically restored for this release, this DVD-R is in very good shape in both the audio and video departments. Highly recommended.

Great Nicholas Ray flick starring Cyd Charisse, Robert Taylor and Lee J. Cobb. Taylor plays a big shot lawyer working for gangster Cobb, but he despises him. Taylor falls in love with Charisse only to have Cobb use her to get him not to turn states evidence. Sometimes campy, but very entertaining film.

Party Girl est l'un des meilleurs rôles de Robert Taylor! où il y interprète un avocat véreux, plein d'intelligence, de sensibilité avec une séduction extraordinaire...L'histoire en elle-même, est une histoire humaine, qui parle du bien , du mal, de l'amour trahi, de l'amitié des gang's issus de la misère et de l'AMOUR VRAI, pour lequel les deux protagonistes n'hésitent pas à se remettrent en cause.Taylor y est merveilleux, sensuel à souhait et terriblement authentique!! Cyd Charisse dans ce rôle dramatique, y est également sublime.Ici, en France tous les cinéphiles attendent que Party Girl sorte en DVD.

NB: n'oubliez JAMAIS ROBERT TAYLOR qui fût l'un des monuments du GOLDEN AGE!! SO PUT PARTY GIRL IN DVD THANK's

Nicholas Ray's stylish approach gives this Noir a special treatment. When a crooked and crippled lawyer (Robert Taylor) and his showgirl (The monumental alluring Cyd Charise)decide to break free and rin away from the baad influences of the Chicago mob leadered by Rico(Lee J. Cobb), who will make the best he can to avoid what for him means a disloyal action.

Two towering musicals given by Charise as well as an agile script, have become this movie into the cult movie category which really improves and enhances through the years.

A must-see!

Party Girl is a pretty good picture. Robert Taylor and the supporting cast are all of interest, but without Cyd, I'd not have made the purchase. She worked with me in a play here in Toronto twenty-five years age. A very great lady. A pleasure to know.