1h 52min | Comedy, Romance, Musical | 21 February 1956 | Color, WS
Director: Roy Rowland
Stars: Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Agnes Moorehead, Paul Henreid.
Hermes Pan ... choreographer
Rehearsal & Sleeping Beauty Ballets Choreographed by Eugene Loring
Bootleg, horrible blurry copy with letterboxing all 4 sides.
Rated 7 on 2014-01-01. No idea why I would have thought so highly of this back then, especially if I watched this copy (and I wasn't searching for video on the internet then). Today I feel like this only gets high marks for the dance numbers, most of which tell a story, but is just a stage production/rehearsal, since CC plays a ballerina about to perform at a Vegas nightclub.
Cute having AM as DD's mother, but she's not onscreen long. DD dances with a young girl who's auditioning. He also dances with CC at his ranch with a big ensemble. Soundtracks lists 5 numbers danced by CC.
The Vegas venue provides ample excuse for lots of cameos. And they are each very brief. Interesting that Mike Todd was supposed to have "invented" the cameo with Around the World in 80 Days, but that isn't released for another 7 months.
Cara Williams sings a song against rock & roll. Lena Horne has a specialty, as do Frankie Laine and Jerry Colonna. Henry Slate and his 2 brothers are listed in the cast, with character name The Slate Brothers, but I don't remember a trio of any sort, and they're not listed in the Soundtracks. George Chakiris is here, but strictly in a small acting role, although he appears at least 3 times; felt like he's being groomed for bigger things.
The plot about luck, gambling and choices is ok. The real reason to watch this is for the dancing.
MGM, dir. Rowland; 7
