Silk Stockings (1957)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Rouben Mamoulian

Writers:

Melchior Lengyel (book)
George S. Kaufman (play) ...

Release Date:

18 July 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

BIG BOUNCY BEAUTIFUL! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

A musical remake of Ninotchka: After three bumbling Soviet agents fail in their mission to retrieve a straying Soviet composer from Paris...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Dance | Cheesecake | Cinemascope | Dancer

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Fred Astaire	...	Steve Canfield
Cyd Charisse	...	Ninotchka Yoschenko
Janis Paige	...	Peggy Dayton
Peter Lorre	...	Brankov, Commisar
George Tobias	...	Vassili Markovitch, Commisar of Art
Jules Munshin	...	Bibinski, Commisar
Joseph Buloff	...	Ivanov, Commisar
Wim Sonneveld	...	Peter Ilyitch Boroff

Also Known As:

Meias de Seda (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Seidenstrümpfe (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Ena zeygari metaksotes kaltses (Greece) [el]
Jedwabne ponczochy (Poland) [pl]
La bella de Moscú (Spain) [es]
La bella di Mosca (Italy) [it]
La belle de Moscou (France) [fr]
Silkesstrumpan (Sweden) [sv]
Silkestrømper (Denmark) [da]
Silkkisukat (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:U | South Korea:12 | Finland:S | Australia:G

Company:

Arthur Freed Production

Trivia:

The original Broadway production of "Silk Stockings" opened on February 24, 1955 at the Imperial Theater and ran for 478 performances. The original story is from the Greta Garbo film Ninotchka (1939). George Tobias recreated his stage role in the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: It becomes fairly obvious during the "Fated to be Mated" duet between Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse that Charisse is wearing a skirt one moment and culottes (or flared shorts) the next. The bottom half of her costume changes on each cut of the dance when they are doing deep knee bends, and this is where the culottes show. For the upright spins and lifts, the skirt shows. The dance was obviously performed twice and edited into one sequence.

Quotes:

Steve Canfield: So you may have to persuade him
Peggy Dainton: How can I persuade him if you can't?
Steve Canfield: Because...
[looking at her figure]
Steve Canfield: We're built differently.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Stocking Stuffers (2001)

Soundtrack:

Red Blues

Good MGM musical from Cole Porter's broadway show

The usual lavish MGM treatment is given to Cole Porter's version of the cold war farce "Ninotchka", producing a film more entertaining than Billy Wilder's original. The music is good, particularly the ballads, though some of the more upbeat songs definately suffer from a lack of originality. Lorre and company are engaging as the Soviets sent to bring back Russia's famous composer. Charisse is the "special envoy" -- she does a fine job, showing herself as one of Astaire's most talented co-stars. Astaire is doing a good job as usual. Nice direction by somebody besides Minnelli in the Freed camp for a change.