Party Girl - Das Mädchen aus der Unterwelt

Interesting movie. Very interesting, though the title is inexcuseably misleading. Nicholas Ray directs and, not surprisingly, makes novel use of shadows, bold colors and wild camera angles. There is a bravura montage of an explosion of mob violence which is sudden and startling. Ray, best known as the director of "Rebel Without a Cause", takes a smart, tough script and; unlike many crime movies which contain similar ingredients but fail to resonate, gives the movie a soul. There's something about its tone and feel, some simmering menace and creeping regret that reminds one of another mob movie which would be released 15 years later: "The Godfather". And as in that classic, the Lawyer/Mob Boss relationship is complex and fascinating.

While much of the credit deservedly goes to Ray's maverick methods and genius, the cast is also very good. Robert Taylor never developed the kind of easily identifiable screen persona of a Bogart or Jimmy Stewart, but he was a sturdy leading man who usually served the material and could be depended upon to anchor a film. He pours his heart into this part, his last as an MGM contract player. Cyd Charisse was never known as a great actress but she is capable in her role as a feisty Show Girl, and she gets a good opportunity to show off perhaps the most eye-popping, perfectly sculpted figure in the history of motion pictures. And of course, nobody was better at playing hot-tempered thugs than the great Lee J. Cobb.

Turner Classic Movies is such a goldmine. It's so satisfying to see movies, such as this one, that know how to introduce plot points and convincingly tie them up and bring things full circle. "Party Girl" may not be quite a great film, but it is very, very good.

Crippled Lawyer Thomas Farrell (Robert Taylor) has made a career defending crooks in trials, so much so he's now the front line defender for the Chicago mob. But into his life comes dancer Vicki Gayle (Cyd Charisse), who as he starts to fall in love with her, makes him see that his life is worth so much more than that. However, mob king Rico Angelo (Lee J. Cobb) is keen to retain Farrell's services, at any price it seems.

There's no getting away from it, Party Girl (a euphemism for a prostitute) features a very standard formulaic plot. It's also a very misleading title in that it doesn't scream out this is a crime picture. Directed by Nicholas Ray for MGM (his last for one of the big hitting studios), it's adapted by George Wells from a story by Leo Katcher. Supporting the three principal actors are John Ireland & Kent Smith. Robert J. Bronner (Jailhouse Rock) provides photography and the film is a CinemaScope/Metrocolor production.

Set as it is in prohibition Chicago, it allows Ray to rise above the simple formula and blend his knack for visual touches with interesting characterisations. If we really are going to cement this in the film noir genre? Then it's more down to the director than anything in the story. Yes there's themes such as alienation, vulnerability and the core essence potential for tragi-love-born out of two characters stuck in differing forms of prostitution. But the script is so weak it needed Ray to put an almost surreal sheen over it. There's exotic dancing featuring prominently, some what a given with the weak Charisse starring (in fairness to her it's one hell of a cliché riddled role), but again Ray crafts in such a way it doesn't let the film feel too sprightly. Which is something that this lush production is in danger of being at times. Yet line those dance numbers alongside scenes such as a portrait of Jean Harlow being shot to pieces, or of Charisse being questioned by a policeman's Silhouette - and you get an oddity. And a very enjoyable one at that.

This was Taylor's last contract film for MGM, and fittingly it's one of his very best performances. Again one tends to think this is probably down to Ray's coaxing, but regardless, Taylor plays Farrell with vulnerable elegance and a steely eyed determination that carries Charisse along with him. Thus the romance is believable, and yes, engaging. Cobb does another in his long line of larger than life characters. Chewing the scenery as much as his Rico character chews on his cigars. While Ireland is a by the numbers thug for hire and Kent Smith a talking prop. There's a fleeting performance from Corey Allen as baby faced psychopath Cookie La Motte, a character that the film could have definitely done with more of. Here's the main problem with Party Girl, it's just not edgy or dangerous enough. Which in a film involving gangsters, murders and crooked court cases, is an issue is it not? But thanks to Ray and Taylor the film overcomes the many flaws to wind up being a very enjoyable crime-love story based picture. Film noir though? Well that's debatable really. But lets not get into that... 7/10

Quite possibly Nicholas Ray's most visually eloquent film, the poorly- named Party Girl focuses not on the Cyd Charisse titular character but her romantic interest, mob lawyer Tom Farrell, played with great intensity and dedication by Robert Taylor.

Charisse is even more luminous than usual thanks in part to the mesmerizing lighting and camera work utilized by Ray in two major dance numbers obviously included to showcase MGM's most talented dancer. However, Ray was also able to elicit a rather touching albeit somewhat unrealistic performance from Charisse in playing a lonely showgirl drawn to Taylor's disfigured lawyer trapped in the world of defending known criminals.

Such a story had been done before many different ways, yet under Ray's direction the film achieves a certain sense of nobility and appreciation. It is not flashy, but not boring either. It is, as much of Ray's work was at the time, workman-like and beautifully crafted. Compared to much of the other features released at the time, Ray's films stand out today as rising above the material he was given to work with.

This is a late 50's gangsters movie in the line of the classical film "noires" of the 40's. The remarkable aspect here is that "Party Girl" is perhaps one of the most colorful movies ever made in the genre and perhaps out of it too. Right from the start and as a background for the titles there's an all color dancing sequence and from them on color is all around including bright red dresses Cyd Charisse wears throughout the entire film.

But beautiful color aside, Nicholas Ray ("King of Kings", "55 Days in Peking") delivers an interesting and entertaining gangsters movie about a crippled "Mafia" lawyer (Robert Taylor) -a sort of predecessor of "The Godfather"'s Tom Hagen- gets involved with a cabaret dancer (Cyd Charisse) and they try to start a new life together far from the man's dangerous clients; but the big man (Lee J. Cobb) is not willing to set Taylor free because he is a genius in his work that can keep him away from the electric chair and also because the lawyer "knows too much".

There's a fine performance by Taylor as the bitter-ed attorney and also by beautiful and "classy" Charisse who also has the chance of exhibiting her undeniable dancing skills (and her famous legs too). Cobb is perfect in a role with no secrets for him pretty much like the one he played before in the classic "On the Waterfront" and a year later in "The Trap". John Ireland and Kent Smith complete the main cast.

Though not perhaps a great film -not much action sequences for the genre- "Party Girl" stands as a good one in its line worth watching no doubt.

"Party Girl" is a rarely seen movie directed by Nicholas Ray. This 1958 picture mixes styles, and at times, it achieves an originality that only a director like Mr. Ray could give any movie he directed. Basically, we are given a situation in which a lawyer who defends the criminal element is caught in the way he must deal with a situation where he has to turn against his loyalty to his mobster employer because, at last, he sees the light and the consequence of his actions.

Robert Taylor plays the lawyer, Tommy Farrell. This was his last film that marks the end of his long and successful association with MGM. Robert Taylor makes an appealing Farrell, and even though one realizes he is defending people that are at the margin of the law, his character shows redeeming qualities that make him merit our sympathy. The actor is perfect in the role.

Cyd Charisse playing a dramatic role is a surprise. In fact, she was always seen in musical roles because of her talent as a dancer. In the film she plays a chorus girl that suddenly is elevated to a starring role in front of her former colleagues because of the influence Tommy Farrell had in those circles. Ms. Charisse holds her own against an accomplished actor like Mr. Taylor. This is one of her best opportunities in the movies.

Lee J. Cobb is seen as the criminal boss Rico, who has a tremendous power over Tommy Farrell. Mr. Cobb shows he could do anything in movies as well as on the stage. John Ireland plays the evil Louis Canetto.

This is a film that fans of the work of Nicholas Ray shouldn't miss.