Meet Me in Las Vegas

Modestly, very modestly, entertaining romance/musical is worth seeing only for Cyd ("Legs for Days") Charisse dancing at her best; and her acting is better than usually.

Plot has rancher Dan Dailey and ballet star Charisse fall for each other in Las Vegas. Charisse shows off her versatility in two dancing ballets, a burlesque bump and grind, an "Oklahoma"-esque cowboy dance, and in a "Frankie and Johnny" number as well-sung by Sammy Davis Jr.

The dance numbers were choreographed by one of Hollywood's all-time best choreographers, Hermes Pan, and they show off Charisse at her leggy best. The burleque number is a hoot and the second ballet is high camp.

Other musical numbers are by Jerry Calonna, Lena Horne and Frankie Lane. Dailey even does a song and dance with Japanese kid singer Mitsuko Sawamura (from "Tea House of the August Moon").

Watch carefully for brief cameos by Frank Sinatra, Pier Angeli, Debbie Reynolds and Peter Lorre (he's a blackjack player saying "Hit me"!). George Chakiris (credited as George Kerris) has a brief role too.

It looks like a lot of mid-50s casinos helped with the filming, so there are no Godfathers behind the scenes. Vegas appears positively plain compared to today's glitz.

If you're into this type of show you'll love it.

One of the great blunders committed by MGM was the fact that Cyd Charisse was never cast opposite her husband Tony Martin. Right around this time musicals were winding down, but Tony and Cyd were just getting started on a joint nightclub act that made them a premier attraction around the country for many years.

Don't get me wrong, Dan Dailey is a fine performer and he did a good job in the male lead role. But I would love to have seen Tony Martin playing the role of the rancher who gets on a hot winning streak at the Las Vegas casinos after he holds Cyd Charisse's hand. Making matters worse is the fact that Tony Martin does do one of the unbilled cameos in this film.

Cyd Charisse has some fine dance numbers, especially the Frankie and Johnny finale where she danced to the famous blues song sung offscreen by Sammy Davis, Jr. Dan Dailey has some good numbers as well, he does a nice soft shoe routine with a young Japanese girl to My Lucky Charm which was earlier sung by Jerry Colonna.

The nice thing about this film is the fact that because of the Las Vegas location you can integrate a whole lot of celebrities doing numbers and not have it mess with the story. Lena Horne, Frankie Laine and Jerry Colonna all do some nice musical numbers. Around the casinos one will spot besides Tony Martin, Debbie Reynolds, Peter Lorre, and the man most identified with the Vegas scene shortly, Frank Sinatra.

Other members of the cast that have good supporting roles are Jim Backus as the casino manager, Agnes Moorehead as Dailey's mother, and Paul Henreid as Charisse's manager. Some of Henreid's performance seems to be modelled on that of Charisse's first husband Nico, according to the stories Charisse told in her joint memoirs with Tony Martin.

Meet Me in Las Vegas is good musical entertainment, but what a blown opportunity not to have had Tony and Cyd as leads in a musical.

If you like musicals, you must see this one. There are a lot of very good songs in this one and enough comedy to make this a feel good type movie. Cyd Charisse is charming as always and she and Dan Dailey do very well together. Anges Moorhead naturally, is a great supporting actress. Since the days of light hearted musicals is over for good for all of us who grew up during that period and time, it's nice to be able to go back to the 40's and 50's to view these wonderful days of MGM musicals. I know this movie is out on VHS, but I am anxiously awaiting the day they decide to release it on DVD. If you have 112 min. to spare I suggest you sit back and enjoy this wonderful old movie..

Okay, so "Singing in the Rain" it's not, it's still better than... okay, I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but it's an enjoyable movie with lots of singing, dancing, pretty colors and fun cameos from a host of stars. AND it has the best version of "Frankie & Johnny" I've ever heard -- courtesy of Sammy Davis Jr.

Cyd Charisse is in the top ten of 'the-most-gorgeous-and-talented-women-to-ever-appear-in-movies'. She is displayed like a flawless multi-carat gemstone in "Meet Me in Las Vegas". In fact, there are so many gorgeous women in this movie my eyes bugged out. Wowie-wow-wOw!

If you don't like musicals, forget this one, it's just a cute diversion. If you DO like musicals, don't miss this one. It's a tad long, but it's still a winner.

No one can dance like Cyd Charise. Her grace is captivating. It's like watching a ballet. Her technique is purely her own style. She was ahead of her time with her routines. I recommend this movie for anyone who enjoys watching colorful costumes and playful, entertaining dancers.