Starring Cyd Charisse, Dan Dailey, Agnes Moorehead, and Jim Backus
Directed by Roy Rowland
Music by Nicholas Brodszky; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
In the post-war years, Las Vegas became a mecca for entertainers, gamblers, and anyone looking to have a classy good time. Everyone who was anyone played snazzy night clubs like the Copa Room and the Arabian Room, dancing the night away as top headliners performed with electric lights blinking on slightly startled gamblers from the casino floors. They had class, style, and a real sense of elegance, even with unsavory gangland folks often pouring money into them. That classier side of mid-century Vegas is reflected in this fluffy showcase for dancers Charisse and Dailey. How does this look at Vegas at the height of its "Rat Pack" era look now? Let's head to the Sands Hotel, just as down-on-his-luck rancher Chuck Rodwell (Daily) arrives, and find out...
The Story: Chuck's superstitious as well as broke. He grabs what he thinks is a random lady's hand to give him confidence while playing roulette...and he wins. And wins again when he holds it again. The lady in question, ballerina Maria Corvier (Charisse), isn't amused at first...at least until they keep winning. Now everyone in Vegas wants in on their good fortune, including Chuck's old flame Kelly Donovan (Cara Williams) and Sands promoter Tom Culdane (Backus). The two find themselves falling in love for real, at least until Maria's manager (Paul Henried) appears on the scene.
The Song and Dance: That and some nice shots of Vegas in its "ring-a-ding-ding" prime are the chief interests here. Charisse may not be much of an actor, but she looks great in the lean slit-skirt dresses she wears and has some really lovely (and occasionally rather strange) ballet numbers. Dailey's having even more fun as the down home rancher who can't believe he had the luck to find such a dish. Look for cameos from Jerry Colona, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, Frankie Lane, Debbie Reynolds & Eddie Fisher, Peter Lorre, and Vic Damone.
Favorite Number: The Four Aces open the movie singing the title song superimposed behind ace cards. Jerry Colonna performs "My Lucky Charm" with a bevy of chorus girls dressed as good luck charms...which a drunk Charisse proceeds to invade with her own version of their slinky moves. Dailey joins adorable Japanese girl Mitsuko Sawmura for a more charming soft-shoe version of "Lucky Charm." Cara Williams stubbornly claims "I Refuse to Rock and Roll" as she wriggles to hot jazz in another nightclub number. Frankie Laine headlines a more original one, as "Hell Hath No Fury" like four ballerinas in devil scarlet dancing stylized anger behind him. Horne makes her final appearance in an MGM musical with the lovely ballad "If You Can Dream." Charisse joins Dailey and the boys on the ranch for the psuedo-country ballad "The Girl In the Yaller Shoes" as they toss her and her Victorian-by-way-of-50's style petticoats all over the veranda.
Charisse appears in three ballets, two of which are among the most unusual to ever grace the silver screen. We first meet her at "The Rehearsal Ballet," as Maria and the troupe practice for their show, with Maria standing out in a sizzling red leotard and major pirouettes. About mid-way through, we get a modernized "The Sleeping Beauty Ballet" that somehow manages to have Maria's Sleeping Beauty fall under the spell of a mis-thrown volley ball in the middle of a choreographed volleyball game. The last is a re-written "Frankie and Johnny," with Sammy Davis Jr. performing the traditional song of a woman scorned and how she gets revenge on her unfaithful lover.
What I Don't Like: There's not much to this one besides the numbers. The story's some of the silliest fluff ever concocted for a major musical, and the songs don't really have much to do with it. This is another one that feels like MGM randomly grabbed anyone hanging around the lot who could be transported to Vegas (or already headlined there) and stuffed them in wherever they did (or didn't) fit. It doesn't help that neither Henried as Maria's calculating manager nor Williams as Chuck's blousy ex-girlfriend are threatening enough to make you believe they could break up these lucky lovers.
Dailey is an excellent dancer in his own right. I really wish he'd been given more dance numbers than his one (admittedly cute) number with sweet little Mitsuko and his part in "Girl In the Yaller Shoes."
The Big Finale: Worth checking out at least once if you love the MGM musicals of the 50's, Charisse, Dailey, or want a glimpse of Vegas when it was the height of all things cool.
Home Media: Can be found in a remastered DVD from the Warner Archives and on streaming.
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