Starring Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Janis Paige, and Peter Lorre
Directed by Rouben Mamoulien
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
This one has a lot in common with The Band Wagon, starting with the Broadway pedigree. We also have Cyd Charisse as the chilly avatar of the world of high morals as opposed to Astaire's "common" ones and a comedienne better known for her stage work as the second lead. Unlike Band Wagon, however, this is a fairly faithful transfer of the stage show, which had only been on Broadway two years before.
This is a different story in other ways, too. Silk Stockings is based on the 1939 film Ninotchka, about a devoted Russian operative sent to Paris to retrieve three rogue Russians who falls for a Western man..and western Capitalism. How does this story work 20 years later during the Cold War, when relations between Russia and the US were very different? Let's begin in Paris with a concert by Russian pianist Peter Illyich Boroff (Wim Sonneveld) and find out...
The Story: Movie producer and performer Steve Canfield (Astaire) wants Boroff to write the music for his next movie. Swimming star Peggy Dayton (Paige) is looking to get out of the water and into something darker and more dramatic, and he thinks his compositions would be perfect. Russian officials send Comrades Brankov (Lorre), Bibinkski (Jules Munshin), and Ivanov (Joseph Buloff) to retrieve him. Steve is easily able to ply them with wine, women, and song. They not only let Boroff stay, they end up staying on as well.
Enter Nina "Ninotchka" Yoscheka (Charisse), the most devoted operative in Russia. She's not nearly as impressed by Paris and its decadent ways at first. Steve finally manages to charm her, and even gets her into an evening gown. She and the men are less thrilled when they realize Peggy, despite what she claims, has no desire to do a musical drama. After she turns Boroff's music into showtunes, they return to Russia. Steve realizes how crazy he is about Nina, but he can't get into Russia. It'll take a little conniving from their three Russian friends to bring these two lovers from very different cultures and political ideologies together.
The Song and Dance: This one is all about Astaire, Charisse, and the dancing. Charisse does better than you might think as the frigid comrade who thaws out in the City of Lights, and Astaire is delightfully charming alongside her. Munshin, Buloff, and especially Lorre steal the show as the three bumbling commissars who are easily swayed by the enchantments of Paris. The story that compares the decadence of Paris to rigid Russia is also fairly interesting, and those satin and silk gowns that finally win Nina over are gorgeous.
Favorite Number: Our first proper number opens with the Russian commissars deciding that it's "Too Bad We Can't Go Back to Moscow." Or it would be, if they didn't enjoy dancing and drinking with the ladies so much. Steve tries to explain to Nina at her hotel room that "Paris Loves Lovers," but Nina only loves the working man. Janice and Steve claim to the press that the modern movie must have widescreen and "Stereophonic Sound" to really make a splash.
The big one here is Porter's last great ballad, "All of You." Here, the sinuous, sensual ballad becomes a duet for Astaire and Charisse as they swirl around her room and we finally start to see cracks in her armor. Nina disagrees. "It's a Chemical Reaction, That's All" she claims. Janice thinks all a girl needs for love is a little "Satin and Silk." Nina wonders if she's right as she dresses for the evening in Charisse's big solo. She rejoins Astaire for their second, more lively duet at the movie studio, "Fated to Be Mated."
"Josephine" is the jazzy number for the ill-fated musical War & Peace that turns the story of Napoleon's wife into a chorus routine. The Russians long for "Siberia," but when they get there, Boroff shows off his new composition, "The Red Blues." Charisse joins the chorus for a joyful mix of Russian and western dance styles. Porter wrote "The Ritz Roll and Rock," a spoof of the then-new rock scene, for Astaire as his big solo. He joins a group of hoity-toity society types in his usual tux and top hat in a salute to that bright, jangly new sound.
Trivia: Silk Stockings ran through a heavily troubled tryout period that saw the book totally re-written and many songs discarded. Don Ameche and German actress Hildegarde Kneff played Steve and Nina on Broadway. It was a hit, running for almost two years, but has seldom been seen since then outside of the occasional concert.
This is the last musical Cole Porter wrote for the stage, and the second-to-last for film.
What I Don't Like: Let's discuss that story. It just hasn't dated well, which is probably the reason this is seldom revived. Russia's changed a lot since 1957, and so has its relationship with France and the US. Other than the standard "All of You," the score isn't Porter's best, either. I do wish they hadn't dropped the other show's other hit song, the gorgeous "As On Through the Seasons We Sail." All the re-writing mainly shows in Paige's character. She claims to the press early-on that she wants to get out of swimming musicals...and then she wants to turn the War & Peace musical into a comedy? And Peggy vanishes completely once they return to Russia. Neither she nor the film are mentioned again.
The Big Finale: Recommended mainly for fans of Porter, the two leads, or the splashy MGM musicals of the 1940's and 50's.
Home Media: Easily found in all formats. Discs are available via the Warner Archives.
