Fred and Cyd were never singers or actors; they should have stuck to what they knew best. . . . Dancing! Cole Porter was not at his peak when he wrote the score for this amateurish box office failure. And those accents!

For those like me who are exploring the world of old movies for the first time, there is an excellent list at the NY Times website called “The 1000 best films ever made. ” This is one of those films, and I’m enjoying following their recommendations as opposed to just clicking on TCM or AMC and seeing whatever’s on.

But that doesn’t mean I always agree with those recommendations. I’m not particularly a fan of this genre, so it takes something really special to appeal to me. If this describes you too, skip “Silk Stockings” and go directly to Fred & Ginger’s earlier films “Top Hat” and “Swing Time. ” Although this film with Fred & Cyd Charisse has its moments (Janis Paige gets some laughs, Charisse has a terrific solo dance number where her dour Communist character finally gets into those silk stockings, and this is the only place you’ll ever see Peter Lorre sing and dance), ultimately it just drags. One could never say that about the above-mentioned Fred & Ginger classics.

Even the score by the legendary Cole Porter has zero memorable tunes. . .

Again, unless this type of film is your cup of tea, in which case it’ll appeal to you. As for me, by the final half-hour I was continually amazed the film wasn’t over yet, as another scene and then yet another scene started up while I was hoping for “The End. ” And it’s actually surprising to me to find that this film is considered a comedy; other than Paige, I got zero laughs out of it. And Astaire, now middle-aged in 1957, is a shadow of his former self. Ultimately I just shut it off before the ending because I was falling asleep, so even though the film has its moments I give it only one star. A sleeping pill deserves no more.

Dear Sirs,

I regret to inform you that for the 2nd time I have purchased a used item in lieu of the new copy I requested (the first was Can’t stop the music, bought thriugh my friend Giorgio Villari).

In particular, after 10 minutes it is impossible to watch the movie because there are a lot of interruptions in audio video parts. In addition, I can hear a lot of noise which fully covers the dialogues and music.

I expected a new DVD, not a used one in very bad conditions.

Regards

Carlo Enrico Settembre

This is a fun musical though not among the top-rank. Of course, anything Fred Astaire was in can’t be all bad and there are some very good numbers. Cyd Charisse just isn’t that interesting except in the “Silk Stockings” number when she really comes alive.

There’s also some parts that are dated though Janis Paige is very funny as a “swimming” star in the Esther Williams mode. If you ‘re not too picky, this is fun.

Cyd Charisse, along with Vera-Ellen and Ann Miller, was one of the premier dancing stars of the 1940’s and 1950’s. . .

Known for her cool sex appeal, Cyd Charisse has a beautiful face, a perfect figure, and a thrilling musicality. . . She is the American cinema’s lyrical dancing beauty with a lovely flow of movements and crystalline footwork, a bonus to any film, a compliment of any arm, a true gem. . .

The sensitivity and eloquence of character she projects as a dancer found great echo in her roles as an acclaimed ballerina capable of expressing herself to the entire audience with a flick of the wrist, tapering her high extensions into a musical phrase like a painter controlling a fine sable brush. . .

When she danced ‘La Bamba’ and ‘Flaming Flamenco’ with Ricardo Montalban in Richard Thorpe’s “Fiesta,” she excelled in technical dynamics. . .

But in ‘Broadway Rhythm Ballet,’ number from “Singin’ in the Rain,” Stanley Donen’s camera followed the leg up to the figure of a seductive Dancer, a gangster’s moll: Charisse was beautiful, bewitching exotic nightclub performer and city vamp, teasing Gene Kelly by balancing his straw hat on the end of her foot, and leaving us all breathless. . .

In ‘Silk Stockings’ she is a humorless, unromantic and cold, a seriously-austere Russian envoy who is sent from Moscow to check three Russian emissaries who, in turn, have orders to bring back with them a Soviet composer about to lend his talents to an American movie producer. . .

A ‘beautiful dynamite,’ Charisse warms to the appeal of romance, and Fred Astaire, to luxury, jazz, and French champagne. . .

The chemistry was there when they danced the ‘Paris Loves Lovers,’ number in which the suave Astaire awakens her interest in life and the City of lights, but in the title song where she throws off her cold uniform for her first fine pair of silk stockings and laces, Charisse, (the very serious and dedicated Ninotchka), turns into an explosion of talent and glamor, with the qualities of a scintillating star, radiantly charming and sweet, filling the screen with bravura, energy and spark. . .

Peter Lorre, Jules Munshin and Joseph Buloff are the three Kremlin agents, the trio of ‘clowns’ who become fond of freedom and the pleasures of Paris. . .

Janis Paige is delightfully amusing as the temperamental movie star for whom producer Astaire was preparing a musical about Napoleon and Josephine. . .

‘Silk Stockings’ has definite virtues, the foremost being Fred Astaire. . .

Although worried about being ageless for the role, Astaire sings ‘All of You’ to Charisse with all of his old ardent feelings, dances beautifully with her in a deserted movie studio to ‘Fated to Be Mated,’ and joins Janis Paige, playing ‘America’s Swimming Sweetheart,’ in Cole Porter’s delicious ‘Stereophonic Sound. ‘ His solo to ‘The Ritz Roll ‘n’ Rock,’ in which he wears his trademarked top hat and tails, is a proof of his grace, sophistication and talent. . .

For all its merits, Mamoulian’s ‘Silk Stockings’ has a degree of elegance and sophistication, but mostly a sweet sadness, the end of a living legend, in which Fred Astaire appears in his last great musical role. . .