Pawsome Pet Pictures: Cyd Charisse.

Personal Quote:

If I had to give up either acting or dancing, I'd choose to keep dancing.

Happy Birthday: Cyd Charisse!

Cyd Charisse (March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008). Around the time of the outbreak of World War II, David Lichine offered her a dancing role in, Something to Shout About. This brought her to the attention of choreographer Robert Alton, who had also discovered Gene Kelly and soon she became the resident MGM ballet dancer.

Charisse, is best known for her on-screen pairings with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. She first performed with Astaire in a wonderful routine in the film, Ziegfeld Follies. Her next performance with him was in the film, The Band Wagon (1953), where she danced with Astaire in the acclaimed "Dancing in the Dark".

Another early role cast her opposite Judy Garland in the film, The Harvey Girls(1946). Film based on a 1942 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams, about Fred Harveys famous restaurants. Directed by George Sidney. It won an Academy Award for Best Song for "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe. "written by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren.

Gene Kelly chose Charisse, to dance with him in "Broadway Melody" ballet finale from, Singin' in the Rain (1952). She also she co-starred with Kelly in the musical film, Brigadoon(1954). She again performed with Kelly in his musical, It's Always Fair Weather (1956).

She rejoined Astaire in the film, Silk Stockings(1957), a musical remake of 1939's Ninotchka, with Charisse taking over Greta Garbo's role. In his autobiography, Astaire paid tribute to Charisse, calling her "beautiful dynamite" and writing: "That Cyd! When you've danced with her you stay danced with."

I also loved it when she danced with Ricardo Montalban, in the films: On An Island With You and Fiesta. A couple of my favorite Esther Williams films.

After the decline of the Hollywood musicals, Charisse continued to perform in film and TV productions through the 1960s-1990s. She had a supporting role in the film, "Something's Got To Give", the unfinished film of Marilyn Monroe.

Please click here to read more about Cyd Charisse and view her dance videos.

Party Girl (1958) : "They're crooked...but the money's good!"

Party Girl(1958). Film noir. Director; Nicholas Ray. Cast: Robert Taylor, Lee J. Cobb and Cyd Charisse. Party Girl marked the last film Robert Taylor(age47)did under contract for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

I just watched Party Girl for the first time, is a very unique movie. Not only is it your standard Film Noir, with a clever story line, Charisse also performs two dance routines. I thought that Taylor and Cyd, gave excellent performances. Taylor, is playing a role loosely based on Dixie Davis, lawyer for mob boss Dutch Schultz of New York, who later turned informant and married a beautiful showgirl. Cobb plays a very convincing performance as "Wild-Man-of-Borneo", who threatens to hurt the showgirl if his lawyer leaves him. This maybe my favorite performance of Charisse, who also dances into two sensuous nightclub dances..Party Girl, really is one of the more beautiful film noirs I have seen, maybe because it is filmed in color, where you can see how stunning Cyd's dance costumes are.


Dance sequence # 1 Directed by Nicholas Ray.



Dance sequence # 2 Directed by Nicholas Ray.

TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN (1962).

Two Weeks in Another Town (1962). Drama based on a novel by Irwin Shaw Director: Vincente Minnelli. Cast: Kirk Douglas, Edward G. Robinson, Cyd Charisse, Claire Trevor, Daliah Lavi, George Hamilton, and Rosanna Schiaffino. The film depicts the shooting of a sword and sandal movie in Rome by a group of Hollywood stars. It contains several references to another Minnelli movie, The Bad and the Beautiful, also starring Douglas. The story was seen by some as the past relationship between actors Tyrone Power and Linda Christian .

Jack Andrus, a onetime Hollywood star whose decline in films has led him to a nervous breakdown and he spends 3 years in a sanatorium. His doctors think that he maybe ready to accept a comeback role. When Andrus arrives in Rome he learns that the part is no longer available, but.. is offered the job to supervise the dubbing of the picture. In the evenings he spends his time with Italian girl named Veronica, who, unknown to Andrus, is in love with Davie Drew. After a huge fight with his witch of a wife Clara, Kruger has a heart attack and is hospitalized. Andrus offers to finish the film. Kruger, jealous, attacks Andrus and accuses him of trying to steal the picture out from under him. Heartbroken, Andrus turns to his ex-wife, Carlotta, and goes on an wild binge. Will Jack ever get control of his emotions?

TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN. MOVIE TRAILER.

This is the first time I have seen TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN. Cyd Charisse, was amazing in this film. I have never seen her perform in a drama. Kirk Douglas, was also amazing in the wild car ride that shocks him into the realization that he can not let others control his life. It was fun to see a young George Hamilton. Even though I did not care for his character.

CYD CHARISSE as a Little TULA ELLICE FINKLEA.

Cyd Charisse grew up in Amarillo, Texas. Before she became known as Cyd Charisse she was called Tula Ellice Finklea. No one at that time could ever imagine her on the front covers of Life, Newsweek, Look, and in every movie magazine. But luckily for us Cyd’s father loved the ballet and wanted his daughter to dance. She danced her way into the Ballet Russe at the age of fourteen. Miss Finklea performed as Felia Sidorova, a combination of her last name and her nickname “Sid”. While traveling the world she found her true calling.

CYD CHARISSE.

Cyd Charisse was best known for her dance numbers with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. She first performed with Astaire in a dance routine in Ziegfeld Follies. Her next performance with him was as lead role in The Band Wagon (1953), where she danced with Astaire in "Dancing in the Dark" and "Girl Hunt Ballet". Another early role for her was opposite Judy Garland in The Harvey Girls (1946). Debbie Reynolds was not a trained dancer, Gene Kelly chose Charisse to dance with him in "Broadway Melody" ballet finale from Singin' in the Rain (1952), and she co-starred with Kelly in Brigadoon (1954). She also took the lead role alongside Kelly in his MGM musical It's Always Fair Weather (1956). In 1957, she rejoined Astaire in the film version of Silk Stockings, a musical remake of Ninotchka(1939), with Charisse taking over Greta Garbo's role. In his autobiography, Astaire paid tribute to Charisse, calling her "beautiful dynamite" and writing: "That Cyd! When you've danced with her you stay danced with." In her autobiography, Charisse shared her experience with Astaire and Kelly: "As one of the handful of girls who worked with both of those dance geniuses, I think I can give an honest comparison. In my opinion, Kelly is the more inventive choreographer of the two. Astaire, with Hermes Pan's help, creates fabulous numbers — for himself and his partner. But Kelly can create an entire number for somebody else ... I think, however, that Astaire's coordination is better than Kelly's ... his sense of rhythm is uncanny. Kelly, on the other hand, is the stronger of the two. When he lifts you, he lifts you! ... To sum it up, I'd say they were the two greatest dancing personalities who were ever on screen. But it's like comparing apples and oranges. They're both delicious." She had a supporting role in "Something's Got To Give", the last, unfinished film of Marilyn Monroe. She made cameo appearances in Blue Mercedess "I Want To Be Your Property" (1987) and Janet Jacksons "Alright" (1990) music videos. Her last film appearance was in 1994 in That's Entertainment! III as one of the onscreen narrators of a tribute to the great MGM Musical films. Info from Wikipedia.

My 5 top favorite Cyd Charisse films are:

FIESTA (1947)

ON AN ISLAND WITH YOU (1948)

SINGIN IN THE RAIN (1952)

ZIEGFELD FOLLIES (1945)

TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY (19460

Please click here to read more Cyd Charisse movie reviews on N and CF musical page.

FIESTA (1947)

FIESTA(1947). Is a musical with beautiful exotic settings, and a different role for Esther Williams. It begins with Maria and Mario as children of retired famous toreador Antonio Morales. Antonio's dream is for Mario to follow in his footsteps. Mario spends his time training for the bull ring, but his true passion is to play the piano. On the night of the bullfight, Antonio sabotages Mario's chance to work with the famous composer Maximino Contreras. Mario becomes angry and goes into hiding. In order to convince her brother to come back and save the family name. Maria comes up with a plan, with the help of a trusted friend Chato (Tamiroff), to impersonate Mario in the ring.( There are some beautiful, bullfighting scenes.)This runs the risk of her future marriage to scientist Pepe Ortega (Carroll). Ricardo Montalban, performs several beautiful dances with Cyd Charisse. I was especially impressed by Montalban's piano playing, wondering if he was really playing. If he was... he is wonderful.

Esther Williams, in her autobiography "Million Dollar Mermaid" states that during the shooting of "Fiesta", her husband at the time - Ben Gage - got drunk and had a run-in with the Mexican police, causing production to be halted as the authorities had him thrown out of the country.


American film debut of Ricardo Montalban