Party Girl

"You'll meet her at the roughest parties ...with the toughest guys in town!"

1958 1h 39m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

🍅

85%

FRESH

⭐

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 70🍅85%Rotten Tomatoes★7IMDB · 3,821

CrimeDramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Slick lawyer Thomas Farrell has made a career of defending mobsters in trials. It's not until he meets a lovely showgirl at a mob party that he realizes that there's more to life than winning trials. Farrell tries to quit the racket, but mob boss Rico Angelo threatens to hurt the showgirl if Farrell leaves him.

“You'll meet her at the roughest parties ...with the toughest guys in town!”

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Cast

Robert Taylor
Tommy Farrell
Cyd Charisse
Vicki Gaye
Lee J. Cobb
Rico Angelo
John Ireland
Louis Canetto
Kent Smith
Jeffrey Stewart
Claire Kelly
Genevieve Farrell
Corey Allen
Cookie La Motte
Lewis Charles
Danny Rimett

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Nicholas Ray
Writers: George Wells, Leo Katcher
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

68 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Nicholas Ray, shot by Robert J. Bronner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John McSweeney Jr. shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Robert Taylor and Cyd Charisse and Lee J. Cobb carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "You'll meet her at the roughest parties ...with the toughest guys in town!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0052050 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 70 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Nicholas Ray directs. Robert J. Bronner behind the camera. John McSweeney Jr. cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
268 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Nicholas Ray, shot by Robert J. Bronner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor John McSweeney Jr. shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Robert Taylor and Cyd Charisse and Lee J. Cobb carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "You'll meet her at the roughest parties ...with the toughest guys in town!".
7IMDB entry: tt0052050 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 70 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert J. Bronner
Editing: John McSweeney Jr.
Costume design: Helen Rose
Makeup / hair: William Tuttle
Runtime: 99 min · 1h 39m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,758,000
Box office: $2,380,000
Return: 135% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Party Girl (1958)
Rotten Tomatoes: 85% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7/10 · 3,821 votes
MPAA: Approved

Also by

Nicholas Ray

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-07-21
★ 7/10
I know a girl a girl called Party, Party Girl. Crippled Lawyer Thomas Farrell (Robert Taylor) has made a career defending crooks in trials, so much so he's now the front line defender for the Chicago mob. But into his life comes dancer Vicki Gayle (Cyd Charisse), who as he starts to fall in love with her, makes him see that his life is worth so much more than that. However, mob king Rico Angelo (Lee J. Cobb) is keen to retain Farrell's services, at any price it seems. There's no getting away from it, Party Girl (a euphemism for a prostitute) features a very standard formulaic plot. It's also a very misleading title in that it doesn't scream out this is a crime picture. Directed by Nicholas Ray for MGM (his last for one of the big hitting studios), it's adapted by George Wells from a story by Leo Katcher. Supporting the three principal actors are John Ireland & Kent Smith. Robert J. Bronner (Jailhouse Rock) provides photography and the film is a CinemaScope/Metrocolor production. Set as it is in prohibition Chicago, it allows Ray to rise above the simple formula and blend his knack for visual touches with interesting characterisations. If we really are going to cement this in the film noir genre? Then it's more down to the director than anything in the story. Yes there's themes such as alienation, vulnerability and the core essence potential for tragi-love-born out of two characters stuck in differing forms of prostitution. But the script is so weak it needed Ray to put an almost surreal sheen over it. There's exotic dancing featuring prominently, some what a given with the weak Charisse starring (in fairness to her it's one hell of a cliché riddled role), but again Ray crafts in such a way it doesn't let the film feel too sprightly. Which is something that this lush production is in danger of being at times. Yet line those dance numbers alongside scenes such as a portrait of Jean Harlow being shot to pieces, or of Charisse being questioned by a policeman's Silhouette - and you get an oddity. And a very enjoyable one at that. This was Taylor's last contract film for MGM, and fittingly it's one of his very best performances. Again one tends to think this is probably down to Ray's coaxing, but regardless, Taylor plays Farrell with vulnerable elegance and a steely eyed determination that carries Charisse along with him. Thus the romance is believable, and yes, engaging. Cobb does another in his long line of larger than life characters. Chewing the scenery as much as his Rico character chews on his cigars. While Ireland is a by the numbers thug for hire and Kent Smith a talking prop. There's a fleeting performance from Corey Allen as baby faced psychopath Cookie La Motte, a character that the film could have definitely done with more of. Here's the main problem with Party Girl, it's just not edgy or dangerous enough. Which in a film involving gangsters, murders and crooked court cases, is an issue is it not? But thanks to Ray and Taylor the film overcomes the many flaws to wind up being a very enjoyable crime-love story based picture. Film noir though? Well that's debatable really. But lets not get into that... 7/10

Production companies