“Rough and ready! The truth about the ‘models,’ ‘actresses’ and ‘dancers’ who play with fire…and often get burned!” –1958 tagline for Party Girl

Featuring a live performance by Laura Desiree, Toronto’s Sultriest Burlesque Beauty!

Shot in luscious CinemaScope, Party Girl is “a veritable explosion of color and motion” (Bruce Eder) and the perfect showcase for what was, and still is, the most lethal set of gams ever captured on film. Cyd Charisse was never lovelier than as Vicky Gaye, a chorus girl with a heart of gold, who is threatened by the mob after her lawyer boyfriend (Robert Taylor) refuses to represent Chicago criminal kingpin Rico Angelo (as mash-up of real life gangsters Al Capone and “Lucky” Luciano). Machine gun fire mixes with love and lavish dance sequences – what more can you want? And with director Nicholas Ray—of Rebel Without a Cause fame—at the helm, Party Girl is a fierce, brooding visual masterpiece. If you love dance of any variation, flock to this film.

Charisse, who, at thirteen was whisked away from the dust bowl of Amarillo Texas to train with Russia’s renowned Ballet Russe, is absolutely MESMERIZING. Made famous by her Louise Brooks-inspired dance number opposite Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain, with Party Girl Charisse proved her sizzling charm and immense physical talents could carry a film. She also proved that no one, and we mean NO ONE, could pull off a leopard print leotard better than she.