On monday the 29th of December I watched the wonderful, humour and brilliantly executed musical 'Silk Stockings' directed by Rouben Mamoulian. Starring Fred Astaire as Steve Canfield, an American movie producer in Paris and Cyd Charisse as Ninotchka. Fred Astaire never seizes to amaze me, even at the age of 58 in this performance and Cyd Charrise also carries out an oustounding level of charm as her portrayal of a dead-serious, witty, beautiful soviet agent with a heart for the working class and dedication to her job and her country (who just happens to be an excellent dancer as seen here and in her performance along Gene Kelly in 'Singing in the Rain').
The plot summary is as follows:
A musical remake of Ninotchka: After three bumbling Soviet agents fail in their mission to retrieve a straying Soviet composer from Paris, the beautiful, ultra-serious Ninotchka is sent to complete their mission and to retrieve them. She starts out condemning the decadent West, but gradually falls under its spell, with the help of Steve Canfield, an American movie producer. Written by John Oswalt
My favourite scene in this movie is when Ninotchka, the three Soviet agents ( Brankov, Bibinski, and Ivanov) and the composer meet up in Moscow and fantasise about their memories from Paris and suddenly burst into spontaneous dance which was not only filmed in a great way, but the actual performance was breathtaking. I had to hold my breathe when it all took place. It certainly deserved every bit of applaud it got. I would recommend this comical musical to anyone who hasn't already seen it and just wish that there would be more 40's and 50's influenced musicals produced and viewed these days. This has also been written as a tribute to Cyd Charisse who sadly passed away on June the 17th, this year at the age of 86.
