Party Girl (1958)

Party Girl is a 1958 American film noir directed by Nicholas Ray and starring Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse and Lee J. Cobb. Filmed in CinemaScope, it was the last film Charisse did for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and the next-to-last film Taylor did for the studio; they were MGM's last two contract stars.
== Plot ==
Slick lawyer Thomas Farrell has made a career of defending Chicago mobsters in court. At a party for mob boss Rico Angelo, he meets chorus girl Vicki Gaye, who accepted $100 to attend the party and another $400 from another gangster, Louis Canetto, from his gambling winnings.
Farrell gives her a ride home, each expressing disapproval at the way the other makes money. Vicki finds her roommate Joy dead by suicide, pregnant by a married criminal. After a long night of questioning by police, Farrell asks that Vicki be given a raise and featured number on stage at the Golden Rooster club, which Rico owns.
The lawyer and Vicki begin a romance. She's struck by the way Farrell, who is lame, uses his disability to manipulate jurors while getting Canetto off on a murder charge. A surgeon is found who might be able to properly mend Farrell's hip, so he goes to Stockholm for the operation.
A cold-blooded killer, Cookie La Motte, is coming up for trial, but Farrell's frame of mind has changed and he would rather not defend such a man. Rico threatens violence against Vicki if the lawyer doesn't do his job. Cookie jumps bail, tired of the long wait in court, and plans to eliminate prosecuting attorney Stewart while at-large. Cookie and his men are gunned down by other racketeers, however, at an Indiana diner.
Stewart decides to pressure the mob by going after anyone connected to it. He begins by placing Farrell under arrest. Canetto goes to Vicki offering to protect her, but takes her prisoner instead. The district attorney releases Farrell, hoping to smoke out the mobsters who employ him. Canetto, caught in a crossfire, is killed.
Farrell then confronts Rico, but the gangster picks up a bottle of acid that he intends to disfigure Vicki with if the lawyer refuses to do what he says. A fight erupts, with the bottle smashing into Rico's face. Eyes and face burning, he plunges from a window to his death.
== Cast ==
* Robert Taylor as Thomas Farrell
* Cyd Charisse as Vicki Gaye
* Lee J. Cobb as Rico Angelo
* John Ireland as Louis Canetto
* Kent Smith as Jeffrey Stewart
* Claire Kelly as Genevieve Farrell
* Corey Allen as Cookie La Motte
* Lewis Charles as Danny Rimett
* David Opatoshu as Lou Forbes
* Kim Dibbs as Joey Vulner
* Patrick McVey as Detective O'Malley
* Barbara Lang as Ginger D'Amour
* Myrna Hansen as Joy Hampton
* Betty Utey as Cindy Consuelo
* Jack Lambert as Nick (uncredited)
* Aaron Saxon as Frankie Gasto (uncredited)
* Dolores Reed as redhead (uncredited)Clemens, Samuel (September 2022) "Tall and Tawny", Classic Images
Cast notes
*Gloria Wood providing the singing voice of Cyd Charisse
*Erich von Stroheim Jr., the son of the noted director, has a bit part as a police lieutenant, and was also the assistant director on the film.
*Party Girl was Cyd Charisse's last film for MGM after 14 years at the studio. It was also Robert Taylor's next-to-last film in his 25 years at the studio, although it was the last to be shot in Hollywood: his final film, The House of the Seven Hawks was shot in England. Charisse and Taylor were the last two contract stars at MGM.
==References==