Silk Stockings (1957 film)

Silk Stockings
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRouben Mamoulian
Screenplay by
Based on
Produced byArthur Freed
Starring
CinematographyRobert J. Bronner
Edited byHarold F. Kress
Music by
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • July 18, 1957 (1957-07-18) (U.S.)
Running time
117 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.6 million[1]
Box office$2.8 million[1]

Silk Stockings is a 1957 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. It is based on the 1955 stage musical of the same name,[2] which had been adapted from the film Ninotchka (1939).[3][4][5] The film was choreographed by Eugene Loring and Hermes Pan.[6][7]

The film received Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Film and Best Actress (Charisse) in the Comedy/Musical category.[8]

The score was embellished with the new song "The Ritz Roll and Rock", a parody of the emerging rock and roll music genre. The number ends with Astaire symbolically smashing his top hat, considered one of his trademarks, signaling the retirement from movie musicals that he announced following the film's release.[9]

  1. ^ a b The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. ^ "Silk Stockings". Broadway Musical Home. Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  3. ^ "Ninotchka". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on October 13, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  4. ^ Spergel, 1993 p. 283: Filmography, “based on the book of the musical play by George S. Kaufmann.”
  5. ^ Callahan, 2007: “Silk Stockings (1957), a musicalization of Lubitsch’s Ninotchka (1939).”
  6. ^ Jensen, 2024 p 265: Pan worked strictly with Astaire, Loring with the other dancers.
  7. ^ Spergel, 1993 p. 178: “...Hermes Pan, Fred Astaire’s career-long choreographer…”
  8. ^ "Golden Globes 1957". Sijmen's List of Film Classics. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  9. ^ Jensen, 2024 p. 263: Astaire “bids farewell to his top hat, white tie, and tails” in the song.