The Lovely Cyd Charisse

Two days ago Cyd Charisse died. We liked seeing her in movies, watching her dance. To be honest, though, we seem most to associate her with Gene Kelly's voice as heard in the film series "That's Entertainment", once we noticed that he always referred to her as "the lovely Cyd Charisse".

I suppose this is only partly about Cyd Charisse because what came to mind when I heard the news was possibly my favorite dance sequence from a movie musical, "The Girl Hunt Ballet" from "The Band Wagon", a strikingly original and vibrant segment choreographed by Fred Astaire, danced by Astaire and Charisse and the company, with Charisse playing two roles.

It's a sort of satire of a hard-boiled detective story; Astaire is the dick, Charisse is the suspicious acting blond and the femme fatale (in a fabulous red dress!). The choreography is heavily narrative and in a very angular jazz idiom. The style seems rather foreign to what we usually imagine Astaire dancing but he is, as always, perfect at it and I find it thrilling to watch. I admire the technicalities of his dancing, particularly his precise timing, that nevertheless tells its story so effectively. I think it's the most brilliant thing Astaire did.

The movie "The Band Wagon" itself–I have mixed feelings about. It surely it at the top of the list of all-time great MGM musicals, it has lots of fabulous song and dance numbers, it's got Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Nanette Fabray, Oscar Lavant, the book was written by Comden & Green (the best musical-comedy writing team ever, probably), the music by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz, and directed by Vincent Minnelli. What a team! Unfortunately I find the story rather weak and pointless, but it is basically a musical review and I love it for the music and dance anyway, I'm just a little disappointed that Comden & Green didn't write a better book since I know they could have. (The writing they did for the stage musicals "Bells are Ringing" and "On the Twentieth Century" is some of the best ever.)

This clip from "The Girl Hunt Ballet" begins when the story is already underway and stops well before the end, but it does highlight some of the best dancing and the lovely Cyd Charisse's red dress!


Posted on June 20, 2008 at 00.20 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Music & Art, Personal Notebook

6 Responses

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  1. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Friday, 20 June 2008 at 03.02
    Permalink

    Something's not working. The YouTube item isn't displaying and your page is loading very slowly.

    I think Fred Astaire is one of the finest entertainers of the 20th century, maybe of all time. Whether singing, dancing or acting, he performed superbly. From what I've read, he was a class act in both his personal and professional life, much admired by just about everyone he worked for and with.

    I saw Astaire interviewed, probably in the late 1950s. He was smart and sophisticated, thoroughly likeable and very smooth.

    For whatever reason, even though she was a skilled dancer, I never was that taken with Cyd Charrisse. I think her dancing struck me as more of an athletic performance than pleases my eye.

    I saw a special once years ago about Astaire and Ginger Rogers, though, and was impressed with how Rogers kept up with the master. Before working with Astaire she hadn't been a dancer. Imagine being a young actress, still fairly new, and being expected to dance on par with the best dancer in the business, in a routine that was lengthy and demanding. I think she pulled it off splendidly. I'm sure Astaire helped her to look good.

  2. Written by chris
    on Friday, 20 June 2008 at 19.37
    Permalink

    I think she pulled it off splendidly. I'm sure Astaire helped her to look good.

    "Fred gave Ginger class, and Ginger gave Fred sex." — Katharine Hepburn

  3. Written by chris
    on Friday, 20 June 2008 at 19.43
    Permalink

    but-but-but…

    Jeff, you said Cyd was the blonde in the fabulous red dress – but she was raven-black in that clip. Oh I'm so easily confused.

    when she appears in the black cape, which then slithers off her shoulders to reveal something glitzy, I was reminded of Julie Andrews at the beginning of Le Jazz Hot in Victor/Victoria

    meanwhile, I like the story in Cyd's NY Times obit…

    Looking back on her work with Kelly and Astaire during a 2002 interview in The New York Times, Ms. Charisse said that her husband, [Tony] Martin, always knew whom she had been dancing with. “If I was black and blue,” she said, “it was Gene. And if it was Fred, I didn’t have a scratch.”

    http://tinyurl.com/5tks8z

  4. Written by jns
    on Friday, 20 June 2008 at 22.08
    Permalink

    She was indeed black-haired in the red dress in the clip, but at the very, very end (and elsewhere in parts not included in the clip) she appeared as a blond.

    In everything I've happened to read she seems to have been gracious enough to find something nice to say about both Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, without quite saying which she preferred.

  5. Written by Bill Morrison
    on Saturday, 21 June 2008 at 23.50
    Permalink

    It was said of Ginger rather than Cyd, but I think it still applies: "Just remember, she did everything Astair did, but she did it in high heels, and she did it backwards!"

  6. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Thursday, 26 June 2008 at 00.28
    Permalink

    Chris, that Hepburn quote is a gem. Thanks for my best laugh of the day.

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