Main Cast: Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Juliet Prowse
Release Year: 1960
Country: US
Run Time: 131 minutes
Plot
Cole Porter's Gay Paree musical about the introduction in Montmartre in 1896 of the notorious Can-Can dance, is brought to the screen, filtered through a Rat Pack sensibility. Shirley MacLaine stars as Simone Pistache, the perky and vivacious owner of a Parisian cafe, who, aided by her swingin' boyfriend Francois Dumais (Frank Sinatra), is trying to keep her establishment from being closed down by the Paris authorities because of Simone's insistence on treating her patrons to the Can-Can, the salacious dance outlawed by French law. Maurice Chevalier is a kindly French judge who graciously looked the other way, but another hard-nosed judge, Philippe Forrestier (Louis Jordan), turns up the heat on Simone to close her cafe. That is, until Simone turns up the heat on him, and Phillippe falls hard for Simone. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Onstage, Cole Porter's Can-Can was a hit largely because of its attractive (if not top-notch) score and the electrifying performance of Gwen Verdon (in a supporting role). The score, supplemented of course, remains fetching in the film version, but there's no Verdon -- or anyone else -- to provide the bolt of lightning that is called for. As on Broadway, the script deserves a large part of the blame, a mediocre and barely serviceable frame upon which to hang the songs and dances. Although director Walter Lang and costume designer Irene Sharaff have given the film some visual flair, and NelsonRiddle has supplied some snappy and swinging musical arrangements, they're not enough to keep Can-Can flying. Which means it's all up to the cast. Frank Sinatra handles his songs well, but he's not half trying in the dialogue scenes. Shirley MacLaine gives it more effort, but the strain shows, and neither she nor Sinatra make the slightest attempt at being French -- a drawback in a film in which setting and atmosphere are so important. Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier, of course, are Gallic to the core, but the former is a bore and the latter isn't given enough to do. Juliet Prowse, in a cut-down version of Verdon's character, is a joy, and the dances in general are very effective. All of which combines to make Can-Can a well-presented but fairly lacklustre musical, with a few high points -- but not enough to really make the grade. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
The film contains what critics now consider some of Cole Porter's most enduring songs, including I Love Paris, It's All Right With Me, and C'est Magnifique. (At the time of the show's premiere in 1953, however, many critics complained that Porter was now turning out material far below his usual standard.) Some of the songs from the original Broadway musical were replaced by other, more famous Porter songs, including Let's Do It, Just One of Those Things and You Do Something to Me. Oddly enough, I Love Paris is sung by the chorus over the opening credits, instead of being sung in the actual story by Sinatra. A version by Sinatra, however, was featured on the movie soundtrack album.
Plot alterations
The plotline of the musical was also somewhat revised. In the stage version, the judge was the leading character. In the film, it is the lover (Sinatra) of the nightclub owner (Shirley MacLaine) who is the lead, and the judge (played by Louis Jourdan) forms the other half of a love triangle not found in the play.
International Controversy
During the filming, Soviet premier Nikita Kruschev famously visited the 20th Century Fox studios [1] and was allegedly shocked by the goings-on. He took the opportunity to make propagandistic use of his visit and described the dance, and by extension, American culture as "depraved" and "pornographic" [2]
