Can-Can film

I haven't had nearly enough Cole Porter in my Year, yet, so I'm making up for that with the film version of Can-Can. The message of this film seems to be that, yes, the bad boy often wins out. I also need to remember that Cole Porter wrote good songs for good shows--even if the film version of this one doesn't show him off to his best advantage.

The casting of this film is an odd combination of Americans and Frenchmen. Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine are very colloquial and American as Francois Durnais and Simone Pistache; even when singing "C'est Magnifique" they seem more their Brat pack personas than anything else. Maurice Chevelier and Louis Jourdan are the French members of the cast and it's hard to argue with either of them as charming performers, although neither are the singers that I really wanted to hear. I suppose the casting is to drive home the class distinction that plays a part in the storyline of bad boy Sinatra and class act Jourdan both vying for the love and, a-hem, hand of MacLaine.

The plot is basically wrapped around a big "dance-tease" waiting for the Can-Can to be danced. When it finally comes, it is lively, but filmed in a very two-dimensional way. Who choreographed this? Hermes Pan for the film, Michael Kidd on the stage. But it appears that characters were switched around from the stage to the screen (or at least given other names), so I'll have to listen to the cast album to compare and contrast.

The songs, while being some of Porter's most memorable, seem lack-luster. Most are ballads and are presented at the slowest possible tempo, it seems. There aren't enough upbeat songs to balance out the dourness (that's the wrong word, help me here) of songs like "It's The Wrong Face". In looking at the song list for the stage show, it also appears that much was changed in transfering this to the screen, so cast album ho.

Can-Can
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Film released in 1965 by 20th Century Fox
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Louis Jourdan, Maurice Chevelier