Party Girl (1958 film)
| Party Girl | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Nicholas Ray |
| Produced by | Joe Pasternak |
| Screenplay by | George Wells |
| Story by | Leo Katcher |
| Starring |
Robert Taylor Cyd Charisse Lee J. Cobb |
| Music by | Jeff Alexander |
| Cinematography | Robert J. Bronner |
| Edited by | John McSweeney Jr. |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | MGM |
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Release date
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Running time
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99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,758,000 |
| Box office | $2,380,000 |
Party Girl is a 1958 American film noir, directed by Nicholas Ray and starring Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse and Lee J. Cobb. It was the last film Taylor did under contract for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
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.
Rico Angelo is probably a composite based on figures like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano. Elements in the film may be very loosely based on Luciano's feud with Dutch Schultz, but an episode where Angelo attacks someone with a metal cue may be based on a similar incident involving Capone. Farrell is loosely based on a real lawyer, Dixie Davis.
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