Cyd Charisse's Legs

 

With apologies to my wife and the rest of the female population, can we all agree that actress Cyd Charisse simply had the best legs that ever walked the earth? If you don’t believe me, just look at that amazing dance number in “Singin’ in the Rain” when Cyd’s legs, sheathed in green stockings, fill the entire length of the screen. Her gams were a work of art, strong, perfectly shaped and proportioned, and more than capable of performing the best dancing ever seen on a movie screen. And I mean EVER. I was at the Beverly Hills Library yesterday afternoon when I saw the news report that Cyd Charisse had died at the age of 86. I let out an involuntary “No!” causing everyone in the reference room to glare at me in disapproval. I wanted to explain to them why I had yelped, but then realized with sadness that most of the twentysomething college students probably wouldn’t have any idea who Cyd Charisse is.

Cyd Charisse was one of those celebrities we’d always see around town. And every encounter only strengthened my impression that she was one of the classiest, sweetest dames ever to come out of Hollywood. And, of course, one of the most gorgeous. I was shocked to read that she was 86 because the last time we saw her at some restaurant or event not that long ago, she was still as breathtakingly stunning as she was at the height of her career. I remember seeing Cyd and her longtime husband, singer Tony Martin (who is still going strong at the age of 96) at a screening of one of her films and thinking that she had the regal air of a queen, but a benevolent one who would always stop and talk to her lowly subjects. In their wonderfully odd joint memoir called “The Two of Us,” Cyd and Tony actually encouraged fans who see them in public to come up to the couple and say hi. Class. I never quite had the courage to accost Charisse but I always meant to, remembering what she said in her book.

Born in Amarillo, Texas, in 1921 with the name Tula Finklea, Cyd’s first love was ballet and she joined the famous Ballets Russes at the age of 13. She married her dance teacher Nico Charisse in 1939 (they divorced in 1947) which gave her a more marquee-worthy last name and took Cyd from her family nickname of Sid which came from her brother’s inability to properly say “Sis.” Charisse came to MGM in 1943 and played a few bit roles before landing the small but noticeable role of “Deborah from Rhode Island” in “The Harvey Girls” in 1946. She was featured in other A-list musicals such as “Ziegfeld Follies,” “Till the Clouds Roll By,” and “Words and Music,” and she did several dramatic roles, usually playing “exotic” Latinas or Native American girls, but it was her extended cameo in “Singin in the Rain” in 1952 that put her over the top.

In the mid-1970s, Vincente Minnelli was being honored at the Chicago International Film Festival. I went to see him in person and then attended all of the screenings of his films. I remember falling in love with Charisse in “The Band Wagon,” her first big starring role opposite Fred Astaire. For my money, “The Band Wagon” is the quintessential MGM musical, even better than “Singing’ in the Rain,” and Cyd was perfect for the role of ballet dancer Gabrielle Gerard who is being courted by Astaire to appear in a Broadway musical. “I can watch Astaire anytime,” Charisse said later. “I don't think he ever made a wrong move. He was a perfectionist. He would work on a few bars for hours until it was just the way he wanted it.” There are so many great numbers in “The Band Wagon” but I think my all-time favorite is the most simple one—a quiet and supposedly impromptu dance between Astaire and Charisse when they are walking in Central Park trying to let off steam from their grueling rehearsals. Behold the magnificence of “Dancing in the Dark.”

 

Not many actresses got to star opposite both Astaire and Kelly. After “Singing’ in the Rain,” Cyd costarred with Gene Kelly in “Brigadoon” and “It’s Always Fair Weather,” neither among my favorites but both containing memorable dance numbers. Despite her presence in some of the most beloved musicals ever made, Charisse couldn't sing a note, or at least not one considered worthy enough by the MGM honchos. She was dubbed in all her films, often by Carol Richards, and I thought this fact was hidden from the public until I read her discussing it in a 1952 newspaper interview. "I'd give my right arm if I could sing," she said. "I had a number in 'The Wild North' but it's not what I'd call singing...not in comparison to Tony." Throughout her life, Charisse was always asked to compare Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly but she was reluctant to do so. “I’d say they were the two greatest dancing personalities who were ever on the screen,” was as far as she’d go. “Each has a distinctive style. Each is a joy to work with. But it's like comparing apples and oranges. They’re both delicious.”

 

When I was going to school in Paris in 1978, a local movie theatre did a retrospective of all of Charisse’s films (you gotta love the French for appreciating some of our stars at a time when they were being ignored in their own country). On December 28th of that year, I was scheduled to fly from Paris to the Soviet Union for a weeklong trip with a bunch of French students. On December 27th, to get us in the mood, my friends and I went to a screening of Cole Porter's “Silk Stockings” at the Paris cinema that was honoring Cyd. This film became my absolute favorite of all of Charisse’s work. Made in 1957 at the height of the Cold War, the musical remake of “Ninotchka” featured Charisse in the Greta Garbo role and Fred Astaire playing the Melvyn Douglas part. The anti-Soviet propaganda is utterly outrageous but the film is a joy from beginning to end. (Astaire could somehow get away with lyrics that would make other actors blanch, such as when he lovingly sings to Cyd about "the urge to merge with a splurge of the spring" which her character labels as bourgeois capitalistic propaganda!) While Charisse’s Russian accent is ridiculous and her lines preposterous, her dancing scenes with Astaire are among the best of her career. Here’s my favorite one, especially the last 90 seconds of it. No one was Cyd’s equal. Take a look:

Unfortunately, by 1957 both the studio system and musicals in general were in their death throes, and Charisse never got a decent part in a musical again. I always felt that Charisse could have been a great dramatic actress if given the chance. Cyd is is also known for the films she didn't appear in. She was cast opposite Kelly and Judy Garland in the classic “Easter Parade” but had to bow out when she got injured during rehearsals (Ann Miller took over the part), and she had to abandon the lead in “An American in Paris” when she got pregnant, clearing the way for Leslie Caron who catapulted to fame in the role. Charisse’s most famous movie that was never released was “Something’s Gotta Give,” the movie Marilyn Monroe was shooting when she died in 1962. Monroe requested Cyd for the part and in the clips I’ve seen the middle-aged actress was gorgeous as all get-out and perfect in the role of the snippy Bianca who had just married Dean Martin when his presumed-dead wife (Monroe) returns to town. The unfinished film was made the following year with Doris Day taking over for Marilyn and Polly Bergen assuming Charisse’s role.

Is it wrong that Kendall and I have always viewed Cyd Charisse and Tony Martin as our relationship role models even though we didn’t actually know them? By any measure, their 60-year-marriage was a great success, especially by Hollywood standards. In a 1953 interview with the couple, conducted in the MGM commissary, an L.A. Times reporter asked Martin what attracts him to women in general, Cyd in particular. “Carriage and teeth,” Martin replied, “then it’s interest in what she has to say.” The reporter then asked the singer how he felt about a girl combining marriage and a career. “I wouldn’t recommend it for a couple of 20-year-olds, because it takes a lot of mature understanding,” Martin explained. “But I feel a man should always allow his wife to express herself in a career or in any way she wants or she will develop frustrations and not be happy.”

Farewell, Cyd. You will be missed.

Comments

[rhea]

Without a doubt, Cyd Charisse got more beautiful with age.

[Sue Katz]

Great minds. I just put up a posting about Cyd Charisse and now I see that you've done a really brilliant, comprehnsive piece. And my other favorite bloggers likewise. We were lucky to squeeze into a generation that got the opportunity to consume these astounding musicals - I doubt young people today know them. You've got such great graphics here, Danny. Thanks.
Sue

[churlita]

Beautiful tribute. I don't think you're going to get any kind of argument about Cyd's legs. My goodness.

[laurie]

Thank you Danny for those wonderful clips. I was entranced and it added joy and delight to my day.

[Dave]

"Is it wrong that Kendall and I have always viewed Cyd Charisse and Tony Martin as our relationship role models even though we didn’t actually know them?"

Certainly not.

How wonderful that these Movie Stars were, in person, just as they seemed on screen.

Their life and marriage should be studied by today's celebrities. Wow, how wonderful would Hollywood be again if "stars" acted like Stars and not reality show contestants.

They sure don't make 'em like her anymore.

[Amy Guth]

I suppose sometimes the fondest memories are in the details, and so while I will certainly recall Cyd Charisse in the various movie-musicals I saw as a young girl, I will remember her most for the day that I, as a young wardrobe intern years ago at a summer stock theater, took her to Montgomery Wards department store to purchase underwear, which her housekeeper forgot to pack and the poised and quietly aside way Ms. Charisse tiptoed into the office in designer rehearsal sweat pants and asked to speak about a place to buy said underwear with a sort of funny grin and included the phrase, "oh, but dear, nothing nice like Neiman Marcus or Bloomingdale's. Someplace easy. I don't want a fuss, of course. It is just underwear."

Even after a few seasons of meeting various stars as they tromped through this summer stock theater, I always admired her ability to seem both regal and human, as she somehow made everyone around her feel interesting and valuable, even just the awkward girl conspiring with her on the best place to find underwear.

[Mindy]

A couple of days before she died, I was showing my dance students a Janet Jackson video in which Cyd Charisse made a cameo appearance. Not one of them knew who she was, so of course I had to bring out my Singing in the Rain dvd and introduce them to her.

I've been checking your blog, hoping for a tribute to this amazing woman. You didn't let me down.

[V-Grrrl]

Danny, your tributes and memorials are always better than any I read in the mainstream press. This was great. I enjoyed the video clips too.

[Neil]

That was one of your best tributes. I didn't know all those facts. But listen to this, when I heard of her passing, I didn't say, "Oh, let me read about it in the Times." I said, "I have no doubt Danny will write about this today after being upset by her passing, so I will read about her life on his blog."

[Hillary]

I, too, let out an involuntary 'No!" upon hearing the news of Cyd's passing on Tuesday night. So few of the stars from the Golden Age of Film have been around in my lifetime that it's difficult to lose even one, let alone of of my favorites, and a truly gorgeous and talented woman at that.

Please accept my utmost thanks for the quality and comprehensiveness of this post, which I find to be a most fitting homage for Miss Charisse. I endeavored to translate my sense of loss into a fitting piece as you've done here, but was truly at a loss for words.

As for Cyd's films, I love 'Dancing in the Dark' from Band Wagon as well, but I think the sequence that shines as brightly as Cyd herself is the brief but vibrant 'New Sun in the Sky' number from the same film - it's all gold and glitter and swelling orchestra and Cyd, just as a scene from a true Freed Unit Musical should be. It never loses its magic, no matter how many times I see it.

Thank you again for this unparalled post on a legend.

[linser]

I really like "The Bandwagon" too and for years felt like the only person who had seen it. Watching great dancing like that always gives me a lift. I don't comment enough but I really enjoy your posts.

[sistasmiff]

I swear, Danny...everytime I read you, I get more and more jealous of your street encounters.

Cyd had her some laigs for sure...she was something.

[Jess]

Oh, how I have always loved to see Cyd dance in the old musicals. She made it look so effortless, as did Astaire. I would have given my right arm AND my ability to sing like a bird just to have her legs for a day.

[Isabella]

Wow, Danny. I love reading your blog. I haven't had any time for over the last...Well, I can't remember the last time I actually had extra moments to sit down and read much at all.

Your writings about Cyd Charisse are wonderfully written. Thanks for sharing this and I agree you won't get any argument about Cyd Charisse's legs!

[Earwig]

Enjoyed your tribute, the audio is haywire on my computer just now, but watching the Dancing in the Dark sequence I found I didn't miss it at all, their harmonious movement stands alone very adequately, Absolutely Lyrical!! Thanx!

[rock]

I was telling my girlfriend today that Cyd C. had the best legs on the planet and started looking round to show her and found this. Perfect. You are sooo right, man!

[Jeanne DArc]

I always loved the comment by Fred Astaire regarding Cyd... "When you've danced with Cyd Charisse you stay danced with!"

People like these come but once in a lifetime. We will never see their likes again.