It is Cole Porter meeting Ernst Lubitsch's best recalled film, NINOTCHKA. Up-dated to be sure, but still an affective comedy about rival systems of politics, social structure, and economics.
In the original, a Soviet economic mission is trying to use some jewelry that was originally owned by a Grand Duchess to purchase needed agricultural equipment. This is jettisoned in the new version. Fred Astaire (Steve Canfield) is a movie producer who is planning a production of WAR AND PEACE with Janis Paige as his star (she is Peggy Dayton, a noted Hollywood swim star, a la Esther Williams), who will play the Empress Josephine. Interesting point: Josephine does not appear in WAR AND PEACE - keep that in mind. Canfield wants to have a score by Russia's leading composer, Peter Ilyitsch Boroff (Wim Sonneveld) who is currently in Paris with a culture mission that is under Jules Munshin, Peter Lorre, and Alexander Granach. Their boss, George Tobias (promoted since NINOTCHKA - he's now a commissar) sends Cyd Charisse (Ninotchka Yoschencko) to keep the other three and Boroff under control. Tobias has reason to be upset. Not only is Canfield trying to corrupt the culture mission (not too difficult there) but also Boroff, who falls for Peggy Dayton (as Canfield hopes).
It follows closely the pursuit and "corruption" of Ninotchka, but there is one aspect that is shown here that was barely touched upon in the 1939 film. There Swanna's cynical use of the jewelry as a bargaining chip to keep Leon from Ninotchka sort of suggests that pure capitalism has it's drawbacks when in the wrong hands. In SILK STOCKINGS it is the cavalier use of culture for a fast buck that gets a go over.
Boroff's masterpiece is called "Overture to a tractor", but Canfield has it changed into a song for Peggy "Jo,Jo, Jo, Jo, Josephine...commonly called Jo". Whatever one thinks of music in honor of inanimate objects, Boroff's work represents serious art. Ninotchka and the others (including Boroff) are furious, and dismiss the glib excuse Steve comes up with (many other popular songs are based on classic tunes). They leave for Russia, and the rest of the musical follows Steve's attempts (like Leon's before him) to get Ninotchka back.
The Porter score here (with the score for CAN-CAN) were the last two really first rate scores Porter composed, but both were composed for the stage productions of the musicals and transposed to the screen. Here the title song (originally sung by Don Ameche on stage, but here by Astaire) is one of the best numbers, as is "Glorious Technicolor", where Astaire and Paige describe all the cinematography gimmicks used to draw in the audience (leading up to "sterophonic sound", which the film sound track blasts out). Munchkin, Lorre, and Granach have two big numbers, the second (SIBERIA) being one of Porter's best comic pieces as the three culture mission people look gloomily to returning to Russia, and possibly being sent to Siberia ("Have you seen our choice bill of fare...Please try the fillet of polar bear!"). There is even a second piece by "Boroff" composed in Russia, "I've got the Red Blues!" which uses forbidden rock and roll.
If it does not have the fine Lubitsch elegance and "touch", SILK STOCKINGS still shows a first rate handling on it's own.
In the original, a Soviet economic mission is trying to use some jewelry that was originally owned by a Grand Duchess to purchase needed agricultural equipment. This is jettisoned in the new version. Fred Astaire (Steve Canfield) is a movie producer who is planning a production of WAR AND PEACE with Janis Paige as his star (she is Peggy Dayton, a noted Hollywood swim star, a la Esther Williams), who will play the Empress Josephine. Interesting point: Josephine does not appear in WAR AND PEACE - keep that in mind. Canfield wants to have a score by Russia's leading composer, Peter Ilyitsch Boroff (Wim Sonneveld) who is currently in Paris with a culture mission that is under Jules Munshin, Peter Lorre, and Alexander Granach. Their boss, George Tobias (promoted since NINOTCHKA - he's now a commissar) sends Cyd Charisse (Ninotchka Yoschencko) to keep the other three and Boroff under control. Tobias has reason to be upset. Not only is Canfield trying to corrupt the culture mission (not too difficult there) but also Boroff, who falls for Peggy Dayton (as Canfield hopes).
It follows closely the pursuit and "corruption" of Ninotchka, but there is one aspect that is shown here that was barely touched upon in the 1939 film. There Swanna's cynical use of the jewelry as a bargaining chip to keep Leon from Ninotchka sort of suggests that pure capitalism has it's drawbacks when in the wrong hands. In SILK STOCKINGS it is the cavalier use of culture for a fast buck that gets a go over.
Boroff's masterpiece is called "Overture to a tractor", but Canfield has it changed into a song for Peggy "Jo,Jo, Jo, Jo, Josephine...commonly called Jo". Whatever one thinks of music in honor of inanimate objects, Boroff's work represents serious art. Ninotchka and the others (including Boroff) are furious, and dismiss the glib excuse Steve comes up with (many other popular songs are based on classic tunes). They leave for Russia, and the rest of the musical follows Steve's attempts (like Leon's before him) to get Ninotchka back.
The Porter score here (with the score for CAN-CAN) were the last two really first rate scores Porter composed, but both were composed for the stage productions of the musicals and transposed to the screen. Here the title song (originally sung by Don Ameche on stage, but here by Astaire) is one of the best numbers, as is "Glorious Technicolor", where Astaire and Paige describe all the cinematography gimmicks used to draw in the audience (leading up to "sterophonic sound", which the film sound track blasts out). Munchkin, Lorre, and Granach have two big numbers, the second (SIBERIA) being one of Porter's best comic pieces as the three culture mission people look gloomily to returning to Russia, and possibly being sent to Siberia ("Have you seen our choice bill of fare...Please try the fillet of polar bear!"). There is even a second piece by "Boroff" composed in Russia, "I've got the Red Blues!" which uses forbidden rock and roll.
If it does not have the fine Lubitsch elegance and "touch", SILK STOCKINGS still shows a first rate handling on it's own.