Can-Can (film)

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Can-Can
Directed by Walter Lang
Produced by Jack Cummings
Saul Chaplin
Written by Dorothy Kingsley
Charles Lederer
Abe Burrows(play)
Starring Shirley MacLaine
Frank Sinatra
Louis Jourdan
Maurice Chevalier
Juliet Prowse
Marcel Dalio
Music by Cole Porter (Composer Music Score)
Nelson Riddle (Musical Direction)
Cinematography William H. Daniels
Editing by Robert L. Simpson
Distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox
Release date(s) 9 March 1960
Running time 131 min.
Country US
Language English
IMDb profile

Can-Can is a 1960 musical film made by Suffolk-Cummings productions and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Walter Lang, produced by Jack Cummings and Saul Chaplin, from a screenplay by Dorothy Kingsley and Charles Lederer, based on the musical play by Abe Burrows with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. Art direction was by Jack Martin Smith and Lyle R. Wheeler, costume design by Irene Sharaff and dance staging by Hermes Pan. The film was photographed in Todd-AO. It was, after Ben-Hur, the top grossing film of 1960.

The film starred Shirley MacLaine, Frank Sinatra, Louis Jourdan, Maurice Chevalier and introduced Juliet Prowse in her first film role. Sinatra, who was paid $200,000 along with a percentage of the film's profits, acted in the film under a contractual obligation required by 20th Century Fox after walking off the set of Carousel in 1954.

Contents

[edit] Musical Score

The film contains some of Cole Porter's most enduring songs, including I Love Paris, It's All Right With Me, and C'est Magnifique. Some of the songs from the original Broadway musical were replaced by other Porter songs, including Let's Do It, Just One of Those Things and You Do Something to Me.

[edit] 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]

[edit] Awards and Nominations

Academy Awards, 1961:

  • Nominated - Best Costume Design
  • Nominated - Best Original Music Score

Golden Globe Awards, 1961:

  • Nominated Best Motion Picture, Musical

Grammy Awards, 1961:

  • Winner - Best Motion Picture Soundtrack


[edit] External links

[edit] References

1. TIME Magazine

2. Journal of Religion and Popular Culture