March of 1960 Brought Us Can-Can!

It’s no surprise that I’m a huge Sinatra fan. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased when I saw this movie for the first time. I actually bought it without ever having seen it before and it was worth it. It’s a lot of fun that features some great songs by Cole Porter, including “Just One of Those Things,” “Let’s Do It” and “I Love Paris.”

Synopsis:

Simone owns a nightclub that performs the illegal can-can dance. She is able to evade arrest until a new judge comes to town. Simone uses her feminine wilds to try to sway him to her side, while her boyfriend Francois fears losing her.

Note: Depending on how much you know of the time, you way wonder why the can-can is illegal as it’s seriously not scandalous in the film. While the ladies in the movie are, of course, fully covered, in the actual dance, most of the time, women did not wear any underwear while they performed it.

 

The Players:

Frank Sinatra

Let’s be real, Frank is pretty much always awesome in musicals. This movie is no exception. He has a ton of songs and they’re all executed beautifully. He has a true gift for delivering lyrics. His character is fun, even though he’s terrified of commitment. That is a common theme of some of his movies, until he finds the right woman {like The Tender Trap and Pal Joey}.

Shirley MacLaine

Now, I’ll be real. I haven’t seen many of her movies. Besides this one, I’ve only seen Some Came Running and The Apartment. I remember enjoying both, but I feel like she really shines in Can-Can. She is honestly, just adorable. She is spunky and fun and a bit crazy.

Maurice Chevalier

There’s a certain charm about Maurice Chevalier. I like his character in this movie slightly more than Gigi, which is the only other movie I’ve seen him in. He’s kind of a dirty old man.. haha. I’m sorry, but “Thank Heaven For Little Girls” from Gigi is a bit strange in my opinion. He does pair well with Louis Jourdan again here as he did in Gigi though. They have a fun chemistry as you can see in the clip below.

Louis Jourdan

As with Chevalier, Gigi is the only other film of Louis Jourdan that I’ve seen, but I really like him in both. He has a very pleasant singing voice as well. He’s also very charismatic and charming in both of these roles.

Why you should check it out:

First and foremost, the music in this movie is great and the actors make it so fun. It’s an enjoyable movie that shows these great actors in a very fun light.