jacobs-greenwood Directed by Roy Rowland and written by Isobel Lennart, this average musical comedy romance's Score received an Academy Award nomination. Though it features the beautifully talented Cyd Charisse as an aloof ballet dancer who's just discovering the world outside of her own sheltered existence, Dan Dailey seems an odd (unworthy?) choice as her top billed co-star.Even though their lead characters' magical romance is purposefully a pairing of unequals, I think you have to be a fan of Dailey's to accept his folksy, homespun, losing gambler cowboy (let alone his singing) that's suddenly found his lucky charm in Charisse. Plus, Agnes Moorehead plays his (vibrantly dyed) red-headed mother back at the ranch! Jim Backus as a frustrated hotel manager, Lili Darvas as a Las Vegas-style dance talent, and Paul Henreid (among others) also appear.It's not a total washout though: it's fun trying to spot the various uncredited Las Vegas star cameos (including Peter Lorre, Debbie Reynolds and Frank Sinatra) sprinkled throughout, Lena Horne and Frankie Laine (and Mitsuko Sawamura) perform, and Sammy Davis Jr. (also uncredited) narrates Charisse's "Frankie and Johnny" routine. Plus, there's an hilarious bit where Charisse's ballerina character, tired of competing with Sari Hatvani (Darvas) for Dailey's attentions, gets a bit tipsy and joins some cancan showgirls on stage; this scene is topped by her demonstration of it to Lili (Liliane Montevecchi), a former ballet star that chaperons Maria Corvier (Charisse) for manager (Henreid).Oskar Karlweis plays Lotzi, a blackjack dealer at the Sands, where Maria performs, who's friends with Chuck Rodwell (Dailey), and even holds the winnings. George Chakiris plays a young groom who's honeymooning with his young bride (Betty Lynn). Dick Elliot (uncredited) plays one of the Sands co-owners for whom Tom Culdane (Backus) works.Chuck is a gambler who never wins until he grabs the passing ballerina's hand for luck and finds he can't lose when he's holding it. This eventually creates a spark of romance between the two and Maria learns that Chuck is actually a successful rancher who gambles away his profits to fill up his empty life. He takes her to his ranch where uncredited Roscoe Ates and Lee Tung Foo play a ranch hand and a cook, respectively, and his "cranky" mother, Miss Hattie (Moorehead), runs things in his absence.Their magic continues there: when Chuck holds Maria's hand, the chickens lay eggs, a cow with an upset stomach gives birth to a calf, and a hole in the ground starts to spout black gold (e.g. oil). When they return to the Sands, Maria's absent manager has arrived but the couple's magic has disappeared.Want to guess whether it all works out in the end?

PudgyPandaMan I primarily started to watch this to see who Cyd Charisse was. I heard a lot about her through the years, and know she passed away this year to much fanfare. So I wanted to check her out.This movie was perhaps not the best movie to try to showcase her talents. Let me start by saying Im not a huge fan of the Musical genre to begin with. I often find their plots to be lacking and contrived. This one was no different.Cyd was indeed very beautiful and a talented dancer. Her acting was so-so, however. I guess I just don't find loosely strung together numbers with no real plot to tie everything together a waste of time.

crispy_comments Why do I feel like I'm watching a long commercial for Las Vegas casinos and resorts? Probably because the plot is terribly thin: an unlucky gambler discovers he can't lose as long as he's holding a dancer's hand - a frosty workaholic dancer who's never had time for love. Will she thaw? Will they get together? Will their love last if their winning streak doesn't? You may wonder, how can a movie stretch out such a simple story over 112 minutes? By pausing frequently to allow then-current Vegas acts to strut their stuff! It feels like the filmmakers are saying, "Here's a preview of some spectacular shows you can see if you come on down to Las Vegas right now! Don't you want to see more? Y'know, we had to censor the girls' numbers for this movie...so come check them out in the flesh and you'll see a LOT more. Flesh, that is. Well anyway... COME TO VEGAS!" Geez, there's even a lengthy montage of billboards at various nightclubs so we can see all the names flashing in lights and know exactly who's performing, and where. I wonder if these people paid for the plug? It would be like some studio making a movie today, set in Vegas, and showing a bit of Celine Dion's act to attract more business her way. It's just...tacky. But then, so is Vegas. And Celine. They're a perfect tacky match. A much more convincing match than Cyd & Dan are in this movie. (See how I got back on topic there?)Anyway, I never had the desire to hit the casinos, and I'm even less interested in visiting the City of Sin now. The harder this film tries to convince me that you win more often than you lose, and everybody in Vegas is so gosh darn nice - the less I buy it.The celebrity cameos are kinda fun (in a "oh, there's so-and-so, I'm surprised" way, not because they're actually *doing* anything amusing), but pointless (unless the point is to show us that these celebs endorse Vegas - ooh maybe we'll spot 'em there! Let's go!) Dan Dailey is a grinning fool. Agnes Moorehead is good, but wasted in a tiny part. Cyd Charisse has some funny moments, even if she is basically repeating the same kind of role she played in "Silk Stockings" - complete with comical tipsy scene. Once she was uptight. Now she's just tight and barely upright. Haw! I guess this is considered a musical, but unlike the best musicals, the songs in "Meet Me In Las Vegas" are not integrated into the story (what story?) - They do not help propel the plot forward. Instead, the action simply stops for an unrelated musical number. The songs aren't particularly memorable, and the choreography is uninspired. Cyd gets her chance to dance, but I kept getting distracted by the fact that I'd seen all these moves before! Oh, there's the step she did in "Singin' In The Rain", and she did *that* in "The Bandwagon"...etc, etc.Not the worst movie in the world - just insubstantial, blatantly commercial and mercenary. I prefer movies that at least *appear* to have a higher goal than just trying to sell me something. I also enjoy clever dialogue and deeper characterization. Am I asking too much? Okay, how about some catchy songs? No? Well, I took a chance on this movie, and I lost. Better luck next time!

bkoganbing One of the great blunders committed by MGM was the fact that Cyd Charisse was never cast opposite her husband Tony Martin. Right around this time musicals were winding down, but Tony and Cyd were just getting started on a joint nightclub act that made them a premier attraction around the country for many years.Don't get me wrong, Dan Dailey is a fine performer and he did a good job in the male lead role. But I would love to have seen Tony Martin playing the role of the rancher who gets on a hot winning streak at the Las Vegas casinos after he holds Cyd Charisse's hand. Making matters worse is the fact that Tony Martin does do one of the unbilled cameos in this film.Cyd Charisse has some fine dance numbers, especially the Frankie and Johnny finale where she danced to the famous blues song sung offscreen by Sammy Davis, Jr. Dan Dailey has some good numbers as well, he does a nice soft shoe routine with a young Japanese girl to My Lucky Charm which was earlier sung by Jerry Colonna.The nice thing about this film is the fact that because of the Las Vegas location you can integrate a whole lot of celebrities doing numbers and not have it mess with the story. Lena Horne, Frankie Laine and Jerry Colonna all do some nice musical numbers. Around the casinos one will spot besides Tony Martin, Debbie Reynolds, Peter Lorre, and the man most identified with the Vegas scene shortly, Frank Sinatra.Other members of the cast that have good supporting roles are Jim Backus as the casino manager, Agnes Moorehead as Dailey's mother, and Paul Henreid as Charisse's manager. Some of Henreid's performance seems to be modelled on that of Charisse's first husband Nico, according to the stories Charisse told in her joint memoirs with Tony Martin.Meet Me in Las Vegas is good musical entertainment, but what a blown opportunity not to have had Tony and Cyd as leads in a musical.