Party Girl is a 1958 American film noir directed by Nicholas Ray and starring Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse and Lee J. Cobb.

After a long night of questioning by police, Farrell asks that Vicki be given a raise and featured number on stage at the Golden Rooster club, which Rico owns.

A cold-blooded killer, Cookie La Motte, is coming up for trial, but Farrell's frame of mind has changed and he would rather not defend such a man.

Cookie jumps bail, tired of the long wait in court, and plans to eliminate prosecuting attorney Stewart while at-large.

Cast notes The song under the opening credits, "Party Girl", was written by Nicholas Brodszky (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics), and was sung by Tony Martin, who was Cyd Charisse's husband.

[8] The scene where Angelo beats up Frankie Gasto – played by uncredited by former wrestler Aaron "Lord Spears" Saxon – was based on an incident supposedly involving Capone; it was also used by David Mamet in his screenplay for the 1987 film The Untouchables.

Having had problems with his last two, independently-produced films, and physically debilitated by the experiences, he signed to direct a studio film for MGM in order to get the security of one of the major Hollywood studios, and to work again with an earlier collaborator, Charles Schnee; the two had worked together on 1948's They Live by Night, and Schnee was scheduled to be the producer of Party Girl.

Ray also wanted to use period music to help recreate the era, but MGM, concerned that it would limit the film's public appeal, rejected that idea.

[1]Film noir historian Eddie Muller called Ray's use of color in Party Girl "nothing short of dazzling".

[8] The musical numbers were choreographed by Robert Sidney, who was forced to rehearse in Mexico with stand-ins because of a musicians' strike which ultimately caused the studios to disband their in-house orchestras.

[9] TV Guide's review praised the performances: "Party Girl offers only a standard story, but director Ray makes more of it through clever setups and inventive techniques, drawing forth excellent performances from Taylor (who is playing a role loosely based on Dixie Davis, lawyer for mob boss Dutch Schultz of New York, who later turned informant and married a beautiful showgirl).

"[10] Film critic Dennis Schwartz wrote, "Ray does wonders with George Wells' slight script through his masterful use of the camera to evoke the characters' alienation and vulnerability, and by also including exotic dance numbers and diverting costumes he creates some stunning visuals that have an eye-catching surreal look ...