Party Girl

Or the optimistic version of Johnny Guitar, set in Prohibition Chicago. Robert Taylor has the limp, Cyd Charisse is the dancer, and both are prostitutes of a kind (he a gangster's lawyer, she a party girl) who use each other as emotional crutches before achieving mutual independence and trust. Although the script is poor, Ray's handling of colour and scope is as masterful as ever. Too often consigned to the 'fabulous but flawed' bin, Party Girl is far better than that. As in all Ray's films, ideas and emotions are transformed into stunning visuals, as when Lee J Cobb's gangster shoots up a portrait of Jean Harlow after he discovers that she's recently got married.