Zeus

Black Tights (1961)

• Director
  • Terence Young
• Writers
  • Roland Petit(adapted by)
  • Edmond Rostand(inspired by the novel by)
  • Prosper Mérimée(inspired by an opera by)
• Stars
  • Maurice Chevalier
  • Les Ballets de Paris
  • Zizi Jeanmaire

  Black Tights is a filmed ballet anthology divided into four all-dance episodes. "The Diamond Cruncher" spotlights Ziza Jeanmaire as a lady mobster who gives up her life of crime for the love of a good man. "Cyrano de Bergerac" stars Roland Petit (who also choreographed) as Cyrano and Moira Shearer as Roxanne; its music was composed by Marius Constant, of Twilight Zone fame. "A Merry Mourning" finds Cyd Charisse flittering her way into a deadly romantic triangle. And "Carmen," starring Jeanmaire once more, is the old story, danced rather than sung to the music of Bizet. Both the French and English-language versions of Black Tights are narrated by Maurice Chevalier.