Can-Can

A lawyer (Frank Sinatra) and a judge (Louis Jourdan) vie for the affections of a café owner (Shirley MacLaine) accused of staging a forbidden dance, the can-can.

Can-Can starts off well. Sinatra oozes an easy charm and seems to take the film with the right amount of salt—especially given that he’s supposed to be a Frenchman. The rest of the cast also proves capable as the movie eases through a few musical numbers and introduces Louis Jourdan.

Then everything starts to fall apart. Sinatra disappears for long stretches and the movie begins to drag. A little after the one hour mark I was ready for the film to be over, and indeed it could have been, but unfortunately there was yet another hour left to go.