One of the best of the ballet films, BLACK TIGHTS offers four separate story segments, all narrated by Chevalier and choreographed by Petit.
"The Diamond Cruncher", with a story by Petit and English lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, is a fairy tale about a young female mobster (Jeanmaire, Petit's wife) who learns that it's more fun to eat cabbages with the man you love (Sanders) than it is to crunch diamonds. "Cyrano", with costumes by St.
Laurent and music by Marius Constant, features Petit himself dancing the title role, Reich as Christian and the radiant Shearer (of THE RED SHOES fame) as Roxanne. "A Merry Mourning", meanwhile, another story by Petit, opens with a man (Van Manen) chiding his wife (Charisse) for admiring an
expensive, frilly gown in a Paris window. He is challenged to a duel by Petit and promptly killed, whereupon his widow buys the gown and immediately attracts the eye of her husband's killer. In "Carmen," the famous Bizet story is retold with dance instead of song.
The film's title, BLACK TIGHTS, sounds more like a 1980s De Palma film than a feast for ballet lovers, and has perhaps kept the film from appealing to its intended audience. Technically brilliant and handsomely filmed, this beautifully danced film is valuable as a record of some of the era's top
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