MGM’s publicity machine never attempted to downplay Charisse’s leggy image. The studio capitalized on it with an aggressive marketing stunt: insuring her legs for $5 million through Lloyd’s of London during the early 1950s. While film historians frequently cite this policy as an exaggerated promotional figure created by press agents, it permanently fixed her lower body as her core cinematic asset.
That public focus created a persistent myth about her overall frame. Audiences conflated long legs with extreme height. In reality, her legs measured approximately 34 inches on the inseam, an extraordinary ratio for a woman who was 5 feet 6 inches tall. When combined with tight sheath gowns, side slits, and high-contrast lighting that cast deep shadows along her quads, she seemed physically dominant on screen.
The studio took care not to break this illusion in publicity stills. Photographers regularly positioned Charisse on stairs one step above background actors or seated on pianos with her legs fully outstretched toward the camera lens. Wide-angle lenses used in musical numbers further accentuated perspective distortion, making her extremities appear considerably longer than they were in real life.
