Viewing Single Post From: An American in Paris (1951)

Viewing Single Post From: An American in Paris (1951)
Laughing Gravy	May 1 2009, 08:49 PM
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,069 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Gene Kelly is an ex-GI painter (and apparently song & dance man) living in Paris; Oscar Levant is his pal, a concert pianist (which is a euphemism for "unemployed"); Georges Guétary is Oscar's bud, a music hall performer a la Maurice Chevalier. Leslie Caron is the young woman who is about to marry Georges but who falls in love with Gene (sorry, Oscar). All this is set in beautiful Technicolor against a Parisian backdrop, with plenty of Gershwin tunes and a 20-minute ballet to cap things off. Won Best Picture and a slew of other Oscars, and a year later Kelly made Singin' in the Rain with Stanley Donen and that film was considered a disappointment after this one, although that one's become the favorite as the years rolled by. As many times as I've seen Singin' (and that is a lot), I had never seen American until today. It's very, very good indeed but does lack some of the charm and most of the laughs of its successor. Gene Kelly is, I think, at his very best here, and he did the choreography too. His number of "I Got Rhythm" with a bunch of French kids was my favorite part of the film (I watched it twice so I could see how delighted the kids were the second time) and he has many sequences where he dazzled me with his athleticism. Leslie Caron was no actress (at least, not at that point in her career) and I don't find her very pretty and I didn't see much chemistry between her and Gene, but oh, my, my could she dance. Incredible. Ya gotta overlook her shortcomings when she stands up on her toes and the music begins. I thought Guétary was terrible and I can see why he was quickly out of Hollywood and back in France where he belonged. I didn't care at all for Nina Foch as the predator heiress after Gene, either; dull, ugly, and scary. In addition to Kelly's dancing, Vincente Minnelli's clever direction and the wonderful "An American in Paris" ballet are reason enough to enjoy this excellent film; I liked it a lot. (And I got a big kick out of the sets designed to represent famous French painters, too!)


An American in Paris (1951) · Singin' and Dancin'