Oscar Winners - An American In Paris

MGM, 1951
Starring Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, and Georges Guetary
Directed by Vincent Minnelli
Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

Our first two Oscar-winners this week have a lot in common. Both are set in Paris, were made by MGM's famous "Freed unit" during the 50's, star French gamine Leslie Caron, were scored by popular composer-and-lyricist parings, and involve the romance between an older man and a younger woman. American In Paris is the modern-set one; along with taking home the Best Picture Oscar, it won Gene Kelly his only Oscar for his contributions to screen choreography. Does it soar like the dancers in its famous ballet in the finale? Let's head to Paris in the years following World War II and find out...

The Story: After World War II, American Jerry Mulligan (Kelly) stayed on in Paris to pursue his dream of painting. He's basically a starving artist in a tiny one-room apartment over a cafe, but he's happy having coffee and chatting with his buddy, the equally struggling pianist Adam Cook (Levant). Adam introduces him to his friend Henri (Guetary), who speaks eagerly of his new lover, Lise (Caron).

Jerry's career starts to take off when a rich American widow, Milo Roberts (Nina Foch), takes an interest in his work and offers to sponsor an art show for him. She brings him to a bar to meet her fashionable friends, but he's more interested in Lise. He tries dancing with her, with little success; he does better visiting her at the perfume shop where she works the next day. They go on dates and fall in love, but she keeps running off. Meanwhile, Milo rents an art studio for Jerry and says he'll be able to pay her back after his art exhibit. Jerry, however, is still in love with Lise...but he and Henri have no idea that the woman they love is one and the same.

The Song and Dance: As slight as the story is, it's relatively mature for a big Technicolor MGM extravaganza of the 1950's, with Jerry objecting to being kept for his looks rather than his work and Lise insisting that she stays with Henri because her protected her during World War II. Kelly, Caron, and Foch are all quite good as the central lovers, but they're overshadowed by the gorgeous costumes, production design, and cinematography, all inspired by real-life French artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Favorite Number: Gene Kelly has fun with French urchins, teaching them "I Got Rhythm" near a street flower shop. The kids have a great time watching Kelly's energetic tap dance. He also gets a rather sweet number with Levant, Guetary, and the old folks in the cafe in the opening, "By Strauss." In more traditional girls-and-stairs mode, Guetary scores with a flashy "I'll Build a Starway to Paradise." Caron and Kelly do a lovely pas de deux by the Seine to "Our Love Is Here To Stay." Levant's best moment is his dream sequence where he becomes a one-man orchestra - including conductor! - during a performance of the Concerto In F.

By far the most famous sequence from this film - and likely the reason it won Best Picture - is the famous American In Paris Ballet in the finale. Kelly, Caron, and the MGM chorus run through a riot of sound, color, and jazzy ballet, all done with stunning costumes and choreography evoking that Belle Epoque Paris of the early 20th century.

Trivia: That's Noel Neill, Lois Lane in the original TV Adventures of Superman, as the snooty art student who wants to discuss Jerry's paintings with him when he first displays them at Montmatre.

Two stage versions of this show debuted in the late 2000's-early 2010's. The first seems to have been limited to a regional theater at Houston. The second came to Broadway via France in 2015 and was a hit, running over a year.

What I Don't Like: The fine performances and gorgeous production help to mask the fact that the story is slight, and at times, a bit of a bore. Jerry and Lise aren't terribly exciting characters, and Jerry and Milo can both come off as a tad creepy with how they chase younger members of the opposite sex. By the end of the movie, you stop caring who's going to end up with whom and wonder when they're going to make it to that ballet.

The Big Finale: The ballet alone makes this worth checking out at least once if  you're a fan of dance, Kelly, the Gershwins, or Minnelli's work.

Home Media: Look out for the beautifully restored two-disc Special Edition DVD and Blu-Ray; it's also on several streaming platforms.

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