Oscar Winners - Gigi

MGM, 1958
Starring Leslie Caron, Louis Jordan, Maurice Chevalier, and Hermione Gingold
Directed by Vincent Minnelli
Music by Fredrick Loewe; Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner

Along with having many things in common with our previous film An American In Paris, this one also has a lot in common with My Fair Lady, which would have still been running on Broadway when this movie came out. It uses a lot of the same creative team, once again has a story involving the relationship between a vivacious girl and a middle-aged man, and a cool old guy steals the show and has some of the best numbers (including a duet with the equally cool old lady). How does the story of a charming teenager and her relationship with a wealthy playboy look now? Let's return to Paris, this time in the early 1900's, and find out...

The Story: Parisian school girl Gigi (Caron) doesn't understand why her Grandmama (Gingold) keeps sending her to dull lessons in manners and charm with her strict Aunt Alicia (Isobel Jeans). She thinks it's all silly. Her grandmother and aunt would disagree. They're training her to become a courtesan - a high-class call girl - so she'll have some security later in life.

Gigi's not the only one who's bored. Gaston Lachaille (Jordan) is also tired of living the outsized and outrageous life of a playboy and dilettante. He's especially fed up with his latest mistress Liane (Eva Gabor) after she cheats on him with her ice skating teacher. His uncle Honore (Maurice Chevalier) encourages his partying, but he's weary of the whole society scene. He visits Gigi and her grandmother to escape the tedium and spend time with with the vivacious teenager. Gigi gets him to take them to the seaside, and they have a wonderful time...but now Grandmama and Aunt Alicia are convinced that the time is right for Gigi to make her debut as an adult. Gaston's not as sure that he's ready for Gigi to grow up; he fears he'll lose the charming "little sister" who brought  him so much delight.

The Song and Dance: This is considered to be the last major original musical from the famous "Freed Unit" at MGM...and what a way to go! Vincent Minnelli's work in this is outstanding, some of the best he ever did. There's a few outright gorgeous shots here; my favorite is right before the finale, as Gaston is contemplating why Gigi got so upset after he dragged her out of Maxim's. We see him at night, in silhouette against a flowing, glittering fountain, and it's framed beautifully. I adore his use of color here, from the brilliant red room where Gigi and her grandmother live to the glowing pastels of Paris in the spring. Most of the film was made on location in France, including the real Paris, and it's all the better for it.

What I really love about this one is how intimate it is, especially compared to some of the more "epic" musicals of the 50's and 60's. For all the sumptuous trappings, it's really just the story of a man watching a young girl grow up before his eyes...maybe a little too quickly for his taste. It's a relatively quiet story compared to some of the larger ones we'll be seeing here next week, and for all the talk of courtesans and the life they lead, it's actually quite elegant and classy.

Favorite Number: The title song won the Oscar, probably for the scene in which Gaston sings it while wandering around a stunningly-shot Paris, but my two favorites from this score occur before and during the trip to Trouville. Having won her vacation with Gaston in a card game, Gigi celebrates with "The Night They Invented Champagne." The song is energetic and fun, especially Gingold and Jordan's spontaneous little dance. Grandmama has her own fun with Honore at Trouville when they recall their original affair many years before in the rueful and witty "I Remember It Well."

Maurice Chevalier revived his career in the US with his performance of "Well" and two more hits. He opens the movie with "Thank Heavens For Little Girls" and responds to Gaston's romantic difficulties with Gigi towards the end with "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore."

Trivia: It won nine Oscars in every category it was nominated, including Best Picture, cinematography, score, adapted screenplay, song, editing, costumes, and production design. It was a record at the time, one that would be bested a year later by another big MGM movie, Ben-Hur.

Two of the songs heard here were originally written for other projects. Gigi's wistful ballad "Say a Prayer for Me Tonight" was intended for Eliza to sing before the ball in My Fair Lady, but was cut before the show hit Broadway. Lerner had originally penned the lyrics and title of "I Remember It Well" for a Broadway show he did with Kurt Weill called Love Life and re-wrote them slightly to fit Gigi.

There was a Broadway version that debuted in 1973, with long-time stage star Alfred Drake as Honore, Daniel Massey as Gaston, and Karin Wolfe as Gigi. It was a surprise flop, only lasting four months. A revival in 2015 with Vanessa Hudgens as Gigi made a little over two months.

What I Don't Like: First of all, they way they treat Lianne's attempted suicide is appalling. Granted, they do mention she's done this before and survived, but the men in particular celebrate it and their ability to drive women mad. There's also the whole "courtesan" thing to consider. On one hand, I can understand Aunt Alicia and Mamita wanting niece and granddaughter to have some means of support in her later years, and courtesans were among the few women in Belle Epoque Paris with any real means of controlling their freedom, but they're basically training her to be a very fancy prostitute...and as she frequently complains, she has little say in the matter. She does have a point in her solo "The Parisians" that love is a lot more than that - it's the reason Gaston is bored.

Chevalier's "Thank Heavens" can come off as less slyly winking and and more uncomfortably close to pedophile territory for many audiences today, especially given he sings this around little girls in the opening. (There's a reason Mamita and Aunt Alicia perform this song in the 2015 stage revival.) Also, like My Fair Lady, the intimate story allows for very little dancing. Mamita and Gaston's routine in "The Night They Invented Champagne" is pretty much it.

The Big Picture: The elegant production, lovely music, and outstanding cast helps one overlook some of the more questionable or dated aspects of the plot. If you're a fan of Chevalier, Minnelli's other work, or the musicals of MGM's "Golden Age," this is absolutely worth checking out.

Home Media: As an Oscar-winner and one of the most popular musicals of the 1950's, this is quite easy to find in all major formats, including some streaming platforms.

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