An American in Paris (1951)

Three friends struggle to find work in Paris. However, things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman.

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Alan Jay Lerner (story), Alan Jay Lerner (screenplay)

Stars:

Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant

Won 6 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gene Kelly	...	Jerry Mulligan
Leslie Caron	...	Lise Bouvier
Oscar Levant	...	Adam Cook
Georges Guétary	...	Henri Baurel (as Georges Guetary)
Nina Foch	...	Milo Roberts
The American In Paris Ballet	...	Ballet Dancers

Storyline

Jerry Mulligan, a struggling American painter in Paris, is "discovered" by an influential heiress with an interest in more than Jerry's art. Jerry in turn falls for Lise, a young French girl already engaged to a cabaret singer. Jerry jokes, sings and dances with his best friend, an acerbic would-be concert pianist, while romantic complications abound.

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Plot Keywords:

singer | painter | pianist | art | french | 

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Taglines:

What a joy! It's M-G-M's Technicolor musical!

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Genres:

Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German

Release Date:

11 November 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ein Amerikaner in Paris

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,723,903 (estimated)

Gross:

$4,500,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Loew's

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A famous painter was hired to create the paintings that Gene Kelly displays on the streets of Paris.

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Goofs

Shadow tracks across Henri while he is seated singing "'S Wonderful", as the camera begins to pull back.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jerry Mulligan: This is Paris, and I'm an American who lives here. My name is Jerry Mulligan, and I'm an ex G.I. In 1945 when the army told me to find my own job, I stayed on. And I'll tell you why: I'm a painter, and all my life that's all I've ever wanted to do.

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Connections

Spoofed in The Band Wagon (1953)

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Soundtracks

"'S Wonderful"
(1927) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Played during the opening credits
Sung and Danced by Gene Kelly
Sung, Whistled, and Hummed by Georges Guétary

User Reviews

Experiencing Paris With Gershwin

Gene Kelly came up with some really grand ideas for musicals while with MGM. Here he's at the top of his creative powers working with the Arthur Freed musical unit. Hard to believe when you watch An American In Paris that the players never left the back lot at MGM.

The magic of An American In Paris is due to the creative editing under the direction of Vincent Minnelli and the sets that MGM designed blended with some background establishing shots. The idea of the film originated with Kelly who wanted simply to do a film with a lengthy ballet sequence involving George Gershwin's tone poem An American in Paris. It sounded good to Arthur Freed who approached Ira Gershwin who said fine with him as long as they used other Gershwin material.

Gershwin got the kind of deal for Gershwin music that Irving Berlin normally got. Not one note of non-Gershwin music is heard in An American in Paris. Listen to some of the background music and you will hear things like Embraceable You and But Not For Me which are not real musical numbers.

Another guy who was a fair hand at writing lyrics, Alan Jay Lerner, wrote the story which admittedly is a thin one. All about an ex-GI played by Gene Kelly who after World War II never left France, just settled into an apartment on the Left Bank and proceeded to become a starving artist. He lives with eccentric composer Oscar Levant and does that ever sound like a redundancy.

Two women are interested in him. Another expatriate American played by Nina Foch who wants to sponsor him as a painter if he'll reciprocate in other matters. But Kelly falls for a shop girl played by Leslie Caron in her film debut. Caron also has musical comedy star Georges Guetary interested in here.

Of course the plot is just an excuse to sing and dance to the music of George Gershwin. An American in Paris happens to be the first film I ever saw as an in flight movie on the first airplane trip I ever took. I still remember flying back from Phoenix Arizona to Kennedy Airport seeing Gene Kelly doing I've Got Rhythm. My favorite number in the film however is Tra-La-La which Kelly sings and dances all over the apartment with Oscar Levant playing the piano. At one point Kelly dances on top of the baby grand piano.

In a book about Arthur Freed, I read a quote where he said in the American in Paris ballet sequence was to be done with the background of the French impressionists which he felt the public would take to rather than a realistic setting on the streets or back lot. So it happened that way. Kelly had done lengthy ballet sequences in Words and Music, The Pirate, and On the Town. But this one topped them all. Still does in my opinion and that includes some of Gene Kelly's later films.

In a surprise upset at the Oscars, An American In Paris was chosen best picture for 1951, beating out the heavily favored A Streetcar Named Desire. I guess fantasy trumped realism that year. Big budgets also have an upper hand in these things as well.

Still An American in Paris is one of the best movie musicals ever done and since the studios no longer have all that creative talent under one roof, something less likely to be repeated.