April in Paris (1952)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

Jack Rose (screenplay)
Jack Rose (story)
(more)

Release Date:

17 April 1953 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

Sparkling as Champagne! The Year's Musical Eye-ful!

Plot:

Miss Ethel 'Dynamite' Jackson is a chorus girl who mistakingly receives an invitation from the State...

Plot Keywords:

Paris | Paris France | Diplomat | Festival | Showgirl

Cast

Doris Day	...	Ethel S. 'Dynamite' Jackson
Ray Bolger	...	S. 'Sam' Winthrop Putnam
Claude Dauphin	...	Philippe Fouquet
Eve Miller	...	Marcia Sherman
George Givot	...	François
Paul Harvey	...	Secretary Robert Sherman
Herbert Farjeon	...	Joshua Stevens
Wilson Millar	...	Sinclair Wilson
Raymond Largay	...	Joseph Welmar
John Alvin	...	Tracy
Jack Lomas	...	Cab Driver
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aladdin	...	Violinist in 'Rock the Boat Tonight' number (uncredited)
Betty Arlen	...	Young Woman (uncredited)
Mary Benoit	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Andrew Berner	...	Jacques Fourquet (uncredited)
Eugene Borden	...	Master Chef (uncredited)
Don Brodie	...	Employee (uncredited)
Ann Cameron	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Dee Carroll	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Mildred Carroll	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Jack Chefe	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Gabriel Conrad	...	First Officer (uncredited)
Robert Scott Correll	...	Charles Fourquet (uncredited)
Lorraine Crawford	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Tony Dante	...	Philippe's Driver (uncredited)
Henry Dar Boggia	...	Putnam's Driver (uncredited)
George Davis	...	Waiter with Bicarbonate of Soda (uncredited)
Jean De Briac	...	French Chairman at Festival of the Arts (uncredited)
Guy De Vestel	...	French Delegate (uncredited)
Juan Duval	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum	...	Ship Passenger (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Disembarking Airline Passenger / Ship's Passenger (uncredited)
Don Gray	...	Turkish Delegate (uncredited)
John Hedloe	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp	...	Airplane Pilot (uncredited)
Donald Kerr	...	Usher at Knickerbocker Theatre (uncredited)
Donna King	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Jarma Lewis	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Maurice Marsac	...	M. Dionne - France-America Lines Representative (uncredited)
Charles Marsh	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Shepard Menken	...	Sidewalk Cafe Waiter (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Ship Passenger Diner (uncredited)
Patricia Mitchell	...	Marie Fourquet (uncredited)
Leo Mostovoy	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Charles Murray Jr.	...	Reporter (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien	...	Usher at the Festival of the Arts (uncredited)
Nestor Paiva	...	Ship's Captain (uncredited)
Veronica Pataky	...	Mme. Mimi Fouquet (uncredited)
Joe Ploski	...	Ship Cook (uncredited)
Joey Ray	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Jill Richards	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Delfina Salazar	...	Yvonne Fourquet (uncredited)
Cosmo Sardo	...	Ship Waiter (uncredited)
Sharon Saunders	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Rolfe Sedan	...	Waiter (uncredited)
André Siméon	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	Man at the Festival of the Arts (uncredited)
Shirley Tegge	...	Chorine (uncredited)
Teresa Tudor	...	Mme. Dionne (uncredited)
Harry Tyler	...	Stage Doorman (uncredited)
Tommy Walker	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Patsy Weil	...	Jeanne Fourquet (uncredited)
Frances Zucco	...	Secretary (uncredited)

Directed by
David Butler

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jack Rose		screenplay
Jack Rose		story "Girl from Paris"
Melville Shavelson		screenplay
Melville Shavelson		story "Girl from Paris"

Produced by
William Jacobs	....	producer

Cinematography by
Wilfred M. Cline

Film Editing by
Irene Morra

Art Direction by
Leo K. Kuter

Set Decoration by
Lyle B. Reifsnider

Costume Design by
Leah Rhodes

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Philip Quinn	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Charles David Forrest	....	sound
C.A. Riggs	....	sound

Editorial Department
Mitchell Kovaleski	....	color consultant

Music Department
Frank Comstock	....	orchestrator
Vernon Duke	....	original song music
Ray Heindorf	....	musical director
Norman Luboff	....	music arranger: vocal arrangements
LeRoy Prinz	....	musical numbers
Ray Heindorf	....	composer: incidental music (uncredited)
Howard Jackson	....	composer: incidental music (uncredited)

Other crew
Donald Saddler	....	choreographer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1952) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2009) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Quotes:

Ethel S. 'Dynamite' Jackson: It's no use, Philippe. I'm in love with the man I married. And he's not even my husband!
Philippe Fouquet: Even in Paris, that's an unusual situation.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mary Tyler Moore: Divorce Isn't Everything (#1.4)" (1970)

Soundtrack:

April in Paris

"That's What Makes Paris PAREE!"

This picture was made when Doris Day was "Doris Day", that fresh-faced, delightful blond singer who lit up the screen with her beautiful smile and glorious singing.

"April in Paris", directed by David Butler was a colorful, joyous romp for Doris Day and Ray Bolger. Mr. Bolger has been criticized for not being a suitable co-star for Miss Day, but I felt he did a credible job in the picture. No, he was not handsome, like Rock Hudson, but Rock couldn't DANCE like Bolger!

And dance up a storm, he does! I enjoyed his acrobatic dance routines in "I'm Gonna Ring the Bell Tonight" and the political-themed dance with former Presidents' portraits, coming to life to dance with Bolger.

Doris Day, as Ethel "Dynamite" Jackson, a chorus girl, who is mistakenly chosen, instead of Ethel Barrymore, to represent America at a Paris Festival, is energetic and bouncy and mostly delightful. Her rendition of "April in Paris" was hauntingly beautiful and the highlight of the film.

The nicely staged, "It Must Be Him" also showcased Miss Day's glorious voice and dancing skills as did "That's What Makes Paris Paree".

Claude Dauphin lugubriously reprises the title tune in a side-walk cafe with the wind blowing bitterly while he sings the song to Doris Day.

To my knowledge, this is the only occasion in which Doris Day has a fist fight on the screen! If you can believe it, she was battling over Ray Bolger with Eve Miller, who also had the illusion that Bolger was "Clark Gable".

In the aforementioned, "I'm Gonna Ring the Bell Tonight", Doris Day opens the number with some rousing singing and later joins Bolger for some fancy footwork.

If you love Doris Day, you'll like this picture. As usual, there was able support by veteran actors like Paul Harvey, who later played "Henry Miller", proprietor of the Golden Garter in "Calamity Jane".