Les Girls (1957)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

John Patrick (screenplay)
Vera Caspary (story)

Release Date:

26 December 1957 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

They're the most vivacious...vexacious...flirtatious personalities in gay Paree!

Plot:

After writing a tell-all book about her days in the dance troupe "Barry Nichols and Les Girls", Sybil...

Plot Keywords:

Dancer | Dance | Told In Flashback | Courtroom | Backstage

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Gene Kelly	...	Barry Nichols
Mitzi Gaynor	...	Joanne 'Joy' Henderson
Kay Kendall	...	Lady Sybil Wren
Taina Elg	...	Angèle Ducros
Jacques Bergerac	...	Pierre Ducros
Leslie Phillips	...	Sir Gerald Wren
Henry Daniell	...	Judge
Patrick Macnee	...	Sir Percy
Stephen Vercoe	...	Mr. Outward
Philip Tonge	...	Associate Judge

Also Known As:

Cole Porter's Les Girls (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (35 mm optical prints)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Australia:G (TV rating) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Sol C. Siegel Productions

Trivia:

On the DVD, 'Tania Elg' says the original cast was supposed to include Cyd Charisse as the American girl, Leslie Caron as the French girl and Kay Kendall as the English girl. Cyd Charisse decided to do Silk Stockings (1957) instead, so Mitzi Gaynor took her part. At one point, Kay Kendall didn't want to do the film and Tania Elg was tested for her part. Ms. Kendall took the part after all, but then Leslie Caron withdrew. Tania Elg was tested for THAT part and received her first major film role.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Barry walks away from Joy after he first fakes heart problems at the outside market, Joy's voice can be heard telling the salesperson in French that she wants celery. But as she is turning her head to watch Barry leave, you can clearly see that her mouth is not moving.

Quotes:

Angèle Ducros: Oh, you English. When will you learn that love is a souffle, not a pudding?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Rat Race (1960)

Soundtrack:

The Rope Dance

Refreshing musical, ultimately spineless

Appealing but relatively uninspired vehicle for Gene Kelly's talents which contains some moments of great charm thanks to stars Kelly and Gaynor (a silent shot of her chewing on a carrot and trying to "gab" at practically the same time is one of the best parts of the movie!). Music is good, but not Porter's best (how many times has that been said? And truthfully? Many times), and Kelly's obligatory "grand finale" feels like an afterthought. The surrealist spoof of "The Wild One" just doesn't hold up for the length or show Gaynor off to best advantage. While very good, the writing doesn't allow for likeable characters. Big mistake on Kelly's part to go in this direction, although this type of characterization is his most effective; it's just that the split "he said, she said" style of the plot's structure lets too many loose threads get in the way, and we can't see where Gaynor and Kelly's real romance is coming from until it hits us like a truck. Got to give Kelly credit for not just making another movie with a bunch of old songs mixed together, but the story should have been more centered on the characters of the lovers, and not the french ingenues.