An American In Paris is not only the crown jewel of the MGM musical pantheon--it is quite simply the greatest musical ever filmed! The music of George Gershwin is staged and performed so magnificently and memorably that it is hard to imagine a greater production unit who could bring such majesty to the screen. So many famous stories surround the filming of an An American In Paris that most of them now are legend. From studio boss Dore Shary's uncertainty over the financing of the project to the groundbreaking final ballet running an unprecedented 18 minutes, An American In Paris remains the most incomparable musical of the 20th Century.
The MGM troupe of actors, producers, directors, and choreographers known as the "Fried Unit" (named after producer Arthur Freid) reached their zenith when An American In Paris was made. Yet how ironic that the musical was produced after studio mogul Louis B. Mayer had been axed by Loew's executives and replaced by Dory Shary in 1951. For Mayer's tastes fell heavily upon musicals while Shary preferred the stark realism of his first studio offerings: THE ASPHALT JUNGLE and BATTLEGROUND. It was Gene Kelly himself who went to Shary and pleaded with him to go forward with production. Though Shary said he understood little of what Kelly and choreographer Stanley Donan were talking about, he nevertheless gave the green light.
Kelly's selection and personal mentoring of the dazzling Leslie Caron was a stroke of genius. Caron had been an 18 yr. old ballerina in France and resisted coming to Hollywood to make any movie. But bowing to her mother's influence, Caron did come to America and was cast in the role of Lisa Bourvier, the appealing young French woman engaged to Georges Guetary, who, at the time the film was made, was a musical performer at the Follies Bergier. And how lucky we are that she was cast. She falls for Kelly immediately, an ex-GI living in post-war Paris who takes up painting and is supported by his rich mistress (Nina Foch). The on-screen chemistry between Kelly and Caron is electric from start to finish. And their dance of Gershwin's Our Love Is Here To Stay, performed in the Parisian moonlight, is one of the most unforgettable of musical moments.
Nina Foch is sharply effective as Kelly's acerbic lover who finances his artistic endeavors while keeping him in check. And Oscar Levant? Who better to wash over the piano keyboard playing the music of George Gershwin than the man who knew him best and who once performed Concerto in F so well that some said he did it better than Gershwin himself. Guetary was a splendid choice as Caron's fiancé who "sees the light" near the end and realizes that Caron can never be his. As for Vincente Minelli's direction: the final ballet stands as his masterpiece and has been cemented into Hollywood history forever.
Of course, Kelly shoots through the film like a meteor. From his wonderful interaction with the children in I GOT RHYTHM to the stunning finale where he switches moods, tempos, and costumes to fit the changing rhythms of Gershwin's immortal symphony, it is simply Kelly's most memorable performance. You can enjoy the wonderful soft shoe in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, the deft newspaper dance in SUMMER STOCK, or shake your head at the roller skates number in IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER, but even those fantastic efforts pale in comparison to the finale of An American In Paris. Ironic that the entire ballet occurs in Kelly's mind as a dream fantasy--for who knows how long it may have been Kelly's dream to team the music of George Gershwin with the backdrop of Paris and the artistic images of Loutrec.
Everyone should be treated at one time or another to An American In Paris. And if the opportunity arises, it must be seen on the screen, not television. Like CITIZEN KANE or THE WIZARD OF OZ, it towers as one of filmdom's grandest experiences---and qualifies easily for inclusion in the top 10 of Hollywood's highest artistic achievements.
Trivia: Only two movie musicals won the Academy Award for Best Picture of the Year in the 1950's: An American In Paris and GIGI-- both MGM productions and both orchestrated within the 'Fried Unit.'...Leslie Caron has said she wanted nothing to do with Hollywood when she was contacted to make a screen test at the age of 18. But her mother finally persuaded her to go to America and be cast in the film...Movie censors were very concerned about Caron's "dance with a chair" that was seen to be too suggestive. Caron has said: "What could you possibly do with a chair?"....Gene Kelly researched not only the art and images of Toulouse Loutrec for the final ballet, but the life of Chocolate--the African dancer who Loutrec painted at the Follies Begier whom Kelly brings to life in the ballet...Many have said that Oscar Levant's fantasy sequence where he plays Concerto In F, then conducts the orchestra, and finally applauds his own efforts wildly from the audience when it's over, was representative of his hunger for the approval he felt escaped him all his musical career...In Levant's autobiography one of the chapters is titled: "My Autobiography Or: The Life Of George Gershwin."....The sidewalk café scene in which Levant brings his coffee cup up to his mouth and smashes his cigarette after he realizes both Kelly and Guetary are in love with the same woman, was completely spontaneous...In 1974 THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT, an anthology of MGM musical greatness, was produced by Jack Haily, Jr. as a wave of musical nostalgia swept over the entertainment world. The climax and final portion of the film, introduced by Frank Sinatra, was a tribute to AN American IN Paris with excerpts from the ballet finale. Standing in front of the Thallberg Building, Sinatra begins by saying, "We've saved the best for last..."...
Dennis Caracciolo
The MGM troupe of actors, producers, directors, and choreographers known as the "Fried Unit" (named after producer Arthur Freid) reached their zenith when An American In Paris was made. Yet how ironic that the musical was produced after studio mogul Louis B. Mayer had been axed by Loew's executives and replaced by Dory Shary in 1951. For Mayer's tastes fell heavily upon musicals while Shary preferred the stark realism of his first studio offerings: THE ASPHALT JUNGLE and BATTLEGROUND. It was Gene Kelly himself who went to Shary and pleaded with him to go forward with production. Though Shary said he understood little of what Kelly and choreographer Stanley Donan were talking about, he nevertheless gave the green light.
Kelly's selection and personal mentoring of the dazzling Leslie Caron was a stroke of genius. Caron had been an 18 yr. old ballerina in France and resisted coming to Hollywood to make any movie. But bowing to her mother's influence, Caron did come to America and was cast in the role of Lisa Bourvier, the appealing young French woman engaged to Georges Guetary, who, at the time the film was made, was a musical performer at the Follies Bergier. And how lucky we are that she was cast. She falls for Kelly immediately, an ex-GI living in post-war Paris who takes up painting and is supported by his rich mistress (Nina Foch). The on-screen chemistry between Kelly and Caron is electric from start to finish. And their dance of Gershwin's Our Love Is Here To Stay, performed in the Parisian moonlight, is one of the most unforgettable of musical moments.
Nina Foch is sharply effective as Kelly's acerbic lover who finances his artistic endeavors while keeping him in check. And Oscar Levant? Who better to wash over the piano keyboard playing the music of George Gershwin than the man who knew him best and who once performed Concerto in F so well that some said he did it better than Gershwin himself. Guetary was a splendid choice as Caron's fiancé who "sees the light" near the end and realizes that Caron can never be his. As for Vincente Minelli's direction: the final ballet stands as his masterpiece and has been cemented into Hollywood history forever.
Of course, Kelly shoots through the film like a meteor. From his wonderful interaction with the children in I GOT RHYTHM to the stunning finale where he switches moods, tempos, and costumes to fit the changing rhythms of Gershwin's immortal symphony, it is simply Kelly's most memorable performance. You can enjoy the wonderful soft shoe in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, the deft newspaper dance in SUMMER STOCK, or shake your head at the roller skates number in IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER, but even those fantastic efforts pale in comparison to the finale of An American In Paris. Ironic that the entire ballet occurs in Kelly's mind as a dream fantasy--for who knows how long it may have been Kelly's dream to team the music of George Gershwin with the backdrop of Paris and the artistic images of Loutrec.
Everyone should be treated at one time or another to An American In Paris. And if the opportunity arises, it must be seen on the screen, not television. Like CITIZEN KANE or THE WIZARD OF OZ, it towers as one of filmdom's grandest experiences---and qualifies easily for inclusion in the top 10 of Hollywood's highest artistic achievements.
Trivia: Only two movie musicals won the Academy Award for Best Picture of the Year in the 1950's: An American In Paris and GIGI-- both MGM productions and both orchestrated within the 'Fried Unit.'...Leslie Caron has said she wanted nothing to do with Hollywood when she was contacted to make a screen test at the age of 18. But her mother finally persuaded her to go to America and be cast in the film...Movie censors were very concerned about Caron's "dance with a chair" that was seen to be too suggestive. Caron has said: "What could you possibly do with a chair?"....Gene Kelly researched not only the art and images of Toulouse Loutrec for the final ballet, but the life of Chocolate--the African dancer who Loutrec painted at the Follies Begier whom Kelly brings to life in the ballet...Many have said that Oscar Levant's fantasy sequence where he plays Concerto In F, then conducts the orchestra, and finally applauds his own efforts wildly from the audience when it's over, was representative of his hunger for the approval he felt escaped him all his musical career...In Levant's autobiography one of the chapters is titled: "My Autobiography Or: The Life Of George Gershwin."....The sidewalk café scene in which Levant brings his coffee cup up to his mouth and smashes his cigarette after he realizes both Kelly and Guetary are in love with the same woman, was completely spontaneous...In 1974 THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT, an anthology of MGM musical greatness, was produced by Jack Haily, Jr. as a wave of musical nostalgia swept over the entertainment world. The climax and final portion of the film, introduced by Frank Sinatra, was a tribute to AN American IN Paris with excerpts from the ballet finale. Standing in front of the Thallberg Building, Sinatra begins by saying, "We've saved the best for last..."...
Dennis Caracciolo