American in Paris

Rating

Director

Vincente Minnelli

Screenplay

Alan Jay Lerner

Length

113 min.

Starring

Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, George Gutary, Nina Foch

MPAA Rating

Approved

Review

A Bohemian painter falls in love with the fiancée of another man leading to a song-and-dance routine apart from the film’s actual singing and dancing. An American in Paris stars Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron in a sumptuous rendering of one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

The first thing that strikes you about An American in Paris is how vivid the colors are. Many of the color pictures of the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s were heavily blue and red tinted. Much of this had to do with the color film techniques of the period. However, American in Paris managed, in large part, to play those tinges of color down. The yellows and greens are crisp and rich, the reds and blues aren’t washed out or pale like many earlier films. Overall, the film’s saving grace is its gracious use of color.

The plot is a little less dazzling. Kelly as the inspiration-starved painter Jerry Mulligan meets the gloriously rich Milo Roberts (Nina Foch) as he sets up his work for curbside exhibition. Her great style and taste is apparent in her clothing and home furnishings. She chooses Kelly to be her latest boy toy. Milo does her best to convince him she loves him as an artist, but even to the somewhat naïve Mulligan, the transparency is evident. Still, he likes being recognized as a painter and permits himself to be swept off his feet despite his ethical objections.

Milo’s amorous plans are overturned upon the arrival of the beautiful dancer Lise Bouvier (Caron). She sweeps Jerry off his feet and they begin a romantic love affair that is inconvenienced only by their secret relationship. Lise is affianced to Henri Baurel (Georges Guétary), a friend of Adam Cook (Oscar Levant) who rooms in the same hostel and is friends with Jerry. The rivalry between Henri and Jerry remains veiled for a large part of the film. Henri even tries to convince Jerry that he can capture the woman’s heart. Adam catches on early but refrains from interfering, though it obviously pains him to do so.

As musicals of the era often did, director Vincente Minnelli spends long, laborious takes filming the dancing and singing of its stars. People expected to see Kelly dance and they got their wish in abundance. At least half of the film is spent with Kelly dancing to a musical number. The difference between this and other hammy productions is that the plot is at least admirably interesting. Thanks in part to the terrific performances of Caron, Foch and, especially, Kelly. Their characters are convincing and approachable. You understand them so well that you can easily attach your own feelings to theirs and live your own life through them.

The biggest spectacle in the film is probably the most worthwhile. Despite running for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, Kelly dances through a dreamlike reality of Paris rendered beautifully by art directors Preston Ames and Cedric Gibbons. Using famed artist renderings of Parisian locations, Ames and Gibbons transport you to a surreal world.

An American in Paris received an impressive six Academy Awards, competing directly with two other popular films of the time (A Streetcar Named Desire and A Place in the Sun).That it came out with so many awards was testament to its terrific production qualities. There were no acting nominations, but the film swept up technical prizes left and right and even won the award for Best Picture. Its top award was a dubious prize as it is clear inferior to A Place in the Sun. Though this type of musical becomes somewhat frustrating, dragging out production numbers to the point of being tedious, it is worth watching just to see the pageantry of the entire affair.

Review Written

October 30, 2006