An American in Paris (1951) - film review

After WWII, ex-serviceman Jerry Mulligan decides to stay on in Paris and pursue a career as an artist, seeking inspiration from the city he has fallen in love with.  Like his friend Adam, an unemployed concert pianist, he has difficulty getting by on what he earns, but he would not live any other way.  One day, a wealthy society woman, Milo Roberts, surprises him by buying two of his paintings.  Jerry becomes suspicious of Milo’s motives when she lures him to her apartment but accepts her help in putting together an exhibition of his work.  Whilst Milo is clearly infatuated with Jerry, he only has eyes for Lise, an attractive shop girl.  Unfortunately, Lise is affianced to one of Adam’s friends, the popular singer Henri Baurel...

One of the classier MGM musicals, An American in Paris offers a view of Parisian life that few French natives would recognise (and the same goes for much of the spoken pidgin French).  The film’s fanciful depiction of the city of lights as a haven of bonhomie and romance is an idealistic fabrication that borders on the absurd, but this matters not one jot.   What we have here is an adult fairytale set in the mythical Paris of our dreams, a colourful musical billet doux between two nations which were, at the time, obsessively infatuated with each other’s culture.

Under the masterful direction of Vincente Minnelli, and with Gene Kelly performing and choreographing the film’s ambitious song and dance numbers to perfection, the film could hardly fail to impress.  Audiences and critics loved the film when it was first released and it has since come to be regarded as one of the finest of the great Hollywood musicals.  The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning the Best Picture Oscar as well as five additional awards for its art direction, costume design, cinematography, score and screenplay.  That year, Gene Kelly was given an Honorary award, in appreciation of his versatility as an actor, singer, director and dancer.     

An American in Paris marked the auspicious screen debut of French-born actress Leslie Caron.  The talented nineteen year-old epitomises the French gamine and she would later take the lead in Minnelli’s next, even more successful musical, Gigi (1958).  Here, Caron’s on screen rapport with Gene Kelly is exquisite and heartfelt, helping us to overlook the dearth of talent in the supporting cast and some of the film’s needless artistic excesses.   The latter are exemplified by the lavish impressionistic ballet which comes near to the end of the film – twenty minutes of self-indulgent artifice which the film could probably have done without.  By contrast, the uplifting songs from George and Ira Gershwin (including hits such as I Got Rhythm and ’S Wonderful) are spot on and perhaps, more than anything, justify the film’s enduring popularity.

© Alex Sullivan 2010

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