An American in Paris
AMG AllMovie Guide:
Top
An American in Paris
Plot
Gene Kelly does his patented Pal Joey bit as Jerry Mulligan, an opportunistic American painter living in Paris' "starving artists" colony. He is discovered by wealthy Milo Roberts (Nina Foch), who becomes Jerry's patroness in more ways than one. Meanwhile, Jerry plays hookey on this setup by romancing waif-like Lise Bouvier (Leslie Caron) -- who, unbeknownst to him, is the object of the affections of his close friend Henri (Georges Guetary), a popular nightclub performer. (The film was supposed to make Guetary into "the New Chevalier." It didn't.) The thinnish plot is held together by the superlative production numbers and by the recycling of several vintage George Gershwin tunes, including "I Got Rhythm," "'S Wonderful," and "Our Love Is Here to Stay." Highlights include Guetary's rendition of "Stairway to Paradise"; Oscar Levant's fantasy of conducting and performing Gershwin's "Concerto in F" (Levant also appears as every member of the orchestra); and the closing 17-minute "American in Paris" ballet, in which Kelly and Caron dance before lavish backgrounds based on the works of famed French artists. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviReview
Vincente Minnelli's An American in Paris set a new standard for the subgenre known as the "songbook" musical. Since the dawn of sound, producers had been attracted to films built around the published output of composers as different as Johann Strauss (The Great Waltz, Waltzes From Vienna), Jerome Kern (Till the Clouds Roll By), Cole Porter (Night and Day), and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (Words and Music). Mostly, the material was strung together, sometimes hooked around a fanciful pseudo-biography of the composer in question, and audiences grinned and bore the plot elements while delighting to the music. An American in Paris was freed of any need to embrace composer George Gershwin as an onscreen figure by virtue of the 1945 screen biography Rhapsody in Blue, in which Robert Alda had portrayed the composer. Rather, Minnelli, Gene Kelly, and screenwriter Alan Jay Lerner simply used the title and the substance of the title work as a jumping-off point for a screen fantasy that happened to utilize much of the major Gershwin song catalog (indeed, the 1992 laserdisc edition, with the unmixed music tracks on the alternate soundtrack, reveals dozens of Gershwin tunes buried in the underscore). Some of the inspiration for the film's 16-minute ballet finale came from the Red Shoes ballet sequence from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 1948 The Red Shoes, while the presence of Leslie Caron, although logical to the plot, originated with some studio executive's notion that the Powell-Pressburger movie had been a hit "because the girl was 'foreign'." Whatever its inspirations and imitations, An American in Paris won seven Academy Awards and box-office success. The overall film (especially the non-musical elements) hasn't worn quite so well over the years, but it was a vital piece of cinema in its time, stretching the envelope of the level of sophistication that a major studio would pursue, and ripping that envelope to shreds with the climactic ballet sequence, which became the model for still more daring sequences in such Hollywood films as Singin' in the Rain and The Band Wagon and such European imitators as Black Tights and Kelly's own dance extravaganza, Invitation to the Dance. ~ Bruce Eder, RoviCast
- Gene Kelly - Jerry Mulligan
- Leslie Caron - Lise Bouvier
- Oscar Levant - Adam Cook
- Georges Guetary - Henri Baurel
- Nina Foch - Milo Roberts
Credit
Preston Ames - Art Director, Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Gene Kelly - Choreography, John Alton - Consultant/advisor, Orry-Kelly - Costume Designer, Walter Plunkett - Costume Designer, Irene Sharaff - Costume Designer, Vincente Minnelli - Director, Adrienne Fazan - Editor, Saul Chaplin - Musical Direction/Supervision, Johnny Green - Musical Direction/Supervision, Ira Gershwin - Songwriter, John Alton - Cinematographer, Alfred Gilks - Cinematographer, Arthur Freed - Producer, Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer, Warren Newcombe - Special Effects, Alan Jay Lerner - Screen Story, Alan Jay Lerner - Screenwriter, Uan Rasey - Musical Performer, George Gershwin - Featured Music, Ira Gershwin - Lyricist| An American in China (2007 Film), An American Widow (1917 Film) | |
| An Amish Barn Raising, Vol. 2 (2003 Film), An Amorous Woman of The Tang Dynasty (1984 Film) |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Top
An American in Paris (film)
| An American in Paris | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Vincente Minnelli |
| Produced by | Arthur Freed |
| Written by | Alan Jay Lerner |
| Starring | Gene Kelly Leslie Caron Oscar Levant Georges Guétary Nina Foch |
| Music by | George Gershwin (music) Ira Gershwin (lyrics) Saul Chaplin (uncredited) |
| Cinematography | Alfred Gilks John Alton (ballet) |
| Editing by | Adrienne Fazan |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,723,903 |
| Box office | $4,500,000[1][2] $8,005,000 (worldwide theatrical rentals) |
An American in Paris is a 1951 MGM musical film inspired by the 1928 orchestral composition by George Gershwin. Starring Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guetary, and Nina Foch, the film is set in Paris, and was directed by Vincente Minnelli from a script by Alan Jay Lerner. The music is by George Gershwin, with lyrics by his brother Ira, with additional music by Saul Chaplin, the music director.
The story of the film is interspersed with dance numbers choreographed by Gene Kelly and set to Gershwin's music. Songs and music include "I Got Rhythm", "I'll Build A Stairway to Paradise", " 'S Wonderful", and "Our Love is Here to Stay". The climax of the film is "The American in Paris" ballet, a 16 minute dance featuring Kelly and Caron set to Gershwin's An American in Paris. The ballet alone cost more than $500,000.[citation needed]
|
Contents
|
Plot
Jerry Mulligan (Gene Kelly), an American World War II veteran, is now an exuberant expatriate in Paris trying to make a reputation as a painter. His friend, Adam (Oscar Levant), is a struggling concert pianist who is a long time associate of a French singer, Henri Baurel (Georges Guétary). A lonely society woman, Milo Roberts (Nina Foch), takes Jerry under her wing and supports him, but is more interested in Jerry than his art. Jerry remains oblivious to her feelings and falls in love with Lise (Leslie Caron), a French girl he meets at a restaurant. Lise loves him as well but she is already in a relationship with Henri, to whom she feels indebted for keeping her safe during World War II. For most of the film Jerry is unaware of Lise's relationship with Henri.
Eventually Jerry learns that Lise is in love with him but is marrying Henri the next day. He invites Milo to a masked ball that night. At the raucous masked ball, with everyone in black-and-white costumes, Milo learns from Adam that Jerry is not interested in her, and Henri overhears Jerry and Lise saying goodbye to each other. When Henri and Lise drive away, Jerry daydreams about being with her all over Paris to the tune of the George Gershwin composition An American in Paris. His reverie is broken by a car horn, the sound of Henri bringing Lise back to him. They embrace as the Gershwin composition (and the film) ends.
Cast
- Gene Kelly as Jerry Mulligan
- Leslie Caron as Lise Bouvier
- Oscar Levant as Adam Cook
- Georges Guétary as Henri "Hank" Baurel
- Nina Foch as Milo Roberts
Cast notes
- Hayden Rorke, best known for playing Dr. Bellows on the TV series I Dream of Jeannie, has a small part as a friend of Nina Foch's character.
- Noel Neill, later to portray Lois Lane on the TV series The Adventures of Superman, has a small role as an American art student who tries to criticize Jerry Mulligan's paintings.
- Judy Landon, better known for her appearance in Kelly's next musical Singin' in the Rain (and as the wife of Brian Keith), appears as a dancer in the Stairway to Paradise sequence.
Music and dance
- "Embraceable You" (Leslie Caron)
- "Nice Work If You Can Get It" (Georges Guétary)
- "By Strauss" (Gene Kelly, Guétary, Oscar Levant)
- "I Got Rhythm" (Kelly)
- "Tra-la-la (This Time It's Really Love)" (Kelly and Levant)
- "Our Love Is Here to Stay" (Kelly and Caron)
- "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" (Georges Guétary)
- "Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra" (Levant and The MGM Symphony Orchestra)
- " 'S Wonderful" (Kelly and Guétary)
- "An American in Paris Ballet" (Kelly, Caron, and ensemble)
Production
The film was shot in Hollywood, so it features some quirks in the occasional French dialogue. Notably, near the beginning of the I Got Rhythm number, one of the French children says Jerry, parle anglais à nous, which sounds rather curious, containing mistakes both in direct object placement and in respectful address. In the French soundtrack, which switches to the original sound for the duration of the songs, the à nous is masked through a plop sound, to make the sentence more palatable.
Hollywood movies set in France seldom used location shooting or native speakers. However, great care was sometimes put into reproducing Paris surroundings, as in An American in Paris or Irma La Douce. Many French Paris-set movies of this era avoided location work too, and sometimes the same art directors (Alexandre Trauner being the best known example) worked on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Awards and honors
Academy Awards
Wins
- Academy Award for Best Picture: Arthur Freed, producer
- Academy Award for Best Art – Set Decoration, Color: E. Preston Ames, Cedric Gibbons, F. Keogh Gleason, and Edwin B. Willis
- Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color: John Alton and Alfred Gilks
- Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color: Orry-Kelly, Walter Plunkett, and Irene Sharaff
- Academy Award for Best Musical Score: Saul Chaplin and Johnny Green
- Academy Award for Best Writing, Scoring and Screenplay: Alan Jay Lerner
Nominations
- Academy Award for Best Director: Vincente Minnelli
- Academy Award for Best Film Editing: Adrienne Fazan
Golden Globes
Wins
Nominations
- Golden Globe Award for Best Director – Motion Picture: Vincente Minnelli
- Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy: Gene Kelly
Others
Gene Kelly received an Academy Honorary Award that year for "his versatility as an actor, singer, director and dancer, and specifically for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film." It was his only Oscar.
The film was entered into the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.[3]
In 1993, An American in Paris was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
American Film Institute recognition
- 1998: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies – #68
- 2002: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions – #39
- 2004: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs – #32
- 2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals – #9
AFI also honored star Gene Kelly as #15 of the top 25 American male screen legends.
Stage adaptation
A stage version of the musical was adapted by Ken Ludwig, and began previews at the Alley Theatre (Houston) on April 29, 2008, officially opening on May 18 and running through June 22. The production, directed by Alley artistic director Gregory Boyd with choreography by Randy Skinner, stars Harry Groener and Kerry O'Malley. The musical has many of the film's original songs, and also incorporates other Gershwin songs, such as "They All Laughed", "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off", and "Love Walked In".[4][5]
References
- ^ Box Office Information for An American in Paris. The Numbers. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
- ^ 'Variety Top Film Grosses of 1951', Film Data for 1951 accessed 9 May 2012
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: An American in Paris". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3984/year/1952.html. Retrieved 2011 October 08.
- ^ "The Gershwins' An American in Paris Again Extends Houston Run". playbill.com. 2011 October 08. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/118229.html. Retrieved 2011 October 08.
- ^ "The Gershwins' An American in Paris: 2007-2008 Season". Alley Theatre. http://www.alleytheatre.org/Alley/The_Gershwins_An_American_in_Paris_EN.asp?SnID=138638290. Retrieved 2011 October 08.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: An American in Paris (film) |
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: An American in Paris (film) |
- An American in Paris (film) at the Internet Movie Database
- An American in Paris (film) at the TCM Movie Database
- An American in Paris (film) at AllRovi
- An American in Paris (film) at Rotten Tomatoes
- Filmsite.org's Greatest Films An American in Paris
- Combustible Celluloid's review of An American in Paris
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
TV listings
Copyright © 2012 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.
Read more
Mentioned in
Kelly, Eugene Curran
(American dancer)
AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards: Gene Kelly
(1985 History Film)
John Sanderson
(literature)
Gershwin, George
(Fine Arts)
» More