AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

An American in Paris
MGM, 1951, Color, 115 minutes, ****
Premiere release October, 1951
General release November, 1951
Class Act


Out of eight Oscar nominations, this sparkling, multifaceted musical won Best Picture, Best Score, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design. And a special statuette "for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film" was presented to Gene Kelly.

Never before has an entire script been written expressly as a prelude to a seventeen-minute visual love song - the spectacular ballet Kelly created and danced with lovely Leslie Caron.

Kelly is struggling fine artist Jerry Mulligan, an ex-GI in post-WWII Paris. Caron is lonely French shopgirl Lise Bouvier, engaged to marry a successful entertainer unless Jerry can convince her otherwise. Charmingly acerbic pianist Oscar Levant plays Mulligan's best friend.

The music, performed on and off camera by the great Benny Carter and the MGM Orchestra, is all Gershwin, from "Embraceable You" ... "I Got Rhythm" ... "Love Is Here to Stay," to the electrifying finale. [from back of VHS sleeve]

An American in Paris is one of the most beautifully produced musical films from Hollywood's Golden Age. Starring Gene Kelly with Leslie Caron in her first American film appearance, the film brings some of George and Ira Gershwin's finest music to the silver screen. The story is simple - the age-old love triangle, but the presentation is very unique: sometimes tender, sometimes humorous, but always a visual delight. But, story aside, the "American in Paris" Ballet is one of the best - if not the best - musical scene ever filmed! [JJ]

Produced by: Arthur Freed
Assiciate Producer: Roger Edens
Directed by: Vincente Minnelli
Story and Screen Play by: Alan Jay Lerner
Lyrics by: Ira Gershwin
Music by: George Gershwin
Musical Direction: Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin
Orchestrations: Conrad Salinger
Choreography by: Gene Kelly
Art Directors: Cedric Gibbons and Preston Ames
Set Decorations: Edwin B. Willis
Associate: Keogh Gleason
Gene Kelly's Paintings by: Gene Grant
Costumes Designed by: Orry-Kelly
Ballet Costumes Designed by: Walter Plunkett
Hair Styles Designed by: Sydney Guilaroff
Make-Up Created by: William Tuttle
Recording Supervisor: Douglas Shearer
Director of Photography: Alfred Gilks
Ballet Photographed by: John Alton
Special Effects: Warren Newcombe, Irving G. Ries
Montage Sequences by: Peter Ballbusch
Color by Technicolor
Technicolor Color Consultants: Henri Jaffa, James Gooch
Film Editor: Adrienne Fazan

Awards: Academy Awards for Best Picture; Best Story and Screenplay (Alan Jay Lerner); Best Color Cinematography; Best Score - Musical (Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration - Color; Best Costume Design -Color. Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Film Editing

Cast: Gene Kelly [Jerry Mulligan], Leslie Caron [Lise Bourvier], Oscar Levant [Adam Cook], Georges Guetary [Henri Baurel], Nina Foch [Milo Roberts], Eugene Borden [Georges Mattieu], Martha Bamattre [Mathilde Mattieu], Mary Young [Old Woman Dancer], Ann Codee [Therese], George Davis [Francois], Hayden Rorke [Tommy Baldwin], Paul Maxey [John McDowd], Dick Wessel [Ben Macrow], Don Quinn, Adele Coray [Honeymooners], Alfred Paix [Postman], Noel Neill [American Girl], Nan Boardman [Maid], John Eldredge [Jack Jansen], Anna Q. Nilsson [Kay Jansen], Madge Blake [Edna Mae Bestram, the Customer], Art Dupuis [Driver], Greg McClure [Artist], Andre Charisse [Dancing Partner], Mac McLain [singing voice for Oscar Levant]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture: An American In Paris / 'S Wonderful / I Got Rhythm (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:09] Portraits of Lise (danced by Leslie Caron); [0:14] By Strauss (sung by Georges Guetary, Gene Kelly, Mac MacLain, Grace Stark, Pete Roberts [Gene Kelly, Georges Guetary and Oscar Levant onscreen]; danced by Ensemble); [0:26] I Got Rhythm (sung by Gene Kelly and Children, danced by Gene Kelly), [0:46] Tra-La-La (sung by Gene Kelly and Oscar Levant, Oscar Levant at the piano, danced by Gene Kelly), [0:55] Love Is Here to Stay (sung by Gene Kelly, danced by Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron), [1:00] (I'll Build A) Stairway to Paradise (sung by Georges Guetary, paraded by Show Girls), [1:05] Third movement from Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F (played by Oscar Levant at the piano with Orchestra), [1:16] The Woman Trouble Scene (a very nervous Oscar Levant with Gene Kelly and Georges Guetary -- classic comedy scene!); [1:20] 'S Wonderful (sung and danced by Georges Guetary and Gene Kelly); [1:26] The party; [1:35] An American in Paris Ballet (danced by Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron with Chorus); Strains of "An American in Paris Ballet" are embedded in the background score throughout the film.