GIGI

Gigi
MGM, 1958, Color, 117 minutes, ****
Premiere release May, 1958
General release July, 1958
Class Act

Wonderfully perfect film about a young French girl Gigi (Leslie Caron) growing to adulthood in early 20th Century Paris. She is being carefully trained in the way of "fashionable" ladyhood by her aunt when it suddenly dawns on long-time family friend Gaston (Louis Jourdan) that Gigi is no longer a cute young girl, but has grown into a beautiful young woman. So he becomes romantically interested in her, which presents a number of interesting problems given Gaston's playboy reputation. Wonderful acting all around, beautiful staging and costuming, fantastic Lerner and Loewe score... everything a musical should be!

Musical highlights include Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold's "I Remember It Well" (from which came the title of director Vincente Minnellie's autobiography), Caron's "I Don't Understand the Parisians," and Chevalier's "Thank Heaven for Little Girls."

Produced by: Arthur Freed
Directed by: Vincente Minnelli
Assistant Directors: William McGarry and William Shanks
Screen play and lyrics by: Alan Jay Lerner
Music by: Frederick Loewe
Based on the novel by: Colette
Music supervised and conducted by: André Previn
Orchestrations by: Conrad Salinger
Vocal Supervision: Robert Tucker
Costumes, Scenery and Production Design by: Cecil Beaton
Art Directors: William A. Horning and Preston Ames
Set Decorations: Henry Grace, Keogh Gleason
Make-up by: William Tuttle and Charles Parker
Hair styles by: Guillaume and Sydney Guilaroff
Recording Supervisor: Dr. Wesley C. Miller
Director of Photography: Joseph Ruttenberg
In CinemaScope and Metrocolor
Color Consultant: Charles K. Hagedon
Film Editor: Adrienne Fazan

Awards: Won nine Academy Awards: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Color Cinematography (Joseph Ruttenberg); Best Film Editing (Adrienne Fazan); Best Score - Musical (Andre Previn); Best Song ("Gigi"); Best Art Direction / Set Decoration (William A. Horning, Preston Ames, Henry Grace and Keogh Gleason); and Best Costume Design (Cecil Beaton)

Cast: Leslie Caron [Gigi], Maurice Chevalier [Honoré Lachaille], Louis Jourdan [Gaston Lachaille], Hermione Gingold [Mme Alvarez], Eva Gabor [Liane d'Exelmans], Jacques Bergerac [Sandomir], Isabel Jeans [Aunt Alicia], John Abbott [Manuel], Monique Van Vooren [Showgirl], Lydia Stevens [Simone], Edwin Jerome [Charles, the Butler], Dorothy Neumann [Designer], Marilyn Sims [Redhead], Richard Bean [Harlequin], Pat Sheahan [Blonde], Leroy Winebrenner [Lifeguard], Marya Ploss [Model], Jack Trevan [Coachman]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:06] Thank Heaven for Little Girls (sung by Maurice Chevalier); [0:13] It's a Bore (sung by Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier); [0:25] I Don't Understand the Parisians (sung by Leslie Caron dubbed by Betty Wand); [0:34] Waltz at Maxim's (She Is Not Thinking of Me) (sung by Louis Jourdan); [0:55] The Night They Invented Champagne (sung and danced by Leslie Caron dubbed by Betty Wand, Hermione Gingold and Louis Jourdan); [1:02] I Remember It Well (sung by Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold); [1:18] Gigi (sung by Louis Jourdan); [1:35] I'm Glad I'm Not Young Any More (sung by Maurice Chevalier); [1:43] Say a Prayer for Me Tonight (sung by Leslie Caron dubbed by Betty Wand); [1:54] Thank Heaven for Little Girls (sung by Maurice Chevalier and Chorus)