An American in Paris Review

An American in Paris

Release Date: 2nd April 1952 - Australia

Production Companies

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Loew's Inc (produced by)

Genre: Musical/Romance

Rating: G

Runtime: 114 minutes

Budget: $2,724,000

Box Office Gross: $7,272,619 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

In Paris, struggling American painter Jerry Mulligan has been "spotted" by a powerful heiress whose interest goes beyond Jerry's art. Jerry falls in love with Lisa, a young French girl. She is already engaged to a cabaret singer.

Amidst romantic complications, Jerry sings, jokes and dances with his best friend, a wry would-be concert pianist.

Cast

Gene Kelly - Jerry Mulligan

Leslie Caron - Lise Bouvier

Oscar Levant - Adam Cook

George Guétary - Henri Bauel

Nina Foch - Milo Roberts

The American in Paris

Ballet - Dancers

Madge Blake - Edna Mae Bestram (Uncredited)

Benny Carter - Saxophonist in Cafe (Uncredited)

Noel Neill - American Girl (Uncredited)

Hayden Rorke - Tommy Baldwin (Uncredited)

Dudley Field Malone - Winston Churchill (Uncredited)

Crew

Director - Vincente Minnelli 

Story and Screenplay - Alan Jay Lerner

Associate Producer - Roger Edens (Uncredited)

Producer - Arthur Freed

Art Directors - E. Preston Ames and Cedric Gibbons

Set Decorations - Edwin B. Willis

Associate Set Decorator - F. Keogh Gleason

Costume Designer - Orry-Kelly

Costume Designer: Beaux Arts Ball - Walter Plunkett

Ballet Costumes Designer - Irene Sharaff

Makeup Creator - William Tuttle

Director of Photography - Alfred Gilks

Ballet Photographer - John Alton

Choreographer - Gene Kelly

Special Effects - Warren Newcombe

and Irving G. Ries

Musical Directors - Saul Chaplin

and Johnny Green

Lyrics - Ira Gershwin 

Music - George Gershwin
Film Editor - Adrienne Fazan

Recording Supervisor - Douglas Shearer


Awards

1952 Academy Awards
Best Picture - Arthur Freed (Won)
Best Writing, Story and Screenplay -

Alan Jay Lerner (Won)
Best Cinematography, Color - Alfred Gilks (Won)
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color - 
Cedric Gibbons, E. Preston Ames,

Edwin B. Willis and F. Keogh Gleason (Won)
Best Costume Design, Color - Orry-Kelly,
Walter Plunkett and Irene Sharaff (Won)
Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -
Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin (Won)
------------------------
Best Director - Vincente Minnelli (Nominated)
Best Film Editing - Adrienne Fazan (Nominated)

Review

It's quite a spectacular decision to pick a movie that came out of the classics. I decided to release my critique of Reign of Fire before settling down on an old film I had barely watched when I saw only clips of it. This movie is a semi-decent musical that provides non-stop dancing sequences combined with classic jazzy instrumentals and singable tunes by late music legend George Gershwin. Many people were too young to remember AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, a favourite starring Gene Kelly, one of the great dancers before Michael Jackson. It comes to the big and overlong dancing climax, all in a mixture of terrific set-pieces and quietly in silence. Gene's bright vision helps the spectacle to look more prolonged, as Walt Disney did for his animation of Fantasia.

This Oscar-winning musical is not as well-fondly remembered as Singin' in the Rain, its only true successor. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS is at least a refreshment to its ongoing reputation of a minor classic provided to those at home.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

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