An American In Paris (1951) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Director: Vincent Minnelli Producer: Arthur Freed Cast: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guétary, Nina Foch. Awards ceremony: -24th Academy Awards: March 20, 1952. RKO Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Other films nominated for Best Motion Picture this year: -Decision Before Dawn. -A Place In The Sun. -Quo Vadis. -A Streetcar Named Desire. Plot summary: GENE KELLY is Jerry Mulligan, an ex-GI living in Paris trying to make his way as an artist/portrait painter when he is approached by a woman (NINA FOCH) who decides to sponsor him. Jerry soon meets a young French girl (fancy that, in Paris?) called Lise Bouvier (LESLIE CARON in her debut movie). After stalking and harassing her Lise eventually agrees to go on a date with Jerry. Later Lise confesses to Jerry that she can no longer see him because she is engaged to another man. Jerry then makes a pass at his sponsor - then after giving her some lip service tells her he loves Lise. Yeah, it all gets a bit silly after that. Standout scene: The scene in the café where Henri gives advice to Jerry on how to love the woman he wants to be with, little realizing that the said women just happens to be Henri's own fiancée. There is also another scene where a woman jumps bum first from a 20ft balcony and is caught by a guy on the ground. We had to pause the film and watch the scene again to appreciate the wow factor of it! That was seriously impressive. Facts: -The 24th Academy Awards. -Nominated for 9 Academy Awards, it won 6: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Music, Art Direction, Cinematography (color), Best Costume Design (color). -Only the second colour film to win Best Picture (after Gone With The Wind). -Leslie Caron, who plays the French girl Lise, would also go on to star in another Best Picture winner sever years later; GIGI. Personal opinion: I saw the words GENE KELLY and MUSICAL and was immediately uninterested but had to watch the film for the project. First and only good thing I am going to say about it is the fact it was in colour!! That made a nice change because up until now there had only been one colour film in the last 24 on the list, so that was a refreshing plus. Now for the film.... Utterly abysmal waste of my time and enthusiasm. Was there an actual point to the film at all? Leslie Caron had a face as though she was constantly sucking on a sour lemon and the whole fiasco lacked continuity, poor editing, a boring plot, confusing dance routines that did not interact with the story. The last 15 minutes looked like they ran out of plot and just stuck a random bunch of crap on the screen with people dancing in bright colours, Gene Kelly demonstrating that he can tap dance (big f*cking deal) and nobody having a single care about what was going on? Some choreography was okay but ultimately this is the type of movie that could put you to sleep quicker than a bottle of vodka. All I can say after seeing this torture is that cinema goers in the 1950s must have just accepted any old shit that was put on the big screen. For this project, I could have been watching Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE but somehow I ended up watching THIS suspiciously-awarded Best Picture winner instead! Did it deserve the Oscar? NO. This film beat A Streetcar Named Desire to the Best Picture Oscar and now I just have to watch that film. 2/10

Review date: 25 February 2025