An American in Paris

Buy This Item An American in Paris by Warner Home Video  Available from Amazon  $8.99  on 8-29-2008     A GI (Gene Kelly) stays in Paris after the war to become an artist, and has to choose between the patronage of a rich American woman (Nina Foch) and a French gamine (Leslie Caron) engaged to an older man. The plot is mostly an excuse for director Vincente Minnelli to pool his own extraordinary talent with those of choreographer-dancer-actor Kelly and the artists behind the screenplay, art direction, cinematography, and score, creating a rapturous musical not quite like anything else in cinema. The final section of the film comprises a 17-minute dance sequence that took a month to film and is breathtaking. Songs include "'S Wonderful," "I Got Rhythm," and "Love Is Here to Stay." <i>--Tom Keogh</i> Reader Reviews Gene Kelly danced so effortlessly that he made me think I could do it too--and I can't dance at all. Oscar Levant was not much of an actor, but his piano number of a Gershwin piece was magnificent. Leslie Caron was--well, Leslie Caron, and I've been in love with her for at least 50 years. Nina Foch was pretty and quite competent. The color is great. The music and songs were excellent. So why didn't I like this more? Because somehow all the nice parts don't quite fit together. The acting is second rate. The love story is lame, 1950s claptrap with a sugary ending that can put cavaties in your teeth. Gene Kelly seems to be wearing taps most of the time, except when he has a soft shoe number. Paris is too neat and clean and stylized. The artists ball makes no sense at all. The music erupts too easily at very odd places. The long ballet at the end, with changes of costume in mid dance, gets a little tedious. In short, the director and cast just didn't sell this to me as a single entity. Compare it with the musical "Chicago" or with "Gaby" or with "South Pacific," and "An American in Paris" just doesn't stand up. Nevertheless, I'd watch it again for the Oscar Levant number and, ahhhh, lest I forget, Leslie Caron.

An American in Paris Available from Amazon Price: $8.99 Updated on 8-29-2008.

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