An American in Paris (1951)

Written by Alan Jay Lerner

Directed by Vincente Minnelli

Guys! It’s in color! 24 films in, and this is only the second film on the list to be in color! I am absolutely astounded by that! Whereas sound took Hollywood by storm, color films seem to have taken much more time to become the norm. Perhaps there was a prejudice against color films, with black and white films being seen as more “prestigious” than a color film.

(Actually, a 10-second Google search tells me that black and white film was simply cheaper, and thanks to WW2, the studios were stuck using more of it for a while. That’s...not as interesting as a reason. Thanks, Google!)

A shot of the massively-overly-long dream ballet

This is the fourth Musical on the Best Picture list, and the third from MGM...They really, REALLY, love their movie-musicals. There’s certainly something to be said for the explosion of color that puts it ahead of the others, so far, but, if this was the best picture from 1951...they must’ve had a rough year.

It’s not that the film is bad. Parts of it are really quite good. It’s just...pointless. Like Going My Way, which felt like it served the sole purpose of allowing Bing Crosby to sing his little heart out, An American in Paris feels like it exists simply so Gene Kelly can dance. Don’t get me wrong, he’s great to watch, but from a modern perspective, it all feels a bit hokey.

Don’t these people have things to actually do?

There aren’t many musical moments here that aren’t diegetic, this is, that aren’t actually occurring within the narrative of the film (Kelly’s 17-minute ballet fantasy at the end of the film is a great example of a non-diegetic number. And yes, it’s a 17-minute dream ballet. 17. Minutes. Please see the above paragraph as to why this is included). This film definitely has the stereotype of old movie musicals, in which a few people start to bust out into song and dance, and literally everyone stops to watch, as if they’ve never seen it before. But it happens all the time throughout the movie. And, they watch with delight, like they don’t already have things they’re supposed to be doing. I get that it’s a subliminal thing for the audience, and that I am 100% over-analyzing it, but it’s always just struck me as weird. I’d rather everyone joined in, rather than just stand there smiling blankly and not moving.

Leslie Caron and Gene Kelly

Kelly is, of course, great in the film, both as a singer/dancer and as an actor. Nearly all his follow actors are great too, except his leading lady, Leslie Caron as Lise. Reading other reviews, I appear to be in the minority, but good gravy is she painful to watch. Her attitude yo-yo’s back and forth (which, granted, is somewhat the point), but she spends the majority of the film looking dour and unhappy. Not once was I convinced that Kelly’s character was ever actually in love with her, because she was such a dang sourpuss all the time. There was some dramatic tension as we, the audience, know that she’s already with another man, but again, she never really gives us a reason to care about her.

An American in Paris is the first of two movie-musicals of this decade, with six years separating them. I’ll continue to be curious to watch the form evolve into the well-known movie-musicals of the 60’s and beyond. This film has some great elements, and it’s worth a watch if you’re a fan of the genre. Just try to ignore Lise’s dead face, or, even better, make it a drinking game!

I doubt you’ll finish the movie.

FINAL GRADE: B-