An American in Paris (1951): Shira's Take

79 Best Pictures, Portland, ME edition:

The plot was lacking. While the plot and characters are usually the most important elements in a movie to me, somehow, it didn't matter. Clearly, I did not appreciate the film's condoning stalking as a way to a woman's heart, nor did I appreciate Milo Roberts (played by Nina Foch) "helping" Jerry Mulligan (played by Gene Kelly) with his art as a backhanded way to get into his pants. It seemed to me that all the characters that were developed well were creeps. Still, with fantastic scenes like Henri Baurel (played by Georges Guetary) singing and doing the Billie Jean--lighting up stairs as he stepped on them--or Adam Cook (played by Oscar Levant) daydreaming about conducting an orchestra composed of himself playing the piano, multiple violins, and various percussion instrument...I just couldn't mind the overlying plot. With supporting characters like these, who needs anything else? Clearly, the ending that gets happy just in the nick of time before "THE END" appears was completely cheap, but, honestly, I really liked the ballet sequence at the end. Yes, it could have been shortened by about 15 minutes, but it was totally pretty. And who doesn't love the members of classic paintings getting up and dancing? An American in Paris had much more in common with its predecessors (The Great Ziegfeld, Going My Way) than its progeny (My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music). Still, though I know I'm going to be defending myself on this for the rest of my life, I give it an 8/10.

Note: I'm glad we're watching these all in a row, because I noticed that the opening for An American in Paris is similar to the opening for All About Eve--someone narrating, switching to someone else narrating, switching to someone else, but with little to no narration for the rest of the movie.