An American in Paris (United States, 1951)


Figure 1.--There is a marvelous Gene Kelley scene with the children in "Singin' in the Rain". He had a wonderful way with children and it shows in this scene.

"An American in Paris" is one of the wonderful MGM musicals. It was a vehicle for Gene Kelly who plays a struggling American artist in Paris. Jerry Mulligan played by Kelly is a G.I. who after World War II stayed in Paris so he could study to be an artist. He lives the life of what he sees as a true French artist, living in a Montmartre garret. He is literally starving for his art. Then a wealthy and of course beautiful American gallery owner offers to assist him. He accepts but inwardly feels he is selling out. The situation is further complicated when he finds Lise (Leslie Caron). Lisle is a French girl with no artistic connections. They fall in love, but there are more complications--principlly Henri. Lisle is engaged to Henri Baurel who saved her from the NAZIs during the War. Henri finds out about Jerry and gracefully bows out of Lisle's life. Kelly received a special Oscar for his performance. The film is notable for not only Kelly's dancing and singing as wll as a few costuming details. There are a few Parisian boys wearing shorts in some of the street scenes. One boy at the very beginning wears short shorts. There is a marvelous scene with Kelly and Parisian street children. Jean playing Joe is vey popular with rhe local children and the scene is set around an improtu English lesson. Kelly began his show business career working with child dancers. He had a wonderful way with children and it shows in this scene. I assume those are French boys, but I'm not positive where that scene was filmed. They look and sound like French children. The scene has a candid look about it, but I assume was carefully staged. The back and forth between Kelly and the children is quite enchanting, although Kelly does all the dancing. The boys all wear short pants, but only one with kneesocks. One boy wears jean shorts. I am not sure to what extent the scenre was costimed or the chldren were wearing their own clothes. All of the There is also a charming dance scene with a little Mexican girl.

Filmology

"An American in Paris" is one of the wonderful MGM musicals. The film is notable for not only Kelly's dancing and singing.

Setting

There are some outdoor scenes shot in Paris, especially at the beginning. Many of these are just for flavor and do not include the stars. I assume most of the film was shot in a Hollywood studio, but am not positive.

Chronology


Cast

The film was a vehicle for Gene Kelly who plays a struggling American artist in Paris. Kelly received a special Oscar for his performance.

Plot

Jerry Mulligan played by Kelly is a G.I. who after World War II stayed in Paris so he could study to be an artist. He lives the life of what he sees as a true French artist, living in a Montmartre garret. He is literally starving for his art. Then a wealthy and of course beautiful American gallery owner offers to assist him. He accepts but inwardly feels he is selling out. The situation is further complicated when he finds Lise (Leslie Caron). Lisle is a French girl with no artistic connections. They fall in love, but there are more complications--principlly Henri. Lisle is engaged to Henri Baurel who saved her from the NAZIs during the War. Henri finds out about Jerry and gracefully bows out of Lisle's life.

Costuming

There are some interesting costuming details. There are a few Parisian boys wearing shorts in some of the street scenes. One boy at the very beginning wears short shorts.

Dance Scene

There are not all that many films which have dancescenes involving children. This film has one of them, although the children themselves do not really dance. It is a marvelous scene with Kelly and Parisian street children. Jean playing Joe is vey popular with rhe local children and the scene is set around an improtu English lesson. Kelly began his show business career working with child dancers. He had a wonderful way with children and it shows in this scene. I assume those are French boys, but I'm not positive where that scene was filmed. They look and sound like French children. The scene has a candid look about it, but I assume was carefully staged. The back and forth between Kelly and the children is quite enchanting, although Kelly does all the dancing. The boys all wear short pants, but only one with kneesocks. One boy wears jean shorts. I am not sure to what extent the scenre was costimed or the chldren were wearing their own clothes. A reader writes, "I have just been watching the film 'An American In Paris' on the T.V. and in the scene where Gene Kelly is singing "I Got Rhythm" surrounded by French children in the streets of Paris one of the boys is wearing jean shorts and baseball boots! The other boys are wearing other types of shorts (strap sorts etc.), but few sandals (this outdoor scene is obviously Summer) and most boys also wear t-shirts which may be accurate. I know that the street scenes were probably shot in the studio rather than on location and the boys playing the parts were probably not French but the costuming of that one boy seems odd given the care that seems to be taken over the film otherwise. Even though denim is originally a French fabric I've never seen French boys wearing jean shorts in 1950s images and I also wonder whether many American boys did when the film was shot (1951) (I mean proper tailored jean shorts not cut offs).? I just wonder if the costumers simply took a pair of jeans that American boys would wear then and simply cut the legs off and tailored them to make them look "French"! The baseball boots are another matter - maybe the boy himslef insisted on wearing them rather than sandals which would be more accurate I think. Anyway just a thought that came to me during the film and I thought of HBC." Yes I wondered about this. I think this is astudio shot. But bth the accent and the clothes suggest that the children are French and not American. I like you am just not sure. Perhaps other readers will known more about the shooting of the film. Another reader writes, "The dance scene was set to an arrangement of George Gershwin's 1928 composition of the same name. A great interpreter of Gershwin's music was the American pianist Julius Katchen, who died tragically young. Julius lived in Paris towards the end of his international career and his recording company, Decca (known to you over there as London), once featured him as 'An American in Paris'. Now I wonder if anyone has a picture of the young Julius Katchen dressed up to play the piano?" HBC has an extensive section on prodigies, but we do not yet have a page on Katchen.

Second Dance Scene

There is also a charming dance scene with a little Mexican girl.








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Created: August 20, 2003
Last updated: 8:09 PM 4/14/2007