An American In Paris
1 9 5 1 (USA)
The music of George and Ira Gershwin underscores this
Academy Award-winning tale of an artist caught between two women in
post-war Paris.
Shot almost entirely on the MGM studio lot, it's a
vivacious, glittering musical blessed with the amazing choreography of
Kelly and a simple romantic plot about ex-GI Jerry Mulligan (Kelly)
who settles in Paris to be an artist and falls for the adorable Lise,
played by Leslie Caron. Oscar Levant co-stars as a concert pianist who
becomes a whole orchestra of Oscar Levants in the film's "Ego
Fantasy" sequence.
The selection of songs by George and Ira Gershwin and
the show-stopping dance sequences make the film a fabulous hit. Few
scenes in musicals match the eighteen-minute ballet, set to the
Gershwin tone poem that brings this enchanting movie to a close.
The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture in
1952, with Gene Kelly picking up a special Oscar for his choreography.
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