It's hard to resist Gene Kelly as a former GI trying to make a go of it as an artist in An American in Paris. Plus the movie's pretty much one big Valentine from Hollywood to the City of Light. But although I'm a complete sucker for old time movie musicals, I always cringe a bit when I watch that big production number ballet at the end, the one supposedly set in the Place de la Concorde. Far better, and in fact, filmed on location rather than a Hollywood backlot, is the photo shoot scene from Stanley Donen's Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. You can skip the rest of the movie; the story is silly, Astaire did better work elsewhere, and there's a reason why Audrey Hepburn's singing was overdubbed in her next musical, My Fair Lady.
Just enjoy. (Fast forward to 2:10 where the real fun begins.)
3 comments:
These old movies were nice in their time, but except for the Parisian backgrounds, they're rather hokey now. I tried watching An American In Paris a year or two ago, and I just couldn't handle the over-acting.
this is a great resource, but I don't know how to contact you! another great resource is the American library in Paris! the following event might interest your readersl:
The following event is free and open to the public!
Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on january 20. At the Americajn library in Paris this historic moment will be marked with a special book display, a live broadcast of the inaugural address starting 5.30, and an evening discussion focused on the promise of change on the international stage.
Program details will be posted soon at http://www.americanlibraryinparis.org
Save the date and join us at the Library!
Lovely but you can't beat Kay Thompson as the (allegedly modelled on real-life editor Carmel Snow) fashion maven singing, Think Pink...
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