Best Picture: #31
Original Release Date: June 25, 1958
Rating: G
Runtine: 1 hour, 55 minutes
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Quick Impressions:
I can’t help thinking that the idea of restoring one’s joy in life by cavorting around with young women in the first bloom of youth is somewhat distastefully vampiric. (Then again, I hang around with my children all day.) Still Maurice Chevalier’s charm so buoys up the character of Honoré Lachaille that I couldn’t help but find him appealing. (But I’m not sure that I buy the idea that a man must have a string of twenty-year-old mistresses to keep himself young. Surely he could father children and keep himself young by interacting with them. Or he could teach school, go back to college, get involved in the community…read. No matter what he says, I think the mistresses are more of an excuse for eating in fancy restaurants and encouraging socialites to gossip about your sex life.)
At any rate, Gigi is a pleasant watch, a Lerner and Lowe musical with reliably good songs and eye-catching art direction and costuming. As Best Picture winning, Vincente Minnelli helmed musicals starring Leslie Caron go, it’s a big improvement over An American in Paris. (At least, my daughter and I liked the story better.) Caron now seems to speak English fluently and plays a character whose charms, desires, fears, frustrations, and thoughts are more clearly articulated on screen.
I first saw Gigi in college. One of my closest friends loved it as a child and showed it to me when we lived in an apartment on campus. I’ve been looking forward to watching it with my daughter because so many of the more experimental 1950s films have frustrated her, and Gigi is a traditional, character driven story that puts its titular heroine in the spotlight. Yes, Louis Jourdan’s Gaston Lachaille gets multiple songs and has a loud (consistent) voice, but we get to hear from Gigi, too. She’s fleshed out as a real human being with clearly articulated desires and concerns. My daughter found An American in Paris so frustrating, but she liked this film much better because it has a stronger story. In fact, the story is so interesting that we’re now planning to read the Collette novella.
The Plot:
Paris, 1900. To the delight of eternal playboy Honoré Lachaille, Parisian high society is full of women. Honoré loves women. (He lets us know this very clearly in his opening number “Thank Heaven for Little Girls,” probably the song most widely known by people who have not seen this musical.) Some of these women are wives. But not all of them. In Honoré’s Paris, it is also perfectly (or at least sort of) respectable to become mistress to a string of wealthy men in succession. As long as they behave with circumspect decorum, these mistresses are welcomed into high society (or at least to Maxim’s). To survive as a mistress, a woman must enter into a legal contract with a wealthy suitor, guaranteeing that she will be well kept and adequately compensated. The contractual nature of all this seems to suck the very heart and soul out of romance. At least, the wealthy and well known Gaston Lachaille (Honoré’s nephew) feels the ill affects of living within this system. Propped up only by his own unrelenting ennui, Gaston yawns and scowls his way through all the most fashionable spots in Paris and incessantly deems everything “a bore.” The only time Gaston experiences any genuine feeling is when he slums around with old family friend Mamita and her vivacious granddaughter Gigi (who always beats him at cards because she cheats). Although Gigi, too, finds the mercenary and scripted nature of love affairs ridiculously empty, she has been brought up to live within this system. She may be a naturally boisterous young girl, but she’s being trained by her worldly Aunt Alicia to become a professional mistress. As Gigi becomes a woman, Gaston realizes that he is falling in love with her, which is very inconvenient for them both, given their jaded views on love affairs.
The Good:
To me, this film is as highly stylized artistically as An American in Paris, but with a better story and much more cohesive music (because the songs are original, written by Lerner and Lowe for this musical). (Well, there may be one that was originally intended for their My Fair Lady. But my point is, Gigi doesn’t just grab a bunch of already written songs and incorporate them into a film.)
The theme, “Gigi,” won Best Original Song, and Andre Previn’s score also won that year. The music is lovely, easy to whistle or hum to yourself. You could get most of the story, in fact the feel of the film, listening to the music alone. (I used to collect original cast recordings from Broadway shows and experience them that way. In some cases, you can get gist of a show just by listening. This is one of those.)
Also the film is pleasant to watch, too often a rare quality in a Best Picture winner. Gigi also won Oscars for cinematography, art design, and costumes. And you can see why. It’s pretty, aesthetically pleasing.
Our way into this story is Maurice Chevalier’s charming Honoré Lachaille, a character who embraces pleasure and loves life. And I mean, yes, you could view him as a dissipated skirt chaser, but the thing is, he does seem genuinely to love life. The simple beauties and joys of the world around him bring him so much pleasure. (Of course, why wouldn’t they? He lives in Paris, and he’s wildly rich. I’m pretty sure anyone would find Paris delightful on Honoré’s budget.)
Still, the whole movie is disarmingly lovely. It looks beautiful. Some of it is filmed in Paris, some on Hollywood sound stages, but everything looks quite appealing. The win for art direction is well deserved. My daughter kept making jokes about why every different place seems to have its own signature color. This is a bit over-the-top, but it is certainly eye catching and also evokes a number of paintings of Paris. At one point, Gaston raves that Gigi lives in a mold-infested hovel. (I can’t recall his exact words, but that’s the idea.) And Gigi’s grandmother Mamita tells us repeatedly that she is relatively poor. (Of course, anyone would be poor compared to Gaston! From the looks of things, the previous occupant of his estate was Marie Antoinette!) But Gigi’s house does not look in any way unpleasant. Perhaps its shocking redness is meant to distract visitors from its mold and squeaking boards, but the place looks like a vibrant, cheery illustration in a children’s book! (And Gigi, in fact, early on wears an ensemble that makes her a dead ringer for Madeline.)
All of the conflict in Gigi feels so low stakes. (Note, of course, that this is an illusion. A young woman’s entire future is on the line. These love affairs must be blatantly transactional in nature in order for the young woman to gain any kind of financial security at all once the wealthy man tires of her.) But the most intense conflict in the movie all comes in the last thirty minutes. That was the exact portion of the movie we had left to finish on Tuesday night. After an evening of stressing over election returns, the thirty most stressful minutes of Gigi felt like a delightful walking tour of Paris. (I don’t know why Gaston bought a car! He must be an Olympic level athlete. He manages to work landmarks spread all over the entire city into his brisk walks!)
Another thing I like about Gigi is its cast. Three of the “French” characters are actually played by French actors–Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jordan, and Leslie Caron–and we all know how Hollywood is about this. Sometimes Mickey Rooney is Chinese or Charlie Chan is Swedish. So the French actors add a bit of authenticity (though the whole movie has a storybook vibe).
Also, I love Hermione Gingold. She keeps turning up lately. (Well, she has a cameo in Around the World in 80 Days, and my mother recently watched The Music Man.) I was excited to point out Eva Gabor to my daughter, but stunned that she couldn’t immediately hear it was Miss Bianca from The Rescuers. (Of course, in her defense, Gabor does not have many lines.) Isabel Jeans is also very entertaining as the so often aghast Aunt Alicia.
Best Scene:
So many of the musical numbers are delightful. “The Night They Invented Champagne” is infectiously invigorating.
My favorite number is “I Remember It Well.” The concept of this number has always delighted me, but, going further, besides exuding seemingly effortless charm, Chevalier is a very good, very emotive actor, someone who expresses emotion and gives us insight into his character as he sings. I also liked his “I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore.”
Best Scene Visually:
I love the crowd scenes in Maxim’s. I like the highly contrived staging, as everyone pauses each time another rich and famous man walks in with his latest conquest. And I also like the way Jourdan and Gabor perform “She is Not Thinking of Me.” For the most part, the choreography in this film is quite lacking (even absent), which makes me enjoy the highly stylized kinetic tableau we get in Maxim’s all the more.
Best Action Sequence:
I read in imdb trivia (which is not always reliable) that after a test screening, lots of footage of walking (especially up and down stairs) was cut from the movie. And I thought, “Really?!! Wow, how much walking was in there before?” I mean, Gaston walks all over Paris! In the beginning of the movie, he buys a car. I cannot imagine why. Powerwalking is obviously his hobby. I actually wonder if the car (that he doesn’t choose) in the beginning represents Gaston’s initial passivity. Once he begins to have real feelings, know his own mind, and discover his passion for Gigi, he begins his grueling walking regime!
In terms of action, that final shocking walk to Gigi’s house is pretty gripping. I love the way Gaston carries his hat on his cane. I assume that’s done to facilitate walking with speed without losing one’s hat.
The Negatives:
I can never decide if I love or hate Gaston. Well, I mean, I don’t hate him. But he’s awfully rich and self-obsessed. This story makes him look pretty good because he falls in love with a woman he has cared about since she was a child. But what about all the other pretty young women who have temporarily held his attention, the ones he hasn’t fallen in love with? There’s something frustratingly self-absorbed and oblivious about Gaston. I want to say, “If you have limitless money, friends, family, youth, and health, and you live in one of the most cosmopolitan cities on the planet, then if you are bored, IT IS YOUR FAULT!” I mean, get a hobby (besides sucking all the vitality out of young women)! Look at the people writing all the songs you so petulantly talk-sing out. They are not bored. They’re creating stuff. Do something, Gaston! If nothing else, lift your head up and look while you walk all over Paris. Some people save up their entire lives to get the time and money required to have the privilege of walking all over Paris. I’m less annoyed with Honoré because he loves life, and it’s hard to be annoyed with someone constantly smiling contentedly as he observes the beauty of the world. (I mean, when there’s not a young woman handy, he just sits alone enjoying his wine and cheese and sings songs to himself. He’s a lovely person.)
Also, I’m looking forward to reading Collette’s novella because I don’t exactly understand the relationship between Gigi’s family and Gaston. Why is he generous to them? Is it because Mamita was at one time Honoré’s mistress? Was she also Gaston’s father’s mistress? Surely Gigi’s mother wasn’t also Gaston’s mistress! If the relationship between these two families got expressly spelled out by the film, I missed it.
Since Minnelli, Lerner, and Caron were also involved with An American in Paris, it’s worth noting that this film is pretty lacking in the choreography department. I’m not big on dance, so I didn’t miss it, but the lack of any extended dance sequences is probably why this musical is relatively short. (I’d say it’s also a good bet that audiences are intended to notice the contrast between the artificial, highly choreographed activity at Maxim’s and the natural behavior happening in Mamita’s home.) While I’m making comparisons, I’ll also mention that this film is nowhere near as good as My Fair Lady. (I wish I could see Audrey Hepburn play Gigi as she did on stage, though! And I wouldn’t mind seeing Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle! I also wish they had let Leslie Caron sing for herself. They never let any of the actresses sing, and then, inexplicably, Lucille Ball was allowed to sing in Mame. Hollywood is a puzzling place.)
As I remembered the film before watching, I thought that the blatantly transactional nature of the romantic relationships was pretty disturbing. But then as I watched again, I realized, “Yes, but the film is actually pointing out that such a hollow system is unfulfilling to everyone.” But…isn’t it a little creepy, this idea of retaining vitality by leeching off a very young woman’s innocence?
Also, I found I wasn’t terribly invested in any of these characters. The movie is extremely pleasant, but it’s not one that tugs at my soul. Of course, keep in mind that I was watching election returns between the parts of my broken up screening. So perhaps my emotional reserves were a bit tapped out.
Overall:
Gigi is much more pleasant to watch than election returns. It has wonderful music, a delightful cast, and a story with character development. I’ve been humming its songs to myself as I write this review. They’re catchy! I also find it interesting that in this 31st Best Picture winner, we suddenly find ourselves back in the fashionable clubs of Paris, so heavily featured in Wings, the very first winner.