I first saw An American in Paris when I was about seven years old and can remember being completely transfixed. I was simply amazed that Gene Kelly could sing and dance so well. It was after seeing An American in Paris that I was introduced to the films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Eleanor Powell and the great musicals like My Fair Lady, Meet Me in St Louis, Gigi and countless others; so An American in Paris holds a bit of a special place in my heart and the soundtrack has a permanent place in my CD collection.
Gene Kelly as Jerry Mulligan, Nina Foch
as Milo Roberts.
(c) 1951 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Needless to say, I was thrilled when I heard Warner Brothers was releasing a special two disc edition of the film. For those of you not familiar with An American in Paris, Gene Kelly plays Jerry Mulligan, a veteran who stays in France after the war to pursue a career as a painter. Living in a bohemian section of Paris, he makes friends with several other ex-patriots, including jazz pianist Adam Cook (The incredibly funny and musically talented Oscar Levant). Adam gives Jerry a straight man of sorts and an accompanist for when he breaks into impromptu song and dance routines.
Needing money, Jerry takes some of his canvases to the open market to try and sell them. There he meets Milo (Nina Foch), a wealthy American divorcee who takes a shine to his paintings and to their painter. She becomes Jerry’s patron, though she has a little more than art on her mind. The pair initially agrees to disagree on the subject of romance. However, trouble begins when Jerry becomes infatuated with Lise (Leslie Caron), a French girl he meets at a restaurant. Not only is Milo jealous but Adam’s friend, the French singer Henri Baurel (Georges Guetary), would have cause to be jealous, as well, if he knew what was going on. Lise is his girl and even though Lise loves Jerry, she feels indebted to him for having saved her family during World War II. What a soap opera!
Yes, there’s no denying that An American in Paris is a big sappy muddle of a romance when it comes to the story. As you can gather from my synopsis, the plot is as thin as a piece of saran wrap but it doesn’t matter much here. The beauty of An American in Paris is the music and the dancing. Minnelli, undoubtedly realizing the script wasn’t the star here, wisely keeps things moving, not allowing much time between musical numbers. He gives us a variety of Gershwin tunes: We get the slow and romantic “Our Love is Here to Stay” when Jerry is serenading Lise along the Seine, as well as “Tra-La-La (This Time it’s Really Love),” with Jerry mugging alongside Adam while straddling his piano. Also quite funny is Oscar Levant’s solo scene, playing every member of the orchestra in a daydream where he performs a Gershwin concerto to an enthusiastic crowd of people who aren’t just like him, but are him. (He plays the audience, too!) The tone of the film is pure fun and it’s hard as an audience member, not to join in the fun.
Gene Kelly as Jerry Mulligan, Leslie Caron
as Lise Bouvier.
(c) 1951 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Then of course there’s the “An American in Paris Ballet.” Believing he has lost Lise to Henri, Jerry mulls over his short time with her, envisioning Paris as a city alive with dance and romance. Kelly is simply amazing as he leaps and twirls in the streets in ode to love as Jerry. Kelly jumps into a Tolouse-Lautrec painting (Chocolat) and brings it to life; it’s a summation of the dance and the beginning of a conclusion Jerry doesn’t expect. For anyone who hasn’t seen An American in Paris, the ballet alone is worth the price of admission.
For this 4:3 color transfer, Warner Brothers has employed their Ultra-Resolution process to digitally align and combine the color records of the original three-strip Technicolor negatives. The result is a video presentation with few noticeable flaws. Color and density are solid and unwavering. Light, natural looking film grain is noticeable and fairly well rendered by the video compression. Any major graininess will likely only be slightly noticeable on smaller television sets.
Audio is available in English and French Dolby mono. The original English is a solid audio track, with good balance between dialogue and music. Subtitles include English Closed Captioning, French, Japanese, and Thai. The Japanese and Thai are also included on the bonus features on the second DVD.
The An American in Paris – 2 Disc Special Edition has a number of special features:
Disc One
• Theatrical Trailer
• Two MGM Shorts – (8:58) the live-action “FitzPatrick Traveltalks: Paris on Parade,” a travelogue that revisits a 1937 exhibition in the city, and a Tex Avery-directed cartoon, “Symphony in Slang.” Neither of these has had any clean-up done on their prints and do show their age.
• A Full Length Audio Commentary, which is a collage of vintage interviews put together by Patricia Ward Kelly, Gene Kelly’s widow. The participants include: Gene Kelly, Vincente Minnelli, producer Arthur Freed, screenwriter Arthur Jay Lerner, musical directors Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin, costume designer Irene Sharaff, art director Preston Ames, and performer/Gershwin expert Michael Feinstein. There are also excerpts from new interviews with actresses Leslie Caron and Nina Foch. Put together, all of these talented people provide a detailed overview of the film any fan will want to hear.
Disc Two
• Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer (85 min.) – This was part of the PBS American Masters series and biographies don’t get much better than what they produce. A must see.
• ‘S Wonderful: Creating “An American in Paris – (42:23) A newly produced “making of” documentary. using archival news footage, production materials (including behind-the-scenes photos and plans for set designs), and new interviews with Ward Kelly, Caron, Foch, two of the kids from the “I Got Rhythm” sequence, a trumpet player from the orchestra, a dancer in the ballet, and a variety of scholars and biographers, etc.
• Love Walked In Outtake – (2:43) Is an outtake musical number featuring Georges Guétary and Oscar Levant. The audio/video quality on this extra is comparable to that of the restored film.
• A collection of Audio Outtakes (14:33 w/”Play All”) includes:
1. Alternate Main Title
2. But Not for Me (Guétary)
3. But not for Me (Levant, Piano Solo)
4. Gershwin Prelude #3
5. I’ve Got a Crush on You (Kelly, vocal)
6. Nice Work if You Can Get It (Guétary, vocal)
7. ‘S Wonderful (Kelly, vocal)
• Three Promotional Radio Interviews (13:54) – Johnny Green alone, Gene Kelly alone, and Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron together.
As you can see, An American in Paris – 2 Disc Special Edition is packed with enough stuff to use up a good part of a day!
Here’s a peak at a scene from An American in Paris.
