An American in Paris (film)

An American in Paris is a 1951 American musical film inspired by the 1928

An American in Paris
orchestral composition An American in Paris by George Gershwin. Starring Gene
Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guétary, and Nina Foch, the film is
set in Paris, and was directed by Vincente Minnelli from a script by Alan Jay
Lerner. The music is by George Gershwin, with lyrics by his brother Ira, with
additional music by Saul Chaplin, the music director.

The story of the film is interspersed with dance numbers choreographed by Gene
Kelly and set to Gershwin's music. Songs and music include "I Got Rhythm", "I'll
Build A Stairway to Paradise", " 'S Wonderful", and "Love Is Here to Stay". The
climax of the film is "The American in Paris" ballet, a 17-minute dance featuring
Kelly and Caron set to Gershwin's An American in Paris. The ballet sequence cost
almost half a million dollars to shoot.

Contents Theatrical release poster

Plot
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Cast
Produced by Arthur Freed
Music and dance
Written by Alan Jay Lerner
Box office
Awards and honors Starring Gene Kelly
Academy Awards Leslie Caron
Golden Globes
Oscar Levant
Georges Guétary
Others
Nina Foch
Digital restoration
Music by George Gershwin
Stage adaptations Lyrics:
2008 adaptation Ira Gershwin
2014 adaptation Musical
In popular culture Direction:
Johnny Green
References
Saul Chaplin
External links
Cinematography Alfred Gilks
Ballet:
John Alton
Plot Edited by Adrienne Fazan

American World War II veteran Jerry Mulligan (Gene Kelly) is now an exuberant Production Metro-Goldwyn-
company Mayer
expatriate in Paris trying to make a reputation as a painter. His friend and
neighbor, Adam Cook (Oscar Levant), is a struggling concert pianist who is a Distributed by Loew's Inc.[1]
longtime associate of a French singer, Henri Baurel (Georges Guétary). At the Release date November 11, 1951
ground-floor bar, Henri tells Adam about his cultured girlfriend. Jerry joins them
later, before going out to sell his art. Running time 113 minutes
Country United States
Language English

$2,724,000[2]
A lonely society woman and heiress, Milo Roberts (Nina Foch), finds Jerry Budget $2,724,000[2]
displaying his art on the street and takes an interest in him and his art. She brings Box office $6,981,000[2]
him to her apartment to pay for his works, and invites him to a dinner party she is
throwing later that night. After singing with French children on the way home, Jerry shows up to Milo's apartment. He quickly finds
out that the "party" is actually a one-on-one date, and tells Milo he has no interest in being a paid escort. When he attempts to leave
after giving her money back, she insists that she is only interested in his art.

They go to a crowded bar, and she offers to sponsor an art show for Jerry as a friendly gesture. Some of Milo's friends arrive, and
while sitting with them, he sees Lise Bouvier (Leslie Caron), a French girl seated at the next table. Jerry ignores Milo and her
acquaintances, and instead pretends to know Lise already and dances with her. She is standoffish and gives Jerry a wrong phone
number, but she is innocently corrected by someone at her table. Heading home, Milo tells Jerry he was very rude cavorting with a
girl he does not know while in her presence, but he gets out of the car and bids her farewell.

The next day, Jerry calls Lise at her work, but she tells him to never call her again. Jerry and Milo meet at a cafe, and she informs him
that a collector is interested in his paintings and she arranged a showing later that day. Before going to the showing, he goes to the
parfumerie where Lise works and she consents to dinner with him. She does not want to be seen eating with him in public, but they
share a romantic song and dance on the banks of theSeine River in the shadows ofNotre Dame.

Later, Adam humorously daydreams that he is performing Gershwin's Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra for a gala audience in a
concert hall. As the scene progresses, Adam is also revealed to be the conductor, other members of the orchestra, and even an
enthusiastic audience member applauding himself at the end.

Milo gets Jerry an art studio and tells him she has planned an exhibition of his work in three months. He initially refuses the studio
because he does not have the money for it, but eventually accepts it under the condition that he pay Milo back when his art proceeds
allow him. Roughly a month later and after much courting, Lise abruptly runs off when she and Jerry arrive by taxi at his apartment.
When Jerry complains to Adam, he is shocked to realize that both Henri and Jerry are involved with the same woman. Henri and
Jerry discuss the woman they each love, unaware she is the same woman.

That night, Jerry and Lise reunite in the same place on the banks of the Seine close to Notre Dame. She informs him that she is
marrying Henri the next day and going to America. Lise feels a sense of duty to Henri, to whom she feels indebted for keeping her
safe during World War II. She and Jerry proclaim their love for each other
.

Feeling slighted, Jerry invites Milo to the art students' masked ball and kisses her. At the raucous party, with everyone in black-and-
white costumes, Milo learns from Adam that Jerry is not interested in her, and Henri overhears Jerry and Lise saying goodbye to each
other. When Henri and Lise drive away, Jerry daydreams about being with Lise all over Paris to the tune of the George Gershwin
composition An American in Paris. His reverie is broken by a car horn, the sound of Henri bringing Lise back to him. They embrace
as the Gershwin composition (and the film) ends.

Cast
Gene Kelly as Jerry Mulligan
Leslie Caron as Lise Bouvier
Oscar Levant as Adam Cook
Georges Guétary as Henri "Hank" Baurel
Nina Foch as Milo Roberts
Eugene Borden as Georges Mattieu
John Eldredge as Jack Jansen (uncredited)
Hayden Rorke, best known for playing Dr. Alfred Bellows on the TV series I Dream of Jeannie (1965–70), has an uncredited part as
a friend of Milo. Noel Neill, later to portray Lois Lane on the TV seriesThe Adventures of Superman, has a small role as an American
art student who tries to criticize Jerry's paintings. Jazz musician Benny Carter plays the leader of a jazz ensemble performing in the
club where Milo first takes Jerry.
Madge Blake, best known for playing Bruce Wayne's aunt Harriet Cooper on the TV series Batman (1966–68), has an uncredited part
as a customer in the perfume shop in which Lise works.Judy Landon, better known for her appearance in Kelly's next musicalSingin'
in the Rain (and as the wife of Brian Keith), appears as a dancer in the Stairway to Paradise sequence.

Music and dance

1. "Embraceable You" – Lise
2. "Nice Work If You Can Get It" – Hank
3. "By Strauss" – Jerry, Hank, Adam
4. "I Got Rhythm" – Jerry
5. "Tra-la-la (This Time It's Really Love)" – Jerry, Adam
6. "Love Is Here to Stay" – Jerry, Lise
7. "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" – Hank
8. Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra– Adam, The MGM Symphony Orchestra
9. " 'S Wonderful" – Jerry, Hank
10. An American in Paris Ballet – Jerry, Lise, Ensemble
The 17 minute ballet sequence, with sets and costumes referencing French painters including Raoul Dufy, Pierre-Auguste Renoir,
Maurice Utrillo, Henri Rousseau, and Toulouse-Lautrec,[3] is the climax of the film, and cost the studio approximately $450,000 to
produce.[4] Production on the film was halted on September 15, 1950. Minnelli left to direct another film, Father's Little Dividend.
Upon completion of that film in late October,he returned to film the ballet sequence.[5]

Box office
According to MGM records, the film earned $3,750,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $3,231,000 in other countries during its initial
[2]
theatrical release. This resulted in the studio making a $1,346,000 profit.

Awards and honors

Academy Awards

Wins

Academy Award for Best Picture: Arthur Freed, producer

Academy Award for Best Art – Set Decoration, Color: E. Preston
Ames, Cedric Gibbons, F. Keogh Gleason, and Edwin B. Willis
Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color: John Alton and
Alfred Gilks
Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color: Orry-Kelly,
Walter Plunkett, and Irene Sharaff
Kelly and Caron dance
Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of aMusical Picture: Saul
Chaplin and Johnny Green
Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay: Alan Jay
Lerner

Nominations

Academy Award for Best Director: Vincente Minnelli

Academy Award for Best Film Editing: Adrienne Fazan

Golden Globes

Wins
 Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture– Musical or Comedy

Nominations

Golden Globe Award for Best Director – Motion Picture: Vincente Minnelli
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – MotionPicture Musical or Comedy: Gene Kelly

Others
Kelly received an Academy Honorary Award that year for "his versatility as an actor, singer, director and dancer, and specifically for
his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film." It was his only Oscar
.

The film was entered into the1952 Cannes Film Festival.[6]

In 1993, An American in Paris was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally,
historically, or aesthetically significant".

American Film Instituterecognition

1998: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – #68

2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – #39
2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs – #32

"I Got Rhythm"

2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals– #9
AFI also honored star Kelly as #15 of the top 25American male screen legends.

Digital restoration
In 2011, the film was digitally restored by Warner Bros. for its 60th anniversary.[7][8]

Stage adaptations

2008 adaptation
A stage version of the musical was adapted by Ken Ludwig, and began previews at the Alley Theatre (Houston) on April 29, 2008,
officially opening on May 18 and running through June 22. The production, directed by Alley artistic director Gregory Boyd with
choreography by Randy Skinner, starred Harry Groener and Kerry O'Malley. The musical had many of the film's original songs, and
f", and "Love Walked In".[9][10]
also incorporated other Gershwin songs, such as "They All Laughed", "Let's Call the Whole Thing Of

2014 adaptation
In 2014, a stage adaptation premiered in Paris at theThéâtre du Châtelet, with Robert Fairchild as Jerry Mulligan andLeanne Cope as
Lise Bouvier (here renamed Lise Dassin and turned into an aspiring ballet dancer). The production, which ran from November to
January 2015, was directed and choreographed byChristopher Wheeldon, written by Craig Lucas and designed by Bob Crowley. The
musical then transferred to Broadway, with previews at Palace Theatre beginning on March 13, 2015, before officially opening there
on April 12.[11][12][13]

In popular culture
The epilogue of the 2016 musical filmLa La Land references the set design and costuming ofAn American in Paris.[14]
References
1. An American in Paris (http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=50013)at the American Film
Institute Catalog
2. The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library
, Center for Motion Picture Study.
3. Koresky, Michael. "An American in Paris and Gigi"(http://reverseshot.org/features/221/an-american-in-paris-and-gig
i). Retrieved December 28, 2016.
4. McGee, Scott. "An American in Paris: Articles"(http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/67241/An-American-in-Paris/articles.
html). Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
5. "An American in Paris: Notes"(http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/67241/An-American-in-Paris/notes.html). Turner
Classic Movies. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
6. "An American in Paris"(http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3984/year/1952.html). Festival de
Cannes. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
7. Braxton, Greg (October 21, 2010)."Restored 'An American in Paris' to open TCM Classic Film Festival"(http://latime
sblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/10/restored-an-american-in-paris-to-open-tcm-classic-film-festival.html)
. LA
Times.
8. "An American in Paris re-released after digital restoration"(http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-15565786).
BBC. 2 November 2011.
9. "The Gershwins' An American in Paris Again Extends Houston Run"(https://web.archive.org/web/20090126081316/
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/118229.html). playbill.com. 2011-10-08. Archived fromthe original (http://www.pl
aybill.com/news/article/118229.html)on 2009-01-26. Retrieved 2011-10-08.
10. "The Gershwins' An American in Paris: 2007-2008 Season"(http://www.alleytheatre.org/Alley/The_Gershwins_An_A
merican_in_Paris_EN.asp?SnID=138638290) . Alley Theatre. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
11. Gans, Andrew. "An American in Paris Will Open at Broadway's Palace in 2015"(http://www.playbill.com/news/article/
193622-An-American-in-Paris-Will-Open-at-Broadways-Palace-in-2015) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2014
0725235957/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/193622-An-American-in-Paris-Will-Open-at-Broadways-Palace-in-2
015) July 25, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Playbill.com, July 17, 2014
12. Beardsley, Eleanor (December 25, 2014)."The French Go Crazy For 'An American In Paris
' " (http://www.npr.org/blo
gs/parallels/2014/12/25/372895045/the-french-go-crazy-for-an-american-in-paris)
. NPR.
13. Mackrell, Judith (December 8, 2014)."Return to rive gauche: how Christopher Wheedlon adapted An American in
Paris" (https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/dec/08/an-american-in-paris-christopher-wheeldon-gene-kelly)
. The
Guardian.
14. Harris, Aisha (December 13, 2016)."La La Land's Many References to Classic Movies: A Guide"(http://www.slate.c
om/blogs/browbeat/2016/12/13/la_la_land_s_many_references_to_classic_movies_from_singin_in_the_rain_to.htm
l). Slate. Retrieved May 13, 2017.

External links
An American in Paris on IMDb
An American in Paris at the TCM Movie Database
An American in Paris at AllMovie
An American in Paris at Rotten Tomatoes
Filmsite.org's Greatest FilmsAn American in Paris
Combustible Celluloid's review ofAn American in Paris
Production art from An American in Paris, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

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