An American in Paris: 1951

Unlike the last few films I watched, An American in Paris is in color, and while I enjoy the richness of classic black and white films, the color was a welcome break. Add in the music and Gene Kelly, and I have to say that first hour or so of the film was quite enjoyable. 

An American in Paris has a pretty simple storyline. It's a love triangle. Boy meets girl, boy falls in love, girl starts to fall in love but is already committed to someone else. Gene Kelly is Jerry Mulligan, the boy in this story. Jerry is a struggling artist who stayed in Paris after serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. As he says, Paris provides inspiration for artists, but it seems that although he's inspired, his work hasn't sold much. He's the epitome of starving artist until he captures the attention of a wealthy American woman, Milo Roberts, and we soon learn that Milo has a problem with hooking up with struggling artists, providing them financial support, and then having her heart stomped all over when the men become famous and leave her. Jerry is more upfront with Milo, making it clear that he isn't interested in a romantic relationship and plans to pay back every dime she gives him. Jerry's moral core seems to come from his American upbringing; he wants to earn his success. The other motivation for Jerry to avoid romantic entanglement is, of course, the girl I mentioned, Lise. Lise (played by Leslie Caron) is a Frenchwoman Jerry encounters on a night out, and he is immediately attracted to the shy, aloof Frenchwoman. No matter how much he tries to charm her that evening, she has no interest in dating him. Jerry's persistence pays off, however, as he learns her phone number and where she works. When he shows up in the perfume shop while she's helping a customer and helps her finish the sale, he has charmed his way into a first date. Their relationship grows from here.

Naturally, all is not easy for Jerry and Lise, especially since Lise is basically engaged to another man, who Jerry considers a friend. Despite this issue, most of the film remains upbeat. Jerry is ready with a smile and song and a tap dance. The musical includes a version of "I Got Rhythm" that involves French children saying the "I got" part with Jerry singing the rest. 

Gene Kelly is perfect in the role; he has chemistry with everyone on screen and his dancing is simply amazing. Lesile Caron is a talented dancer as well, and when the two are together, you truly believe they are Jerry and Lise, two lovers meant to be together but torn apart by their circumstances.

The only part of the film that I didn't quite understand was the last dance sequence. The sequence lasts over 10 minutes and features Kelly and Caron. Throughout the entire sequence, the music is instrumental, and it appears that the audience must interpret what the dance reveals about the characters or story. Or perhaps it was simply a chance to feature these two talented performers. Whatever the case, I lost interest about 3-4 minutes in and even dozed off. Up to that point, I had been fully engaged in the film, so if I ever watch this again, I think I'll just skip that dance sequence and jump right to the ending (which is about 2 minutes long following the dance).