In 1952, MGM's musical masterpiece Singin'
In The Rain suffered
some by coming in the immediate wake of An American In Paris, a Best Picture-winning
prestige effort that at the time was considered the height of Hollywood musical
sophistication. Over the past few decades, though, the tide has turned. Singin'
In The Rain
has become a cudgel with which to beat the bloated, somewhat pretentious An
American In Paris,
such that now it's the Oscar-winner which may be underrated. Much of what's
bothersome about An American In Paris can be attributed to its ambition, along with a
well-meaning but obnoxious reactionary streak. This is a movie that honors its
hero, a mediocre representational painter played by Gene Kelly, for standing
against the tide of airy-fairy art-world abstraction. And yet MGM's crack
creative team—led by director Vincente Minnelli—went a little arty
themselves, abandoning conventional narrative after 90-odd minutes to resolve
the movie's central love triangle with an allusive 18-minute ballet. An
American In Paris
is muddled as an artistic statement, yet unsatisfying as conventional Hollywood
product.
Still, how many other Hollywood products of
the era were driven by such a multivalent meditation on aesthetics? And how
many featured songs as timelessly winning as George and Ira Gershwin's bouncy
pop numbers, or found a place in the cast for curmudgeonly Gershwin pal Oscar
Levant? As for that ballet, it remains a thing of wonder, replicating the
styles of half a dozen French masters in a collision of color, movement, and
elegant lines. The ballet drives home An American In Paris' more important message:
that Europe is ripe for rediscovery in the wake of two world wars. The ballet
also makes the best use of the movie's female lead, Leslie Caron—herself
a war waif—who elsewhere in the film is too stiff and slight to make much
of an impression as the object of Kelly's desire. When Caron dances, she's
worth fighting for. And though the real-life Kelly's lifelong championing of
dance as an athletic, manly pursuit may have often caused him to overcompensate
and downplay delicacy, An American In Paris can be surprisingly
graceful, in spite of itself.
Key
features:
Several original and archival featurettes, and a remarkable commentary track
that edits together the recorded reminiscences of Kelly, Minnelli, Caron, and
others.