Day 13: An American in Paris

An American in Paris: 1951: Winner of the 24th academy Awards

Starring:

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

What to say about yet another musical? I didn’t like this one quiet so much as I like every other musical. I am in generally a fan of all movies musically inclined, but An American in Paris was far below expectation. Firstly it had thee most ridiculous plot lines ever! Some painter dude is randomly picked up by an artisan collector, but falls in love with a perfume sales-lady and some 3, 17 minute dance sequence later they are relinquished to fall in love together, happy forever and ever? Please! Furthermore, I saw Leslie Caron in another Academy Picture “Gigi” and she was like wayyy prettier. In this movie I swear I thought she was an alien, those teeth were protruding put of her tiny mouth and her eyes so slanted and wide at the same time it was like alienish and her hair was butchered, I didn’t like the way she looked and think they should have tried harder to make her look prettier. The dance numbers were incredible but not worth the time to watch, the movie “The Red Shoes” is a particularly a beautiful movie with much better dance sequences. Sidenote, this movie won “A Streetcar Named Desire”, why academy why? You failed me when you choose Hamlet over last said movie but this is beyond an oversight this is glitz and glam over talent!

 

It also won awards for:
 
 

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

Academy Award for Best Musical Score: Saul Chaplin and Johnny Green

Academy Award for Best Writing, Scoring and Screenplay: Alan Jay Lerner

Day 10: Gigi

Gigi :1958: Winner of the 31st Academy Awards

Starring:

Leslie Caron as Gigi

Louis Jourdan as Gaston Lachaille

Maurice Chevalier as Honoré Lachaille

Hermione Gingold as Madame Alvarez

Isabel Jeans as Aunt Alicia

Eva Gabor as Liane d'Exelmans

Jacques Bergerac as Sandomir

I liked this movie. It was cute and funny and it was kind of like watching to stubborn people fall in love. I wasn’t entirely sure whether Gigi was being raised to be a rich man’s wife or his mistress, but it all worked out in the end. I think Leslie Carron was by far one of the prettiest actress ever and I was totally smitten by Gaston. Angry man, I swear some men were just made for marriage and he was one of them. All he needed was a little vivacity in his life. And Gigi was the one to bring the spunk… pun… get it? Nvm anyway the point is that I liked it and it was one of the first musicals to ever win 9 oscars. I loved it and couldn’t get “The Parisians” song out of my head. Watch it as a date movie or on a rainy day with cocoa. It’s totally worth it.

 It also won awards for:

Best Director :Vincente Minnelli,

Best Adapted Screenplay: Alan Jay Lerner

Best Art Direction: E. Preston Ames, F. Keogh Gleason, Henry Grace, and William A. Horning

Best Cinematography: Joseph Ruttenberg

Best Costume Design: Cecil Beaton

Best Film Editing :Adrienne Fazan

Best Original Score :André Previn

Best Original Song :"Gigi" by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe

Day 9: The Life of Emile Zola

The Life of Emile Zola : 1937: Winner of the 10th Academy Awards

Starring:

Paul Muni as Émile Zola

Gloria Holden as Alexandrine Zola

Gale Sondergaard as Lucie Dreyfus

Joseph Schildkraut as Captain Alfred Dreyfus

Donald Crisp as Maitre Labori

Erin O'Brien-Moore as Nana

John Litel as Charpentier

Henry O'Neill as Colonel Picquart

Morris Carnovsky as Anatole France

Louis Calhern as Major Dort

Ralph Morgan as Commander of Paris

Robert Barrat as Major Walsin-Esterhazy

Vladimir Sokoloff as Paul Cézanne

Grant Mitchell as Georges Clemenceau

Harry Davenport as Chief of Staff

Robert Warwick as Major Henry

Charles Richman as M. Delagorgue

Gilbert Emery as Minister of War

Walter Kingsford as Colonel Sandherr

Paul Everton as Assistant Chief of Staff

Montagu Love as M. Cavaignac

Frank Sheridan as M. Van Cassell

Lumsden Hare as Mr. Richards

Here’s the ticket to one of the precedents to American’s love of angry men in court. The story revolves around the French –some time’s political writer Emile Zola, who went from rags to riches with his hit novel “Nana”. After some time he encounters a real shot to prove his political writings when he tries to aid a general wrongly accused of Treason. He along with the convict get discredited and Emile has to flee for his life. Later the commandeering general is no longer able to keep the secret blows his brains out and Emile is once again believed in and the general gets his life back. Truthfully this was kind of bore, and it made me irritable lucilky after that we watched a Bollywood movie with Salinger so it wasn’t too bad. Watch it if you want to see the principal culprit of American movies in the courtroom. Watch it if your French but don’t watch it and expect entertainment.

It also won awards for:

Best Actor: Paul Muni

Best Director: William Dieterle