An American in Paris was number 11 on my list. I almost… almost put it in my top 10, but figured I already had two of Gene Kelly’s musicals in my top 10 and to have three in there might be crowding it a bit too much at the expense of my other great picks. This despite the fact that Gene Kelly is the GOAT. One of my other Kelly picks I couldn’t bring myself to swap
An American in Paris out with because it’s such an underseen and underappreciated film and I wanted to give it some chance to place on the list. The other Kelly musical that made my top 10 is almost a given to be in the top 10 musicals on any countdown. I did however, very seriously consider swapping said Kelly film (yeah, huge mystery I know) out for
An American in Paris and putting the more obvious pick in my 11 spot, but didn’t. Both of the gold standard Gene Kelly musicals have things they do slightly better and not quite as well when comparing one to the other.
Two big things where I prefer
An American in Paris over the unnamed Gene Kelly musical, that for the sake of not giving away a film I had in my top ten, we shall call…
Croonin’ in the Precipitation are the music itself by George Gerswhin and the Gene Kelly love interest played beautifully and s’wonderfully by Leslie Caron. I thought Kelly had so much more chemistry with Leslie Caron, who was “discovered” by Kelly as a ballet dancer, not a film actress, to play opposite him than he did with Debbie Reynolds in
Croonin’ in the Precipitation. As great as Reynolds is, I find her performance more polished, mechanical, and flawless than Caron’s, who as a non-actress gives a more rough around the edges and seemingly less rehearsed-feeling and as such more of a genuine and naturalistic presence on film.
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As the book-wormish ingenue, Caron also really shines in her role, at first rejecting Kelly’s advances, but eventually finding herself won over by his charm and his dorky sense of humor. It’s all so sweet and beautifully done and yes, by today’s standards some would argue that it’s “problematic” but I say” to the barber’s with your beard!” as far as that criticism goes. I prefer Kelly when paired with actresses like Judy Garland, Vera-Ellen (On the Town), and Caron more than his pairings with Debbie Reynolds and Cyd Charisse who fit more of the classical standard of beauty in Hollywood actresses of the era. Also, the sequence in which Caron’s character is introduced is so well done and funny and genuinely racy, even by today’s standards let alone 1951. Apparently, that whole sequence in which she’s being described, had trouble making it past the censors.
The George Gershwin jazzy band music with writing by the great Alan Jay Lerner (who is responsible for my top one pick on this countdown) is just lightning in a bottle and all too spectacular. And it’s not just the musical numbers that are great, but also the music that plays throughout as a theme. The 17-minute ballet dream sequence, which became something of a Gene Kelly musical trademark, is one of the absolute best sequences ever captured on film in which the film’s story is encapsulated through music, dance, and storytelling with a backdrop of the brilliant set and costume design to capture some of Paris’ greatest artwork and artists including Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec. It’s a dream sequence that plays at the perfect moment in the film and is led into by an extreme zoon-in on Kelly’s face as he stands there resigned watching the girl he loves get into the car with another man, his friend, realizing he may never see her again and really can only escape into his dreams. The “Love Is Here to Stay” number is very poetic and warm and even though it could easily have come across as silly or overly sentimental love story cliche’ it doesn’t ring that way, not at all. The “I Got Rhythm” number in the street with the street urchin children is a genuinely fun and whimsical piece and duet “S’Wonderful” is great too, especially considering unbeknownst to each other, both men singing it have fallen for the same girl.
The only real weaknesses I find in
An American in Paris, and trust me, I’m nitpicking here, are the fact that it wasn’t filmed on location Paris, but rather studio lots and for some reason the “Stairway to Paradise” never really did as much for me as the rest of the film.
Now of course great films and great art hit a person on different levels and An American in Paris is no different for me in that regard. Something else I really, really appreciate is the subtext of the theme of American GI’s post-World War 2 struggling to “find their place” in a post war world. Being a musical, it certainly doesn’t get grim or overly serious in a
Best Years of Our Lives type of fashion, but it’s there nonetheless as Kelly plays a struggling WW2 vet living in Paris trying his best to make a go at his passion of painting and attempting to sell his works. One of the best performances in the film belongs to Nina Foch who plays the wealthy lonely single lady who finds Kelly’s starving artist and decides to sponsor him. Like so much in the movie there’s a lot of subtext here and implication that is executed through wonderful writing and while it does directly address the issue of Kelly’s character desperately not wanting to be a “kept man” it cleverly includes without overtly showing the darker implications of that.
The last thing I should mention too is that clever and delightful opening sequence where we are introduced to Kelly’s character in an elaborate bit where we see him wake up in the morning, get dressed, and prepare himself for the day ahead. Kelly’s movements are perfect and how he interacts with objects in such a cramped space is likely something only he could pull of so well. In fact, I was listening to a film podcast on Spotify around this time last year and the late Gene Kelly’s widow, Patricia Ward-Kelly (still very much alive), was actually talking about
An American in Paris and how he, even as an old man, would move around the house in that very same fashion as he did in the opening scene of
An American in Paris. One thing Ward-Kelly did address in that podcast is how she doesn’t always see
An American in Paris as the “dark” Gene Kelly musical as it has sometimes been labeled. I get where she was coming from, but I disagree in the sense of also looking at the film from the Nina Foch’s character’s perspective too, as well as several of the undertones I’ve stated. Now, if memory serves, and it’s been about a year since I listened to that podcast (which still may well be up on Spotify), I think… THINK mind you his wife said she actually prefers
An American in Paris over
Singin’... I mean,
Croonin' in the Precipitation.
In any event, it is genuinely a great film AND a great musical. I voted for it in my number 11 spot, but had I known what I know now with its, to be blunt and perfectly honest, shameful placing at 41 here on the countdown, I would have swapped it out with one of the other Gene Kelly films for my number three spot instead. I figured that
An American in Paris was an absolute clench for the top 25, so yeah it’s sad to see such a great film and wonderful piece of art way down on the list at number 41. Oh well. I’ve done my part. I voted and have now given my “two cents” worth, so that’s all I can do.
Grade: A+
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Postscript: Also regarding the whole thing about
An American in Paris winning best picture for 1951’s films and it somehow being seen by film nerds and historians as a “lesser” of the Academy Award best picture Oscar winners… I think that’s a complete misreading and an unjustified assessment of the film. While I likely would have voted for
A Place in the Sun, another great movie,
An American in Paris is a sound winner and I can completely get behind it.
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