Review of An American in Paris (1951) by Manuel A — 15 May 2015

The setting, the art, the colors, and the choreography are gorgeous, culminating in an epic dance number at the end of the movie that will forever be a classic.

The problem is that all of this beauty exists in a movie that has disturbing things to say about women. This starts with the character Milo Roberts, played by Nina Foch. She is the villain of the movie, according to the men, but by modern sensibilities never comes across as villainous at all. The male characters take her to task for showing at patron's and romantic interest in the artist Jerry Mulligan, played by Gene Kelly. A particularly harsh verbal attack at a wild party that leads into the final dance number suggests she is a vile predator, despite her being age-appropriate for the late-30s Gene Kelly.

Contrast that appropriateness with Mulligan's pursuit of the 19-year old Lise Bouvier, played by Leslie Caron. He stalks her despite her discomfort and then her verbal requests for him to stop being inappropriate. Perhaps his character is supposed to be much younger than Gene Kelly was at the time, but the nearly 20-year difference between the two is obvious. The storyline parallels Kelly's real life discovery an patronage of Caron, and today it is shocking that this is considered just fine when it is an older man helping a young woman, but a scandal when it is an older woman helping a similarly-aged man.

The plot concerns a four-way triangle and ends with a disturbing scene that suggests Lise is an object to be handed between men at their digression. She is not the one who gets to make the choice.

The music and the dancing are, of course, absolutely wonderful and the only reason I give this three stars. Another highlight is Oscar Levant's orchestral fantasy, complete with him at every instrument. It is unclear, though, what purpose his character actually serves. He becomes aware of the various romantic entanglements, but doesn't do or say anything about it except condemn Roberts. By the end of the movie he has had no character arc and there are not hints about what will happen with him and his music. Like Roberts, his character is dropped before the final number, without resolution.