Review of An American in Paris (1951) by Robert H — 05 Mar 2011

The musical is a genre that has seen its better days, honestly, but back in the glory days of Hollywood they could churn them out like nobody's business. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, while not the best of them (or my favorite), certainly ranks up there as one of the all-time greats.

The story is a bit on the ordinary/cliche side, but everything else that holds the film together is spectacular and quite a sight to see. There is amazing sets and production design, beautiful music, and of course some of the best choreographed dancing I've ever seen.

Gene Kelly is the star of this movie and he makes it all seem so effortless. Of course, the supporting cast is no slouch either and more than pull their weight when it comes to the song and dance numbers.

Another plus is the soundtrack and score, composed largely of tunes by George Gershwin (who also happens to be one of my favorite composers). Of course there is the title song which is played numerous times over the course of the film, but also other familiar songs like "'S Wonderful" and "I Got Rhythm," to name a couple.

In a couple of instances, the appearance of certain tunes seem a little bit shoehorned, but it doesn't take very long for you to be swept up in the magic onscreen and forget about everything else.

One of my favorite moments in the film actually didn't involve singing or dancing. It was a fantasy sequence in which Jerry's (Gene Kelly) friend and fellow artist, Adam (Oscar Levant) imagines himself giving a concert of Gershwin's Concerto in F.

..except that he's also the conductor, the orchestra, and the audience who gives himself applause at the end. As a pianist myself, this sequence was very entertaining and humorous. The only problem is that it doesn't really fit into the larger framework of the film, and messes up the pacing a bit.

Directly after this sequence, the pacing goes by a little too quick to catch up with itself. The only other issue I have with the film is the ending: not the magnificent song and dance sequence set to "An American in Paris," but the very end.

Without spoiling it, I kind of wish the ending had been kept a little more ambiguous instead of going for the usual, crowd-pleasing happy one. That being said, I absolutely enjoyed watching this. It was a like a Technicolor dream full of vivacious energy, vibrant color and soul-stirring music.

In my opinion, it's not to be missed.