Review of Gigi (1958) by Devon B — 26 Mar 2010
Maurice Chevalier stars in "Gigi", the winner of 9 academy awards for 1958. Little Gigi is just a school girl who happens to have been befriended by the wealthy Gaston Lachaille. Her aunt Alicia (Isabel Jeans) gives her etiquette lessons, but it's an etiquette which seems groomed for other things as well.
She has a fine collection of jewelry which she shows to Gigi: "this one was given to me by a a little king". Why a little king? Great kings don't feel the need to show off as much. But why does her aunt have so many gifts from so many wealthy men? She was once a mistress, running about in the elite social circles of Paris.
The Gaston Lachaille's uncle (Maurice Chevalier) was just the sort of man who ran around with Gigi's aunt back in their day. He's a 70 year old playboy, still chasing after beautiful young women, never settling down to get married (as he says at the beginning of the movie, "those who will not marry are usually men, and those who do not marry are usually women.
"). He's a jaded romantic if ever there was one, and he's doing his best to train his nephew in the family tradition. Well, it's more than a family tradition, all of society considers him a celebrity and hold him to a different moral standard.
What is it about the wealthy that they can't have a happy marriage? It's taken for granted that these men will have unhappy marriages, affairs, and that they will wind up breaking a poor girl's heart, and that the girl should be fully prepared for such a thing.
Take Eva Gabor, she's committed many "suicides", generally she takes an overdose that while not quite lethal, is enough to be acceptable in the celebrity circle. Grandmother and aunt seem all too eager to throw Gigi into this mix, even if the times are changing, and girls don't expect the same things out of life that they once did.
"Gigi" has alot going for it, especially the wonderful songs which in the last 50 years have become classics. A fun film with unusually adult subject matter (for a 1950s musical, at least).
This review of Gigi (1958) was written by Devon B on 26 Mar 2010.
Gigi has generally received positive reviews.
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