An extravagant charmer.
Comment
02/20/08
An American in Paris (1951)
98 %
Reviews Counted: 46 Fresh: 45 Rotten:1 Average Rating: 7.8/10
Consensus:
The plot may be problematic, but such concerns are rendered superfluous by Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron's star power, the Gershwins' classic songs, and Vincente Minnelli's colorful, sympathetic direction.
Runtime: 2 hrs 8 mins
Synopsis: Musical about a young G.I. who remains in Paris after World War II to study art. Jerry Mulligan wants to live the life of the great painters -- holed up in a Montmartre garret, starving for his art. But the reality is less romantic than the fantasy, so when a rich American gallery owner offers to... [More]
Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
Starring: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guetary, Nina Foch
Reviews
Top Critic
t's a simple love story, but also a celebration of dance, music and art, embodied in the somewhat synthetic notion of Paris as the spiritual home of the arts, and the painterly aesthetic of the film as a whole.
02/19/08
Top Critic
A musical both ludicrously overpraised (especially in Hollywood) and underrated.
06/24/06
Top Critic
One of the most imaginative musical confections turned out by Hollywood in years.
02/19/08
Top Critic
While not nearly the musical it's cracked up to be, this 1951 film is absolutely required viewing for anyone who wants to see the studio system (MGM style) at its gaudiest, most Byzantine height.
12/12/06
Beautifully designed, An American in Paris features plenty of unnecessarily lengthy dance numbers and a mildly interesting plot.
10/31/06
The dazzling French fried musical is Hollywood's homage to Paris's joie de vivre.
09/04/06
A francophile and frustrated painter, Minnelli identifies completely with Kelly's American painter Jerry. Arguably no Hollywood director was as knowledgeable of French art as Minnelli, whose work evokes the light and color of his cherished painters.
07/16/06
Never the triumph that it really should have been, largely because of a thin script and the flyaway Caron, this is still good, colorful fun.
09/16/05
It is both comfortable entertainment and eye-popping cinema, with its dream ballet acting as a showcase for what the movie musical can really do.
02/23/05
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