An American in Paris (U.S.A., 1950)

This is the first musical in our programmes this year. We had intended to run it as part of the Festival in the new building, but as that has been postponed we are going to screen it anyway.

For those who place faith in such things, this film won about half a dozen Academy Awards in 1950. Don't let that put you off though, for despite these it is an excellent film and ranks with On The Town. Singin' In The Rain, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and Funny Face as one of the best. incidentally, we could show these if anyone is interested enough to ask for them).

Though the plot is a simple "boy meets, lases regains girl" affair. It is the dancing and style, the joie do vive, that make it a classic. The Gershwin songs and music are handled beautifully by director Vlncente Minnelli and spark off a succession of superbly handled scenes—Leslie Caron's first dancing sequence, Gene Kelly and the local kids in "I Got Rhythm" Kelly and Georges Guetary in "S'Wonderful," Kelly and Oscar Levant in "Tra La La," Levant playing every instrument in the orchestra as well as conducting the Allegro Agitato from the Piano Concerto in F, and of course that final quarter of an hour long ballet set to Gershwin's tone poem.

This final sequence is the raison d'etre of the film and derives its inspiration from the styles of Van Gogh. Renoir, Dufy, Rousseau. Utrillo and Toulouse-Lautrec used in Cedric Gibbon's sets. Gene Kelly's choreography and the dancing by himself and Leslie Caron, the emotive use of colour (especially red and blue), and, finally, the agile use of camera movement (Alfred Gilks). Gershwin's music welds the lot into an exhilerating finale.

Though the film as a whole is not such a success in combining all the elements of song, dance and story (it has to bow to On The Town here), it is impossible not to be carried away by it. As the French critic Chaumetier said, "One is left breathless by this giddy succession of images in which all is at once unexpected and impeccable."

(An American in Paris will be screened at the end of this week).