“An American in Paris” (1951)

An American in Paris

Grade: B+

Although the story is shallow, the supporting cast hokey and some of the songs surprisingly lackluster, An American in Paris is a pleasant, comforting, Gene Kelly musical with a stunning grand finale that makes you forget about the flaws.

Directing:

80% of An American in Paris is pretty-to-look-at Hollywood musical fare, with Technicolorful cinematography and art direction made to match Gene Kelly’s graceful choreography. But the other 20%, namely the 17-minute grand finale, is cinematic impressionism of the highest magnitude, in which Kelly and director Vincente Minnelli deliver the greatest dance sequence ever put to film.

Acting:

The charming cast, led by Gene Kelly, Oscar Levant and Leslie Caron, do their best with the melodramatic material, but to judge them on acting alone is unfair when their primary talents are singing, dancing and piano playing (and when the melodrama is so trite). As such, the musical performances take precedence; uniformly excellent when unhampered by unnecessary accompaniment (i.e., anyone outside the main trio).

Writing:

Alan Jay Lerner’s screenplay is thin and generic, a corny love story that doesn’t have much to say about love and even less to say about Paris, Americans and George Gershwin (whose music inspired the film). With emotional schmaltz, dated humor and contrived conflict plaguing the script, the instrumental moments are all we really care about — just get to the singing and dancing already!

Music:

The classical numbers (e.g., Concerto in F and the title suite) are fantastic and make the entire film worthwhile. The comedy numbers (e.g., “By Strauss” and “I Got Rhythm“) all fall flat. Because the variance leans heavier toward the latter side of the equation, especially in the film’s first half, An American in Paris is somewhat inconsistent as a Gershwin homage. But those fantastic classical numbers are why Gershwin homages are justified in the first place.

Ending (SPOILERS):

Closing with a wordless surreal-impressionist ballet set to the entirety of Gershwin’s titular tone poem is a wonderfully ambitious choice — this is the same film that gave us “By Strauss” just an hour earlier, mind you. Kelly and Caron’s final dance is so vivid, so elaborate, that it transcends all the triteness that came before; an impressive display of color, movement and abstract emotion that deserves to be considered one of the best movie endings ever.

If only the rest of the film weren’t so artificial! Kelly and Caron’s interpretive retelling of their romance accomplishes far more in 17 minutes than what Lerner’s script is capable of in 90. The takeaway: dance is a language far more universal than empty dialogue. The final sequence is a masterpiece worthy of Matisse.

“Back home everyone said I didn’t have any talent. They might be saying the same thing over here, but it sounds better in French.” — Jerry Mulligan

Why An American in Paris gets a B+

So-so musical saved by an amazing ending, similar to Chazelle’s La La Land (2016) and Chu’s Wicked (2024)

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