332. Gigi (1958)

Directed By Vincent Minnelli

Synopsis

A little girl turns into a woman of questionable legal standing.

Review

This is one of the funnest late musicals in our list, in fact it is the last great MGM musical and it is a really great one. This has everything you require from a musical, amazing sets, a great sense of fun and great songs.

The whole story around Gigi is one which would probably not see the light of day today, starting off with an old man singing what amounts to an ode to borderline paedophilia, it goes on looking at the education of a young girl into a love machine.

If you put that aside, after all 1958 was a different planet, the film is great fun to watch. Leslie Caron is beautiful and the acting is generally excellent. Maurice Chevalier is probably the great highlight of the whole thing. We had last seen him in one of my favourite musicals, Love Me Tonight where he played a young tailor, all the way back in 1932, now he is old and bring a Gallic charm and amusement to the whole thing.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

In 1991, Gigi was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The American Film Institute ranked it #35 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions. The film is considered the last great MGM musical and the last great achievement of the Freed Unit, headed by producer Arthur Freed, although he would go on to produce several more films, including the musical Bells Are Ringing in 1960. The film was the basis for an unsuccessful stage musical produced on Broadway in 1973.

Trailer: