An American in Paris 2

An American in Paris 2

In 1951, the Academy Awards were dominated by “An American in Paris” which won Best Picture and almost all major technical categories: screenplay, score, cinematography, art direction, set design and even a special Oscar for the choreography of its 18-minute closing ballet extravaganza.

“Singin’ in the Rain,” released the following year and marking the end of MGM’s legendary golden age of musicals, did not do nearly so well on its initial release. But by the time we boomers were discovering these movies in the ’60s, “Singin’ ” was routinely considered the greatest Hollywood musical and “American in Paris” more respected than loved.

Now that it has been restored for a national theatrical release and eventual re-issue on tape and laser-disc, we can see why “Singin’ ” passed it in the sweeps. The story of two Americans in Montparnasse a struggling painter (Gene Kelly) and a perpetual-piano-student (Oscar Levant) is basically a clothes-line on which to hang recycled Gershwin songs (“I Got Rhythm,” “S’Wonderful”) and a corny tale of love lost and won again. Compared to “Singin’s” acidulated satire of Hollywood at the birth of talkies, it’s pretty tame stuff.

But there are many things about “American” to like; among them that famous ballet production number with Kelly and Leslie Caron symbolizing their whole courtship. There are also other production numbers set in everyday Parisian locations which are endlessly inventive with props and settings.

Strangely enough both stories seem familiar. In both pictures Kelly must break his romance-of-convenience with a predatory older blonde (Nina Foch here; Jean Hagen there) in order to follow his heart to a younger more innocent brunette (Leslie Caron/Debbie Reynolds). In both he is counseled by a best friend (Oscar Levant/Donald O’Connor). And in both there is that classic dramatic moment when all seems lost, just when it is about to be won.

“Singin’ ” is the more realistic picture, which may be why it holds up better today. “American” has scenes which are simply inexplicable such as the one where Kelly and their French friend Georges Guetary are joined at a cafe by Levant who tries to drink coffee while simultaneously lighting a handful of cigarettes because he realizes they’re both in love with the same woman.

Well, maybe that was funny then.

There is also a contrast between Nina Foch’s possessive rich blonde who hopes to buy Kelly’s affections and Jean Hagen’s brassy blonde silent star whose shrieking voice is not suited for the sound era. Foch’s blonde is just plain sour and unpleasant; Hagen’s blonde is funny-fun. Nor can we fail to notice Caron (still unformed: great dancer so-so actress) vs. Reynolds (already a pro: film debut, perky-bright-eyed).

The release variant now being shown is “actual” restoration as per Turner Entertainment specialists who claim this work on “American” was like the repair of “Gone With the Wind” and “Lawrence of Arabia.” Lab work had to be done meticulously so that these reels could match with remaining parts owing to two rolls of the original negative having been destroyed by fire. Thus we can see a bright looking print with fresh colors where in all likelihood intentionally they are not as much saturated or bold as it used to be in classical Technicolor process.

Advertisements that say the movie is now in stereo are not entirely true either. Only 18 minutes of the ballet have been reprocessed into a reconstructed kind of stereo sound, and if the film is played back in theater mode like that, we may get rough-edged audio I heard it during a press-show before the projectionist gave up switching over to mono.

The best approach would be to start from mono and change until ballet physically begins, but why do so much for quasi-stereo effects at all is beyond my understanding. However, people should only go for Kelly dances, final ballets, Gershwin songs, colorful locations and always mysteriously sad charm brought about by Oscar Levant throughout “An American in Paris” on several occasions.

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