Film Review: Gigi (1958)
The new standards of "political correctness" threaten to deprive future generations of the cultural legacy of classic films from Hollywood history, as some of the most beloved films from yesteryear no longer meet the test of content acceptability in our "woke" times. This includes films like Gigi, the 1958 musical directed by Vincente Minelli.
Gigi is based on the 1944 novel by French writer Colette, inspired by the life story of the French socialite Yola Lettelier. The novel was adapted into a French drama film in 1949, starring Danièle Delorme.
The 1958 version is set in 1900 Paris, focusing on the upper class milieu and demi-monde, which is introduced in the opening scene by the film's narrator, Honoré Lachaille (played by Maurice Chevallier), an elderly bon vivant who loves women but never married. His nephew Gaston (played by Louis Jourdan), son of a wealthy businessman, seems to follow his example, but appears bored with his series of liaisons with beautiful but shallow women like Liane d'Exelmans (played by Eva Gabor), who cheats him with an ice skating instructor. Gaston appears much more comfortable visiting Madame Alvarez (played by Hermione Gingold), whose charming teenage daughter Gigi (played by Leslie Caron) he knew since childhood. Slightly tomboyish but charming, Gigi, the daughter of a failed opera singer, is growing into a desirable woman, so Madame Alvarez sends her to her sister Alicia (played by Isabel Jeans), an elderly courtesan, to learn all the secrets of the trade and begin seducing rich and powerful men. As she is being groomed, Gaston discovers he has fallen in love with Gigi, but is at odds about what kind of relationship and future the two of them might expect.
In the mid-20th century, Colette's novels became synonymous with literature depicting alternatives to strict sexual morality, and that included the motive of transactional relationships. As such, Gigi wouldn't sit well with Hollywood's prudish censors, so producer Arthur Freed, famous for his Oscar triumph with An American in Paris, had to wait a few years for the infamous MPAA Production Code to loosen up a bit before he could launch his ambitious big-budget production. Nevertheless, despite showing, and in some ways even condoning, what some of today's viewers might see as prostitution, exploitation of women, or, in some of today's extreme interpretations, paedophilia, Gigi was almost completely embraced by its audience of the time. This had much to do with the high production standards of MGM, the superb direction by musical specialist Vincente Minelli, the use of Parisian locations captured wonderfully with Cinemascope and Metrocolor, turning Paris at the start of the 20th century into an exotic, magical place.
More importantly, the script by Alan Jay Lerner made Colette's "saucy" content palatable to "normie" audiences through cynical dialogue, plenty of mild humor, and a couple of interesting songs composed by his old associate Frederick Loewe. "Thank Heaven for Little Girls," with which the film opens and ends, is one of the most recognizable musical numbers of 1950s Hollywood, but it also makes the other songs that appear in the film sound underwhelming and forgettable.
The plot is actually quite simple, and more or less quickly resolved very early in the film, with only the question remaining of how Gaston and Gigi will reach their joint destination. Although it seems a little slow at times, Minelli's film masterfully allows the audience to enjoy the strong performances, including the charming Leslie Caron, the matinee idol Louis Jourdan displaying great comic talent, and the irresistible charm of veteran entertainer Maurice Chevalier, who radiates the joie d'vivre spirit that easily seduces the audience.
Gigi became famous not only as one of the grandest works from the golden age of Hollywood musicals but also for its unprecedented success at the Oscar race, winning nine awards in all nine categories under nomination. Whether such success was truly deserved is debatable, especially considering more critically revered alternatives like Hitchcock's Vertigo. However, for less snobbish audiences, Gigi represents two hours of high-quality light entertainment.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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