Oh gee, Gigi!

Another one of Vincent Minnelli’s blockbuster musicals was Gigi, a movie that was so advanced for it’s time that it had everyone in a frenzy and was viewed as a breath of fresh air among the other cookie cutter movies that were being released in those times. Set in Paris, Gigi, has stunning visuals of Paris and costumes that look extravagant yet elegant. The movie revolves around romanticizing the affluent and elite who live in posh houses and look down upon the poor. The grandiose houses and parlors, parties and luncheons are all so beautifully portrayed that on the big screen and in a theater the audience feels like they’re a part of the elites and their rambunctious environment. The city of Paris in the turn of the 20thcentury seems as though it was always lit up like a Christmas tree as every night the rich came out of their glorious mansions and celebrated like there was no tomorrow.

The opening of the movie which is filmed at the Bois de Boulogne shows us what the wealthy community is up to and it is there where we first see the free-spirited Gilberte aka Gigi played by Leslie Caron. Unlike her grandmother Madame Alvarez played by Hermione Gingold and her Aunt Alicia played by Isabel Jeans, Gigi doesn’t want to pretend to be elegant and high headed like all other rich folks. Having been shot on location in Paris (and also in California), the movie has splendid visuals of Fontaines de la Concorde and cobbled streets of Paris. Gigi is living the life that most girls her age would die for but she is humble and down to earth. The richest most famous bachelor in Paris Gaston Lachaille played by Louis Jourdan has fallen in love with Gigi and wants her to come and stay with him amid utmost luxury. Gigi being the humble soul she is, is frightened by the thoughts of getting labeled as one of Gaston’s flames. She wants something true and pure but agrees because she too is in love with Gaston. Both her grandmother and Aunt Alicia are over the moon not because Gigi has found love but because she has found that in someone who comes from the highest of class and wealth. Gaston was in love with her because she was child-like and did not have her nose in the air like all the other women he had interacted with, she was innocent and actually cared about things other than dresses and jewels. Gaston asks the grandmother for Gigi’s hand in marriage because he wants everyone to treat her with respect and not see her as a “fling.”

The portrayal of the wealthy and the complete absence of the middle-class and lower –class in the movie is something that the American audience must have found fascinating having been a country with most of the population somewhere between the lower middle-class the upper middle-class. Watching the screen come alive with jewels, expensive dresses, automobiles and unlimited champagne must have brought joy to the audience. Minnelli’s vision for Gigi was grand and the same went for all of his other super-hits like An American in Paris and The Band Wagon. It was as if he knew exactly what the audience would want to see after they’d had a long day at work or were on a beautiful sunny holiday and he gave them a movie that was their worth every penny of their hard earned money. Gigi is a movie that is so uplifting that it makes one forget about their worries and get immersed in the life of the prosperous communities in the romantic town of Paris.

1958 was Gigi’s year as it dominated the Academy Awards and was dubbed the last best musical that came out of MGM. It won almost all categories like the Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Original Sing and Score for “Gigi”. Alan Jay Lerner, who also wrote the screenplay, and Frederick Loewe, maestros of music composition did an excellent job at providing not only appropriate but iconic soundtracks. The costumes by Cecil Beaton were more than just original, they actually seemed as though they came out of illustrations in a book. The cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg was absolutely phenomenal as we got to see the best of Paris as well as the stunningly realistic sets. Alan Jay Learner also won the Writers Guild of America Award for the best Written American Musical. Vincent Minnelli and his assistant director George Vieira also received the much anticipated and deserved Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing for a Feature Film. So it is safe to say that Gigi was the biggest hit that year. Most of Vincent Minnelli’s movies always turn out to be one of a kind and a sight to behold.