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An American in Paris is Vincente Minnelli’s 1951 American musical built around Gene Kelly as ex-GI Jerry Mulligan attempting to establish a painting career in postwar Paris. Leslie Caron plays French shop assistant Lise Bouvier in her American film debut. Oscar Levant plays Jerry’s friend Adam Cook. Georges Guétary plays singer Henri Baurel. Nina Foch plays American heiress Milo Roberts who funds Jerry’s painting. The screenplay was written by Alan Jay Lerner. The score uses George Gershwin music throughout, including the 1928 An American in Paris orchestral piece that provides the climactic seventeen-minute ballet sequence. The film was produced by MGM on the Arthur Freed unit on a budget of approximately 2.7 million dollars and grossed approximately 7 million dollars worldwide. The work won six Academy Awards including Best Picture.
The film represents the Freed unit at MGM at its peak production and one of the principal achievements of the American studio musical. The seventeen-minute closing ballet is among the most ambitious sequences ever attempted in a Hollywood musical. The Gershwin score gives the film better material than typical original musical compositions provided. The Kelly choreography combines tap with modern dance and ballet vocabulary in ways that pre-Kelly American musicals had not attempted. The result is the film that established Kelly as the principal American film dance figure of his era and demonstrated what the Freed unit could accomplish when given full studio support.
The Gershwin Score
The score uses Gershwin songs and orchestral works composed between 1924 and 1937. The film constructs its dramatic situations around the existing music rather than commissioning new material. The picture avoided the standard musical problem of mediocre original songs. Gershwin had been dead fourteen years when the film began production. His estate licensed the music in a single package deal that allowed the film to use anything from the catalog.
The strategy of building films around existing musical catalogs would become standard practice later. Mamma Mia, Across the Universe, Moulin Rouge, and others use the same approach. An American in Paris demonstrated the method’s viability decades before it became common. The film’s success made other studios consider whether building productions around famous composers’ catalogs might produce stronger material than commissioning new work.
For Writers
Building work around existing material can produce results that original material cannot match. Apply this to your own field. If the historical catalog contains stronger work than current commissioning will produce, use the historical catalog.
Kelly as Dancer-Choreographer
Kelly choreographed the film’s dance sequences and starred in them. The combination was unusual in 1951 studio production. Kelly’s vocabulary combined the athletic American tap tradition with modern dance ideas from Jack Cole and ballet movement Kelly had studied in Pittsburgh. The result was a dance style that no previous American film dancer had used.
Kelly’s approach contrasted with Fred Astaire’s. Astaire emphasized elegance and ballroom technique. Kelly emphasized athleticism and street-derived movement. The two styles defined American film dance for decades. Astaire was the gentleman dancer. Kelly was the working-class dancer. Their styles served different dramatic situations. An American in Paris demonstrated what Kelly could do when given full creative authority.
For Writers
Establishing a distinct approach within a saturated form requires defining yourself against existing standards. The same logic applies to art. If the established figures hold one position, the available territory may be opposite to theirs.
The Seventeen-Minute Ballet
The closing dream ballet sequence runs seventeen minutes and depicts Jerry imagining Paris through the styles of various French painters. Sets reference Dufy, Renoir, Utrillo, Rousseau, Van Gogh, and Toulouse-Lautrec. The sequence cost approximately half a million dollars to produce. The result contains no dialogue and almost no plot. It exists as pure cinematic ballet at a length and ambition that American studio musicals had not previously attempted.
The studio executives initially resisted the sequence. The runtime was substantial. The lack of dialogue concerned them. The cost exceeded what the film’s plot required. Minnelli and Freed kept fighting for the sequence. The result was one of the most ambitious dance sequences in American film. The Academy Award for Best Picture vindicated the production team against the executives who had wanted the sequence reduced or eliminated.
For Writers
Ambitious sequences that production logic resists may be the work’s principal achievements. The same applies to writing. The chapter the editor wants cut may be the chapter that justifies the book.
Craft Note
The Freed unit at MGM produced consecutive musicals during the late 1940s and early 1950s that included Meet Me in St. Louis, On the Town, An American in Paris, Singin’ in the Rain, and The Band Wagon. The unit’s success has not been matched since. The combination of consistent producer Arthur Freed, talented directors including Minnelli and Donen, and house composers giving the unit first access to material produced an extraordinary stretch of work that subsequent studio attempts have not equaled.
Verdict
An American in Paris is the Freed unit at MGM at its peak and one of the principal achievements of the American studio musical. The Gershwin score gives the film better material than original composition typically provided. The Kelly choreography set a vocabulary that defined American film dance. The seventeen-minute ballet is one of the most ambitious sequences in American cinema. Essential viewing for anyone interested in American musicals, in Gershwin’s music, or in the MGM studio era at its most ambitious.
FAQ
Why did the film win Best Picture over A Streetcar Named Desire?
The 1951 Academy decision remains controversial. Streetcar has aged into classic status. An American in Paris won through industry preference for technical achievement and Hollywood tradition over the new tougher dramatic style Brando represented.
Is the film historically accurate about postwar Paris?
Not particularly. The Paris depicted is the Freed unit’s romantic version rather than the actual postwar city, which was still recovering from German occupation. The film is fantasy rather than documentary.
How does Leslie Caron compare to other Minnelli leads?
Caron was nineteen during production and largely inexperienced. Her performance is one of the film’s weaker elements alongside the real achievements around her. Her subsequent career developed her into a stronger performer.
How does the runtime function?
The film runs approximately one hour fifty-four minutes. The runtime accommodates the closing ballet sequence without compressing the dramatic plot.
What is the cultural impact of the film?
Substantial sustained impact through Gershwin music popularization, the Kelly dance vocabulary that influenced subsequent generations, and the ambitious-ballet model that later musicals would attempt.
Should I watch other Kelly musicals first?
On the Town (1949) and Singin’ in the Rain (1952) provide useful context. Kelly’s vocabulary develops across these films. Watching them in production order shows the progression.