An American In Paris (1951)
Part of the Decades of Musicals season
7:30 p.m. Sunday September 6 2009
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Certificate BBFC U
Length: 113 mins
Language: English, some questionable French
Format: 35mm
"An American in Paris, one of the most successful and popular musicals in the history of film, is also one of the few Technicolor musicals to be taken seriously by critics during the Golden Age of Hollywood when many such films were made." Filmreference.com
THE FILM
"This is Paris, and I'm an American who lives here. My name is Jerry Mulligan, and I'm an ex G.I. In 1945 when the army told me to find my own job, I stayed on… Back home everyone said I didn't have any talent. They might be saying the same thing over here, but it sounds better in French."
We push on through to the fifties with this Gene Kelly / Vincente Minnelli classic. The story of ex-G.I. Jerry's (Gene Kelly) sojourn in Paris, this has everything you could ask for in a musical. Gems such as 'I Got Rhythm', Embraceable You and Nice Work If You Can Get It, glorious Technicolor (as ever) and an 18 minute long mini-ballet. Quite possibly why celluloid was dreamt up.
AWARDS
The film is an unmissable classic of the shitory of cinema, and won many awards when it was released:
ACADEMY AWARD WINNER FORBest PictureBest ArtBest CinematographyBest Musical ScoreBest Costumre DesignBest WritingGOLDEN GLOBE FORBest Picture
Other films in the season:
Sunday 3 May 2009
Show Boat (1936)
7:30 p.m.
Sing-a-long-a-Sunday! The first stop on our monthly jazz-hands journey through the decades via the glorious medium of musical film.
More »
Sunday 7 June 2009
42nd Street (1933)
7:30 p.m.
The quintessential "backstage" musical More »
Sunday 5 July 2009
Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
7:30 p.m.
Sunday 6 September 2009
An American In Paris (1951)
7:30 p.m.
We push on through to the fifties with this Gene Kelly / Vincente Minnelli classic. The story of ex-G.I. Jerry's (Gene Kelly) sojourn in Paris, this has everything you could ask for in a musical. Gems such as 'I Got Rhythm', Embraceable You and Nice Work If You Can Get It, glorious Technicolor (as ever) and an 18 minute long mini-ballet. Quite possibly why celluloid was dreamt up.
More »
Sunday 4 October 2009
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
7:30 p.m.
1950s musical
More »
Sunday 1 November 2009
Kiss Me Kate (1953)
7:30 p.m.
"The Greatest of all Great MGM Musicals!" Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew meets Cole Porter in this play within a musical within a film. Originally filmed in 3D - expect a surfeit of objects thrown at the camera as well as classic ditties 'So In Love', 'Too Darn Hot' and (in canny preparation for next week's festival of the same name!) 'Wunderbar'. Keep your eyes peeled for the Bob Fosse cameo.
More »
Sunday 6 December 2009
The Proud Valley (1940)
7:30 p.m.
Musical or manifesto?
More »
Sunday 10 January 2010
Les Demoiselles De Rochefort (1967)
7:30 p.m.
Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy collaborate directing the charming Catherine Deneuve and Gene Kelly. Its a companion piece to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 1964 using the same magical combination of a Michel Legrand score, immaculate kitsch art direction and a romantic story line to make the heart sing too.
More »
Sunday 7 February 2010
The Sound Of Music (1965)
7:30 p.m.
'The Hills are alive with the sound of music, with songs they have sung for a thousand years'.
Come and see this ever-favourite Hollywood musical. Every song is a classic that you will want to belt out, or whistle, or hum, or mime while you watch the story of love, fun and song unfold on screen.
More »
Sunday 4 April 2010
New York, New York (1977)
7:30 p.m.
Scorsese's homage to the 1940's MGM musical and to the titular city.
More »
Sunday 5 September 2010
Fame (1980)
7:30 p.m.
We sashay into the questionable world of 80s musicals with this tale of unadulterated, grabbing ambition. Come and remember the leg warmers, remember the routines, remember the songs and, most importantly, remember...my name. Because if they've really got what it takes, it's going to take everything they've got.
More »
Thursday 9 December 2010
Top Hat (1935)
7:30 p.m.
For the last Decades of Musicals film we are throwing chronology to the wind and going back to the 1930s where, let's be honest, all the best musicals live. Astaire and Rogers partner up again and croon such classics as 'Cheek to Cheek' and, of course, 'Top Hat...'.
More »