After a long run of serious dramas examining political intrigue, the aftermath of World War II and human emotion the Oscar movies return to the song and dance genre with “An American in Paris.” With Gene Kelly dancing and George Gershwin music the movie was a lot lighter than I have gotten used to with previous films and was much more about spectacle than plot.
The plot of the movie focuses on an American living in Paris after the war trying to make it as a painter. He also happens to be a fantastic dancer. He is friends with a great concert pianist and a great singer. How convenient. Eventually he becomes involved with a rich American woman but falls in love with the fiancé of his singer friend. He tells the fiancé of his singer friend, who the singer friend then takes away. After he just dances it out. The woman he loves returns and the movie ends. What a lame boring plot. Pretty disappointing.
From a production standpoint, the acting was nothing to write home about, but the actors didn’t get much to work with. The dancing scenes were well choreographed and the film was shot well. Nothing to really complain about, but nothing to really celebrate either. The big take home from this movie is the song writing from Gershwin with such classics as “I Got Rhythm” and “Our Love is here to Stay.”
After a bunch of great movies, this was a letdown. I love musicals, but you’ve got to have a decent plot to tie it all together. This just sat there. It gets 2 out of 5 stars.
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