As we get closer to the 1960’s we get closer to entering the decade of the musicals. This begins early with the 1958 film “Gigi.” I am a fan of modern musical theater, I find the older stuff to be boring and lacking. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching a musical on stage, but I think that transferring from the stage to the screen takes some talent. “Gigi” was a movie first and then a musical so it doesn’t have this stigma. As always I entered it with an open mind.
“Gigi” is about a young girl (Gigi) who is being trained to be a courtesan in Paris that isn’t doing very well in her lessons. During her training she spends most of her free time with Gaston, a bachelor who doesn’t believe in marriage. Over the course of the movie, Gaston relizes he loves Gigi and after he visits and leaves her house several times eventually decides to marry her and they live happily ever after. It was also narrated by an old French guy. The whole plot reminded me of “My Fair Lady” but set in France, after doing some research I found out that the same person wrote both. “My Fair Lady” is a classic and I have never wanted to see “My Fair Lady” in Paris. Unfortunately I now have.
There isn’t much to say about the acting and directing. I found the leads to be boring and a chore to watch. The only decent bit of fun acting comes from Maurice Chevalier who works as a framing device and sings the most memorable song of the film, “Thank Heaven for Little Girls.” The directing had nothing wrong with it. It was perfectly watchable I just didn’t feel as though this was really a movie that I wanted to watch.
Overall this film wouldn’t really make it in today’s world. A movie that starts with an old guy singing about how much he likes little girls wouldn’t work today. The film even tried for a Broadway run in the 70’s and failed. If you want to watch a movie like this I would recommend “My Fair Lady,” a similar story and superior music and acting. Gigi gets 1 out of 5 stars.
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