Gigi

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Rightful winner of nine Academy Awards (including best picture), this is the last great musical from genius producer Arthur Freed (Singin' in the Rain, Show Boat, An American in Paris). Freed coerced composers Lerner and Loewe into creating this screen original from Colette's tale following their sensational stage success with My Fair Lady. Superbly cast (Leslie Caron in the title role, Maurice Chevalier winning a special Oscar, Louis Jourdan), immaculately designed (for CinemaScope in Art Nouveau by Cecil Beaton) and impeccably directed (by Vincente Minnelli), this is a sophisticated and entertaining musical treat. The story about the training of a young girl to become a courtesan is hardly the usual basis for a screen song-fest, but it's intelligently handled. The best sequences (the duet I Remember It Well and Gaston's soliloquy) were actually directed by the uncredited Charles Walters, who had previously guided Caron in Lili. There's a fine bittersweet air to this tale that leaves you longing to see it again - to paraphrase Chevalier, thank heaven for not-so-little girls like Gigi!