GIGI - DVD review

If you are old enough, or interested enough in musicals, you may remember that there was a time in the mid twentieth century when Broadway and Hollywood filled their musicals with appealing stories and memorable songs. "Oklahoma," "Singin' in the Rain," "My Fair Lady," "The Music Man," "Camelot," "Cabaret," and dozens more left audiences humming the melodies as they left the theater. Now, we get mostly downbeat musicals with a single good tune hammered out in endless variations. It's no wonder the movie musical has gone out of favor.

Anyway, MGM produced "Gigi" for the screen in 1958, at the height of the genre's popularity, where it not only won audience approval but nine Academy Awards in the process, for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Score, Song, Editing, Cinematography, Costumes, and Art Design. It's gorgeous, it's fun, it's romantic, and, most of all, it's overflowing with charming characters and remarkably good music. Yes, even if you're not already familiar with the music, you'll be humming it by the time you finish this 50th Anniversary, Two-Disc Special Edition.

MGM asked the noted songwriting team of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe to do the screenplay, music, and songs, based upon a 1944 book by Colette. There had already been a 1949 French movie version (included with this set) and a 1951 Broadway play version (which introduced Audrey Hepburn to the world of acting), and now the studio wanted to add music to the story. Lerner and Loewe ("An American in Paris," "The Band Wagon," "Brigadoon," "My Fair Lady," "Paint Your Wagon," "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever") were at first reluctant to write directly for the screen, but MGM persuaded them to do it. Then the studio got Vincente Minnelli ("Meet Me in St. Louis," "The Pirate," "An American in Paris," "Brigadoon," "Kismet") to direct and Cecil Beaton ("My Fair Lady") to do the costume design, Andre Previn ("Kiss Me Kate," "Kismet") to supervise and conduct the music, and a top-notch cast. How could they lose?

The movie was a smash hit.

The studio hoped that "Gigi" would be another "My Fair Lady" (which had not yet reached the big screen but was one of Broadway's most successful stage musicals), and, indeed, the plot of "Gigi" is virtually the same Cinderella fairy tale as "My Fair Lady." However, while "Gigi" won a ton of awards at the time, it has not proved quite as durable as "My Fair Lady," perhaps because "Gigi" looks at life and love from a point of view very different from that of "My Fair Lady." In "My Fair Lady," we see an author (George Bernard Shaw) poking fun at courtly manners, high society, and pretentious ways. In "Gigi" the story is a bit kinder to high society, and we see a tale that in many respects glorifies their profligate ways, despite a conventional happy, moral ending. Let me explain.

In the story, set in Paris in 1900, Leslie Caron plays Gigi, a young woman whose family are grooming her to be a courtesan, a paramour for rich and powerful men. There are women only in Gigi's family, and it is the aunt (Isabel Jeans) and the grandmother (Hermione Gingold), personally experienced in such matters, who are training the girl in a life to which they were themselves raised. The idea is that in those days wealthy and powerful men frequently had mistresses, whom they treated very well, and there was money in being a well-kept lady. Basically, then, the family are raising Gigi to be a high-class tart. That notion didn't set well with the Hollywood censors, but the way the movie treats the subject, hardly anyone notices. It's sort of like how Audrey Hepburn played a call girl in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" without audiences seeming to mind.

So, as the movie opens, Gigi is young and still too naive and tomboyish to understand the customs of Parisian life and love or why her aunt and grandmother are teaching her the proper manner of eating and speaking and behaving. Gaston Lachaille (Louis Jordan) is a wealthy, spoiled, idle, young man about town, bored by the social whirl of Paris, who is also a friend of Gigi's middle-class family and visits them often. As Gigi matures, Gaston begins, slowly, to notice her and become attracted to her. Naturally, the aunt and grandmamma begin to groom Gigi specifically to snare young Gaston. The question is, What are Gaston's intentions, and is the word "marriage" in his vocabulary?

Caron works well as the young girl (although the actress was in her mid twenties at the time, married, with a child of her own, and her singing voice dubbed by Betty Wand; it's called acting, and Caron sparkles). Plus, Jeans and Gingold perfectly suit the stuffy older ladies. But the real star of the show is old trooper Maurice Chevalier as Gaston's uncle, Honore Lachaille, the confirmed bachelor and boulevardier who has had a string of mistresses through the years and now tutors his nephew in the art of love and women. That most people today would probably find Honore's ideas antiquated and repellant is beside the point. He narrates the story, and he gets the best songs, including the poignantly humorous and showstopping "I Remember It Well," with Ms. Gingold.

Despite the movie's questionable thematic material, the songs, costumes, settings (much of the film shot on location in Paris; yes, that really is Maxim's), and general atmosphere carry the picture, along with the actors' scintillating charm. There is endless fun and a bit of mischief in songs like "Thank Heaven for Little Girls," "It's a Bore," "The Parisians," "Gossip," "The Night They Invented Champagne," "I Remember It Well," "Lessons," "Gigi," "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore," the "Waltz at Maxim's," "Say a Prayer for Me Tonight," and many more.

In short, it's one thing to show a phonics professor teaching a young girl to speak properly in order to gain access to high society ("My Fair Lady"), and it's another thing to show a family teaching a young girl to be a prostitute in order to gain access to high society ("Gigi"). Nevertheless, with a strong cast, splendid songs, and wonderful costumes and settings, "Gigi" continues to entertain, making us forget its dubious story line. Just be glad that it all ends well and enjoy the film's warmth along with its glitz and glitter.

Video:
The Warners video engineers have given "Gigi" a spanking new digital transfer enhanced for widescreen TVs that does justice to the movie's sparkling colors and lavish sets and costumes. The disc presents the film in its original 2.40:1 CinemaScope aspect ratio, in hues rich, deep, and luxurious. In fact, the colors are so deep and brilliant, they are almost too good a thing, particularly when set off as they are by the strongest possible black levels. The parks, gardens, buildings, and restaurants of Paris show up lavishly, with only a touch of gloss and touch of natural print grain. Even in standard definition, this film looks good, but I can only imagine how good it might look in a high-def Blu-ray transfer. How soon that will come is anybody's guess, but one can hope.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is a tad hard, thin, and sharp sounding, and it's oddly low in output level. When you switch back to the main menu, you'll have to turn down the volume. There is a wide front-channel stereo spread, with voices moving left and right between the speakers rather than being anchored out in the center as in most of today's films. There is also a fair degree of musical ambience reinforcement in the rear channels that fills out the room nicely.

Extras:
Disc one of this Two-Disc Special Edition contains the feature film and several bonus items. The first item is an audio commentary by historian Jeanine Basinger and Leslie Caron that can be enlightening. Next is a vintage short, "The Million Dollar Nickel," about ten minutes; and the third is an MGM "Tom and Jerry" cartoon, "The Vanishing Duck," in CinemaScope.

In addition, disc one contains thirty-three scene selections; a non-anamorphic widescreen theatrical trailer; English and French spoken languages; French and Japanese subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.

Disc two contains only two items, but they are quite important. The first one is a 2008 documentary, "Thank Heaven! The Making of Gigi," about thirty-five minutes, with comments from various film historians, authors, and critics, and Ms. Caron, who is a delight. The second item is the 1949 nonmusical version of "Gigi," eight-two minutes long, with twenty-two scene selections, in French, with French and English subtitles. It stars Danielle Delorme as Gigi, with Frank Villard, Gaby Morlay, and Jean Tissier. Interestingly, the French version of a decade earlier is more provocative, more sexually suggestive, than the later Hollywood film.

Parting Thoughts:
The documentary suggests that "Gigi" was one of the last great musicals to come out of Hollywood, but that isn't quite true. "West Side Story," "The Music Man," "My Fair Lady," "How to Succeed in Business," "The Sound of Music," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Oliver," "Camelot," "Paint Your Wagon," "Cabaret," "Chicago," and many more notable productions were yet to come. Still, "Gigi" holds a firm place in many moviegoers' hearts as one of Hollywood's most celebrated classics from an era when studios were still making meticulous, tune-filled musicals. The new digital mastering is a pleasure, and, as I've said, the beauty of "Gigi" cries out for a high-definition transfer.