Movie Review - Gigi

Gigi (1958)

Starring Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Hermione Gingold, and Isabel Jeans

Directed by Vincente Minnelli

Nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Picture, Gigi succeeded in taking them all at 1959's Oscars...and I have to think it must've been a weak year.  It's not that Gigi is bad...it's just that it's not that good.  Everything is just average and that makes this simply an average affair.

The story of the title character (played by Leslie Caron) being groomed by her grandmother (Hermione Gingold) and great-aunt (Isabel Jeans) to learn the ways of Parisian society in order to best please a man (so, sort of being taught to be a prostitute...or courtesan...which is a "nicer" term, I guess), Gigi peppers its tale with some pleasant songs by Alan Lerner and Frederick Loewe, the songwriting team behind My Fair Lady.  While several songs were familiar (including the classic "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" sung by the film's narrator Maurice Chevalier), none really stood out in the midst of the story.

The performances all around were fine, but once again, I couldn't help but fail to be impressed.  "Fine" is perfectly okay, but in the end, there wasn't any "wow" there.  Being a Best Picture-winning film, I'm happy I watched this on Turner Classic Movies the other day, but it's certainly not a flick I need to watch again.

The RyMickey Rating:  C