The March of Oscar

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An American in Paris (1951 US) an ex GI (Gene Kelly) stays in Paris after the war to pursue painting. He meets a teenager (Leslie Karon) and falls in love. Not joking about the teenager thing. She was way too young for her love interests but oh how she could dance. Judy Garland’s husband directed this Best Picture Oscar winner. Much to the surprise of many this one won against some pretty stiff competition with films like A Place in the Sun and A Streetcar Named Desire. Some tweeted it was “rigged” and demanded a recount. I $*it you not. But the film is really good. Post WWII audiences were still reeling from a tough decade or two and just wanted to go back to happier times. MGM said “sure” with this lively jewel toned, flower infested, kaleidoscope of a film. The music was created by the Gershwin bros after MGM(?) bought the catalog. I could imagine seeing Paris all lively and not burning was a joy. Choreographer was done by Mr. hardass himself Gene Kelly. He had a reputation for being too much of a perfectionist but here is what I love about him. Besides his skills and charisma he put in gay subtext and gay text (not so subtle) just to stick it to the Hays code censors. They missed it entirely and only complained about Karons dance scene with a chair. She was baffled “what can you do with a chair?” To that I respond “what can’t you do with a chair?” The cherry on top was a 17 minute long dance sequence shot on 44 sound stages and costing a boatload of money. That was glorious. Audiences flocked to see this film and I can see why. Find it on HBO or for rent on most streaming

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