Gigi

Vincente Minnelli's colorful adaptation of Colette's 1944 novel, "Gigi," with its unforgettable Lerner and Lowe score, is so fixated in the public mind that it eclipsed the novel's renown and banished this 1949 French film into oblivion. Fortunately, a less-than-pristine print survives; although the white subtitles are often difficult to decipher, anyone familiar with the MGM musical version will have no trouble following what is almost scene for scene the same story line. However, without the songs, the story of a young girl being groomed in 19th-century French social graces intended to lure rich men moves at a faster pace than Minnelli's film and runs about a half hour less.

The Gallic flavor of the tale has hints of "Lolita" and was tidied up for U.S. audiences of the 1950's. Essentially, Gigi's grandmother and great aunt are training a 15-year old girl to be mistress to a man twice her age. Although actress Daniele Delorme was 29 when the film was made, she clearly states her age in the story as 15 and a half. When 32-year-old Frank Villard, who plays Gaston, puts his hand on her knee, he would be facing child molestation charges today. While her great aunt, played by Gaby Morlay, instructs Gigi in the fine arts of eating lobster, pouring coffee, and choosing cigars, she also teaches her to smoke, and, at one point, she cups Gigi's breasts to check her physical development.

Directed by Jacqueline Audry, "Gigi" is well acted, although Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, and Hermione Gingold are sorely missed; and Louis Jourdan is more of a young girl's dream than the dour Villard. Evidently, the part of Honore was much expanded for the talents of Maurice Chevalier, and the character, played herein by Jean Tissier, is brief. Not surprisingly, the production design also suffers in comparison to the 1958 version. Filmed in black and white, the French film depicts a more modest life for Gigi and her grandmother, and even the luxurious style of Gigi's great aunt and the wealthy Gaston appear compromised herein by budget. However, a few brief glimpses of the Eiffel Tower and Parisian streets are welcome, and Gaston's new automobile is an antique-car aficionado's delight.

Also missed are the songs, especially those sung by Louis Jourdan, which express his changing feelings towards Gigi and his realization that she is no longer a child. In this shorter French version, Gaston's character seemingly flips spontaneously from seeing Gigi as a girl, then a mistress, then a wife. Despite its shortcomings, the 1949 "Gigi" is not a bad film; the story is faithful to the novel, and the performances are quite good. If Vincente Minnelli had not re-filmed the story in color as a musical, Jacqueline Audry's version would have adequately served. However, MGM did produce the 1958 Oscar winner, and this modest adaptation of Colette's novel has been relegated to the archives, where only interested movie lovers will take the time to rediscover its merits.

Having grown up on the American version (note my last name), I was surprised that I could accept a very different Gigi. But Danielle Delorme has her own, somewhat less innocent, charm. Perhaps because it's in black and white, and older, this whole film has a somewhat grittier, even documentary feel. One prime example being a cabaret scene that takes place in one of the restaurants which used to be built into the Eiffel Tower - with can-can dancers, no less! For Pariphiles, that sort of thing alone makes this worth viewing.

Still, only the later one will make me cry at the drop of a hat...

Either way, both are extraordinary for how much they extract from a not very long short story. Which is certainly worth reading for those who haven't - disguised as witty light entertainment, it effectively shows a young girl fighting for her life, which is the kind of steel-behind-satin story-telling that makes Colette so wonderful.

....to shield her eyes from the klieg lights ,and dramatically pointed at Audrey (Hepburn) "Voilà ,she said.That's my Gigi! (Diana Maychicks ,A.H.,an intimate portrait) It was not to be ;Hepburn told writer Colette she could not act,could never play a leading act and finally they cast new-comer Danielle Delorme as Gigi .

Jacqueline Audry was the first real female French director in history;some will argue and say the Germaine Dulac and Alice Guy came before;but it was in the silent age and Audry was the first modern woman Metteuse En Scene ,ten years before Agnes Varda;both Audry and Varda were interested in woman 's psychology;both were sometimes ambiguous though.

You can hardly call "Gigi" woman's lib: a young girl trained by her aunt to be a courtezan ,two men who are not particularly handsome,even French buck Frank Villard Audry will be used with better results in Sartre 's "Huis Clos" .I must confess I do not like Gigi's story ,I cannot feel "the coquettish child who develops into a warm ,loving woman";this is old hat stuff ,straight from the Ark.

It is somewhat better than Minnelli's remake : a musical,none of the songs is memorable and Maurice Chevalier is as unbearable as Jean Tissier.

There are fine lines by Colette though "we 're not ordinary people!-Who are they? -They are married " and a funny "lesson in jewels" .

Colette's rather original tale of the education of a teen age girl to become a courtesan or mistress of a rich patron by her grandmother and great aunt, thus carrying out a family tradition, is starkly told with a noticeable lack of emotion. This was likely the director's intention to lend an air of sincerity to what some might consider a frivolous or scandalous story. The cast is quite personable, especially Danielle Delorme in the role of Gigi. This appears to have been her first film in a rather successful career in Europe. For all the sumptuousness of the 1959 musical version, which seemed to me to have an air of "smirking" throughout, I prefer this one.

This delightful film succeeds because of the talents of all who contributed to it, but mostly because of the fresh, light performance of Daniele Delorme in a role that could have been so much less. The young girl's mother and aunt expend extraordinary efforts to develop her into a high class mistress (without letting her in on the plan). This sordid idea is handled with a sure, light touch, succeeding because of the direction, writing and performances, especially that of Delorme, who is sweet but not too sweet, innocent but not too innocent, and above all bright, fresh and unaffected. Conventionally made, but surefooted, deft and captivating. (Not a musical, and not to be confused with the later slick Hollywood version.)

The TCM print (the same shown theatrically in recent years) has the old-fashioned subtitles that fade away completely when the scene has a white background. If you don't know French you may find it too frustrating to be worth watching.