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Gigi (1958)
[Blu Ray 2009]
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Plot of Gigi Movie
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Gaston
(Louis Jordan), the scion of a wealthy Parisian family finds emotional
refuge from the superficial lifestyle of upper class Parisian 1900s
society with the former mistress (Gingold) of his uncle (Maurice
Chevalier) and her outgoing, tomboy granddaughter, Gigi (Leslie Caron).
When Gaston becomes aware that Gigi has matured into a woman, her
grandmother and aunt (Jeans), who have educated Gigi to be a wealthy
man's mistress, enjoin on him to become her provider and on her to
accept such a golden opportunity. However, love adds a surprise twist to
this delightful turn-of-the 20th century Cinderella story. |
Review of Gigi
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|
 I
love reviewing the classics. Gigi is an Academy Award
winner. It did not just win one or two awards, but nine (see below
for the full list). When I saw this movie many years ago as a
child, I even enjoyed it back then, even though it was a movie and have
all that "yuckie" boy and girls stuff. However, over the years I
had seen it again from time to time and have found many things to enjoy
about it. First of all, the writing and direction of the movie was
superb, and would have even been a success without the music or superb
acting.
The plot of the movie places a young
woman into the house of her aunt who is trying to make her into a
refined woman. Of course, there is a love interest in a man named
Gaston (Louis Jourdan) who first saw the precious little Gigi (Leslie
Caron) as a young child, who has now blossomed into a beauty.
Throughout the movie are a number of songs that are intertwined into the
story, including the classic "Thank Heaven For Little Girls." This
is a movie that you should really watch to get a good sense of why this
movie was so good and how the cinematography meshed with the music,
which meshed with the writing, which meshed with the acting.
Speaking of acting, Leslie Caron and
Louis Jourdan along with Maurice Chevlier, although not even nominated
for Academy Awards for this movie, provided some of their greatest
acting to propel this movie into cinematic fame. This is a move
that anyone watching should enjoy. Although some of the notions in the
move are a bit outdated and would probably be considered outdated and
un-PC today, you have to remember that it was filmed in the 50s, and
based on a book written in the 1940s by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette and is
about life during the turn of the century.
For the fiftieth anniversary of this
movie, Warner Brothers has released it on Blu-Ray. In doing so, it
fully restored the quality of the picture and sound and it is just
amazing and you can definitely see a difference (although I would love
to go back to 1958 and see this movie for the first time on the big
screen). WB also added a bunch of bonus features, including a
wonderful commentary of the movie by historian Jeanine Basinger with
Gigi herself, Leslie Caron. Another interesting bonus, which I did
not see when I first read the back cover of the DVD is the inclusion of
a movie production of Gigi from 1949 staring Daniel Dorme. This version
did not include music, but was interesting to watch and compare the
differences between the two movies. There are also a few other bonuses
like old cartoons and original trailers, which makes this version one
that you should make part of your movie/Blu-Ray your collection.
Thank heaven for little girls. |
The Cast
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Director
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Writers
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Leslie Caron |
Gigi |
Vincente Minnelli |
Colette (novel)
Alan Jay Lerner (screenplay) |
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Maurice Chevalier |
Honoré Lachaille |
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Louis Jourdan |
Gaston Lachaille |
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Hermione Gingold |
Madame Alvarez |
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Eva Gabor |
Liane d'Exelmans |
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Jacques Bergerac |
Sandomir |
Rating
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Length
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Distribution Co.
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Year
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|
G |
116 min |
Warner Bros. |
1958 (Blu-Ray 2009) |
Awards
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9
Academy Awards for: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White
or Color; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Costume Design,
Black-and-White or Color; Best Director; Best Film Editing; Best Music,
Original Song; Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture; Best Picture;
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium |
Related Links
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|
Official WBShop.com website |
Click Above to Purchase Gigi |
Pictures
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Gigi
Blu-Ray Press Release
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AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
&
GIGI
Debut on Blu-ray™ Hi-Def March 31
Warner Home Video Toasts Extensively Restored and Remastered Classics
with Sparkling New Versions
Burbank, Calif.,
January 5, 2009 -- “Thank heaven” …. and Warner Home Video!
The Two-Disc Special Editions of two glorious Best Picture
Oscar®-winning 1950s classics from the crown jewel collection of M-G-M’s
Golden Age of Musicals,
will make their Blu-ray Hi-Def debut on March 31.
An American in Paris Blu-ray Hi-Def
and Gigi Blu-ray Hi-Def will each sell for $28.99 SRP.
Order due date is February 24, 2009.
An American in Paris
and Gigi
were meticulously remastered and released on standard DVD by Warner Home
Video last September and were an instant success. George Feltenstein,
WHV’s Senior Vice President, Theatrical Catalog Marketing said, “Warner
Home Video
is truly
proud to be able to release these two magnificent films as special
editions on Blu Ray disc. Our talented colleagues at Warner Bros. Motion
Picture Imaging put a great deal of effort into creating the newly
restored masters of both films, and the amazing technical capabilities
offered by Blu Ray technology truly transforms the viewing experience to
a whole new level of entertainment.”
The films won a total of 15 Academy Awards®, including Best Picture,
Best Screenplay and Best director, were produced by Arthur Freed and
helmed by Vincente Minnelli. Alan Jay Lerner was the screenwriter on
both.
An American in Paris,
originally photographed in Technicolor, is the latest recipient of
Warner Bros.’ proprietary Ultra-Resolution process, which takes the
original Technicolor negatives and carefully combines them to yield a
stunning picture with sharpness and depth of field never seen before.
Street Date: March 31, 2009
Order Date: February 24, 2009
$28.99 SRP
Rated G
|
An American in Paris
Catalog # 1000038933
Run Time: 113 minutes
Color |
Gigi
Catalog # 1000038937
Run Time: 116 minutes
Color |
For more information:
www.wbhidef.com |
GIGI MOVIE CLIPS
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Manners
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Thank Heaven For Little Girls
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Sip It Slowly
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This review was written by Ian Ripley. Copyright
2009, All Rights Reserved. |
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