Flicks-a-saurus Rex

Gigi (1958)

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Starring – Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan, and Maurice Chevalier

MPAA - G

Gigi as a beautiful film about love and lust in 1900 Paris, that makes you laugh and cry, and smile about the way films used to be. It is a classic movie, made in the style of My Fair lady and Cinderella. It is a fun musical comedy that also managed to sweep the 1959 Academy Awards taking home 9 wins including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cinematography (color).

The problem is, I really hate musicals and this is, without a doubt, a musical. The songs are not super catchy, and after finishing the film a viewer may only be able to hum a few bars of one or two songs, but some of them are classics, off repeated today. Like ‘Thank Heaven For little Girls’ or ‘I Remember it Well’, both done by Maurice Chevalier, a handsome though aging man, who somehow missed and Oscar nod himself for this film, though he was nominate in ‘59 for contribution to cinema.



The film centers on high society in Paris in the year 1900. The Gentleman look for the latest and greatest in fashionable women and trade they off a few months later for a new model. Gigi (Leslie Caron), a spunky and vivacious 16-year-old girl, is being raised by a grandmother, a woman who played the game for many years and now lives relatively poorly.

Weekly Gigi goes to her aunt’s home to be instructed in the ways of a lady. Gaston (Louis Jourdan), a wealthy gentleman in his late twenties is a long time friend of the family, and often stops by to be among the poor. He and his uncle (the ever charismatic and witty aging playboy Maurice Chevalier) are wealthy playboys, romping around the city of Paris, trying out the beautiful women. Gaston, ever so staunch and rigid, find solace in the home of Gig and her grandmother. Inevitably a romance blossoms surrounded by the absurd social ideals of Paris’ high society.



I enjoyed Gigi, it was a funny movie, and the script reminds me of the vicious wit of Oscar Wilde, and it is a film I am sure he would have enjoyed as well. I don’t like musicals mush, and this film does have an awful lot of singing, but the songs are short and simple, and I could stomach them while cuddling with my wife on the couch. We watched it in blu-ray, and the picture was incredibly clear. It was a beautiful film to see, and we loved the crisp colors.



I would give Gigi a 7 out of 10. That is judging it against more modern films. It is a of first rate quality for its time, but I am always more entertained by modern films. Gigi is a little silly, the acting s very mellow dramatic (of course all movies from that era are that way) and the songs ever present. But the charm and good natured remarks from Maurice Chevalier, along with a fun, and witty script make up for the “oldness” of the film. For lovers of old cinema Gigi is a classic that should not be missed, and for those who don’t find old films very enjoyable, well Gig will not be your cup of tea.

Sex/Nudity – Without saying anything outright there is a lot of infidelity between relationships. The movie makes fun of those who make fun of cheating on lovers and wives, but it also focuses on a society that is accepting of premarital relations and there is some dialogue to that effect.

There is no violence or profanity.