I first watched "Gigi" in the theater as a teenager in 1958, and have watched it a couple times since then. While it was enjoyable somewhat for the music, the glamour and the extravagant MGM sets, the story seemed to be as contrived as the culture it conveys. The sort of grooming the ladies do of Gigi was probably done with some young women of that period and place - in Paris. No doubt, some young women have dreamed of marrying a rich, handsome man. The mature women here - Aunt Alicia and Madame Alvarez are only too obliging to turn the schoolish Gigi into an alluring fox to catch her man.
MGM pulled out the stops with the glamour and glitz to make this musical as a comedy romance. It's based on a novella by French author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873-1954). The screenplay was by Alan Lerner and the songs by Lerner and composer Frederick Lowe. Andre Previn arranged and conducted the music. While the music is good, it's nothing special, with no spectacular or memorable songs. But for an occasional TV showing of the film, few people in the 21st century would know or be able to sing the single opening lines of the two best songs, "Gigi" and "Thank Heaven for Little Girls." On the other hand, without the music, I doubt that this film would have been made, let alone accorded all the Hollywood adulation.
"Gigi" has a fine cast with well-known actors of the period. But there are no notable roles or performances, and the story without the music would be a bore to most people. It looks like a high society soap opera of and for the rich and famous.
For many years I enjoyed watching the Academy Awards on TV with my siblings, and later with my own family and our teenagers. We had fun trying to guess which movies and stars would win Oscars. They weren't always our favorite films or actors, and naturally, we had disagreements about favorites and who might win an Oscar. But, of all the years with our differences we were never more unanimous than over the 1959 Oscars for 1958 movies. We were aghast that "Gigi" would win best picture, best director, and seven other Oscars. We agreed with the best costume Oscar, hands down. But that was it for this film, we agreed. And it was almost laughable that it would win two music Oscars - for best song and best scoring.
This was the same year that one of the greatest musicals of all time came out - Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific." Although "Some Enchanted Evening" wasn't a new song written specifically for the movie, it was an original song for "South Pacific." Some composers and musicians consider it the greatest song ever to come out of a musical play or film. The play premiered in 1949 and most of its music was carried over into the film. But the movie, like the play, had more than a dozen superb songs. And the South Pacific movie soundtrack album had huge sales. It was the fourth longest No. 1 position on the Billboard 200 - holding that spot for seven months.
Anyway, watching the Academy Awards show in 1959, we got an early education on Hollywood. Especially on studio politicking to get the industry people to vote for respective films. In this case, it was MGM for "Gigi." This film literally ran away with the awards, winning 9 Oscars of 9 nominations for the year. And in the process, "South Pacific" - the number one box office hit of the year, and one of the best musicals of all time, was all but snubbed by Hollywood. The reason most likely heard was because it was produced by the company that Rodgers and Hammerstein created just for that purpose. But, it had some support from 20th Century Fox which also handled most of the movie's production, including filming in Hawaii. With all of the acting nominations going to films with some tremendous performances, "Gigi" had to go for the technical and production categories along with best picture and director. But, those would be jeopardized if "South Pacific" were also nominated, so it got just three nominations.
"South Pacific" won the Oscar for Best sound, and was nominated for scoring of a musical picture, and best color cinematography. It should have won in both of those categories, but "Gigi" won instead. The biggest travesty was in "South Pacific" not even being nominated for best picture, best director and best screenplay from another medium. Had it been, it would have topped "Gigi" for sure, not only in the view of the audiences but probably all or most critics.
Anyway, "South Pacific" as of 2020 holds the record for all-time Broadway Tony awards at 17. It won 10 for its original production and seven for its 2008 revival. It remains one of the most popular musicals to be staged around America. Every year, there are high schools, colleges and community theaters putting on a "South Pacific" play somewhere around the country.
I wouldn't normally discuss another picture so much when writing a review for a movie. "Gigi" is a fine musical, but not much more than that. Still, some audiences may still enjoy it well into the 21st century. But what happened with this just "good" film sweeping so many honors at the 1959 Oscars, just bore some more discussion. Mostly because it was such a brazen snub of a great film. It's a good reminder that Hollywood doesn't always reign pure and above reproach. It doesn't always get things right. And, it often gets things wrong. So, we should watch and enjoy the movies that we can, but always with a wary eye.
MGM pulled out the stops with the glamour and glitz to make this musical as a comedy romance. It's based on a novella by French author Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873-1954). The screenplay was by Alan Lerner and the songs by Lerner and composer Frederick Lowe. Andre Previn arranged and conducted the music. While the music is good, it's nothing special, with no spectacular or memorable songs. But for an occasional TV showing of the film, few people in the 21st century would know or be able to sing the single opening lines of the two best songs, "Gigi" and "Thank Heaven for Little Girls." On the other hand, without the music, I doubt that this film would have been made, let alone accorded all the Hollywood adulation.
"Gigi" has a fine cast with well-known actors of the period. But there are no notable roles or performances, and the story without the music would be a bore to most people. It looks like a high society soap opera of and for the rich and famous.
For many years I enjoyed watching the Academy Awards on TV with my siblings, and later with my own family and our teenagers. We had fun trying to guess which movies and stars would win Oscars. They weren't always our favorite films or actors, and naturally, we had disagreements about favorites and who might win an Oscar. But, of all the years with our differences we were never more unanimous than over the 1959 Oscars for 1958 movies. We were aghast that "Gigi" would win best picture, best director, and seven other Oscars. We agreed with the best costume Oscar, hands down. But that was it for this film, we agreed. And it was almost laughable that it would win two music Oscars - for best song and best scoring.
This was the same year that one of the greatest musicals of all time came out - Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific." Although "Some Enchanted Evening" wasn't a new song written specifically for the movie, it was an original song for "South Pacific." Some composers and musicians consider it the greatest song ever to come out of a musical play or film. The play premiered in 1949 and most of its music was carried over into the film. But the movie, like the play, had more than a dozen superb songs. And the South Pacific movie soundtrack album had huge sales. It was the fourth longest No. 1 position on the Billboard 200 - holding that spot for seven months.
Anyway, watching the Academy Awards show in 1959, we got an early education on Hollywood. Especially on studio politicking to get the industry people to vote for respective films. In this case, it was MGM for "Gigi." This film literally ran away with the awards, winning 9 Oscars of 9 nominations for the year. And in the process, "South Pacific" - the number one box office hit of the year, and one of the best musicals of all time, was all but snubbed by Hollywood. The reason most likely heard was because it was produced by the company that Rodgers and Hammerstein created just for that purpose. But, it had some support from 20th Century Fox which also handled most of the movie's production, including filming in Hawaii. With all of the acting nominations going to films with some tremendous performances, "Gigi" had to go for the technical and production categories along with best picture and director. But, those would be jeopardized if "South Pacific" were also nominated, so it got just three nominations.
"South Pacific" won the Oscar for Best sound, and was nominated for scoring of a musical picture, and best color cinematography. It should have won in both of those categories, but "Gigi" won instead. The biggest travesty was in "South Pacific" not even being nominated for best picture, best director and best screenplay from another medium. Had it been, it would have topped "Gigi" for sure, not only in the view of the audiences but probably all or most critics.
Anyway, "South Pacific" as of 2020 holds the record for all-time Broadway Tony awards at 17. It won 10 for its original production and seven for its 2008 revival. It remains one of the most popular musicals to be staged around America. Every year, there are high schools, colleges and community theaters putting on a "South Pacific" play somewhere around the country.
I wouldn't normally discuss another picture so much when writing a review for a movie. "Gigi" is a fine musical, but not much more than that. Still, some audiences may still enjoy it well into the 21st century. But what happened with this just "good" film sweeping so many honors at the 1959 Oscars, just bore some more discussion. Mostly because it was such a brazen snub of a great film. It's a good reminder that Hollywood doesn't always reign pure and above reproach. It doesn't always get things right. And, it often gets things wrong. So, we should watch and enjoy the movies that we can, but always with a wary eye.