Gigi (1958) | |
| Director(s) | Vincente Minnelli |
| Producer(s) | Arthur Freed (uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Comedy, Musical, Romance |
| Top Topics | Based on Play, Book-Based, Coming of Age, Courtship / Dating, Money, Paris, Romance (Musical), Socialites |
Featured Cast:
Gigi Overview:
Gigi (1958) was a Comedy - Musical Film directed by Vincente Minnelli and produced by Arthur Freed.
The film was based on the novel of the same name from & Musical Play written by Sidonie Gabrielle Colette published in 1944 (novel); Nov 24, 1951 - May 31, 1952 (play performed at Fulton Theatre, NY).
SYNOPSIS
Set in Paris at the turn of the century, this delightful Lerner-and-Loewe musical, based on a story by Colette, follows a precocious French girl as she is groomed into a would-be courtesan and blossoms into a stunning woman. The story provides plenty of opportunity for Minnelli and MGM to pull out all the stops in its first musical production shot on location.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.Gigi was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1991.
Academy Awards 1958 --- Ceremony Number 31 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Art Direction | Art Direction: William A. Horning, Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Henry Grace, Keogh Gleason | Won |
| Best Cinematography | Joseph Ruttenberg | Won |
| Best Costume Design | Cecil Beaton | Won |
| Best Director | Vincente Minnelli | Won |
| Best Film Editing | Adrienne Fazan | Won |
| Best Music - Scoring | Andre Previn | Won |
| Best Music - Song | Music by Frederick Loewe; Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner | Won |
| Best Picture | Arthur Freed, Producer | Won |
| Best Writing | Alan Jay Lerner | Won |
BlogHub Articles:
Thank Heaven For GIGI (1958) (1)
By Margaret Perry on Oct 13, 2012 From The Great Katharine HepburnThank Heaven For GIGI (1958) "GIGI" is the shortest title of any movie to have won the Academy Award for best picture. The day after the film won nine Oscars at the 1959 Academy Awards, telephone operators at the studio answered the phones with a cheery "M-Gigi-M!" The original story was wr... Read full article
Thank Heaven For GIGI (1958)
By Margaret Perry on Oct 13, 2012 From The Great Katharine HepburnThank Heaven For GIGI (1958) Labels: Alan Jay Lerner, Andre Previn, Anita Loos, Cecil Beaton, Colette, Frederick Loewe, Gigi (1958), Hermione Gingold, Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan, Maurice Chevalier, MGM, My Fair Lady (1964), Vincente Minnelli "GIGI" is the shortest title of any m... Read full article
Thank Heaven For GIGI (1958) (2)
By MargaretPerry on Oct 13, 2012 From Margaret Perry“Caron leads the cast in a contest to see who can be the most French.” (TV Guide) “No doubt inspired by the finicky claustrophobic sets and bric-a-brac, the cast tries (with unfortunate success) to be more French than the French.” (Time Out New York) “I am too old for w... Read full article
Guest Blogger: Author Gigi Amateau interviews Author Joseph Papa
By Google profile on Jul 18, 2011 From Out of the Past - A Classic Film BlogAbout MeBlogger, Out of the Past - A Classic Film Blog and more. Please add my Google profile to your circles. When Elizabeth Taylor passed away earlier in the year, one of my favorite authors Gigi Amateau tweeted the fact that she had met Taylor briefly years ago. I tweeted her back asking if she'... Read full article
“Gigi” – Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan, Maurice Chevalier
By Art on Jul 10, 2011 From Classic Cinema Gold“This story is about a little girl. It could be about any one of those little girls playing there. But it isn’t. It’s about one in particular. Her name is Gigi.” ~ Honore Lachaille (Maurice Chevalier) . “Gigi” is a 1958 musical film produced by Arthur Freed and... Read full article
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Quotes from
Gigi: What time tomorrow will we get there? / Can I watch you play roulette? / May I stay up late for supper? / Is it awfully awfully upper?
Madame Alvarez: Gigi, you'll drive us wild! / Stop, you silly child!
Gigi: Is everybody celebrated, / full of sin and dissipated? / Is it hot enough to blister? / Will I be your little sister?
Madame Alvarez: Gigi, you are absurd! / Now not another word! Gigi!
Gaston Lachaille: Let her gush and jabber, / let her be enthused! / I cannot remember / when I have been more amused!
Madame Alvarez: Stop it!
Gigi: The night they invented champagne, / it's plain as it can be / they thought of you and me. / The night they invented champagne, / they absolutely knew / that all we'd want to do / is fly to the sky on champagne / And shout to everyone in sight / that since the world began / no woman or a man / has ever been as happy as we are tonight!
Gaston Lachaille: The night they invented champagne...
[pops a cork]
Gigi, Gaston Lachaille: ...It's plain as it can be / they thought of you and me. / The night they invented champagne / they absolutely knew / that all we'd want to do / Is fly to the sky on champagne / and shout to everyone in sight
[pops another cork]
Gigi, Gaston Lachaille: That since the world began / no woman or a man / has ever been as happy as we are tonight!
[a cork is popped]
Gaston Lachaille: [Gaston speculates on the unfaithfulness of his mistress Liane] She's so gay tonight / She's like spring tonight / She's a rollicking, frolicking thing tonight / So disarming, soft and charming / She is not thinking of me / No, she's not thinking of me! In her eyes tonight / There's a glow tonight / They're so bright they could light Fountainbleu tonight / She's so gracious, so vivacious / She is not thinking of me! Bless her little heart / Crooked to the core / Acting out a part / What a rollicking, frolicking bore! She's such fun tonight / She's a treat tonight / You could spread her on bread, she's so sweet tonight / So devoted, sugar-coated / That it's heart-warming to see / Oh, she's simmering with love / Oh, she's shimmering with love / Oh, she's not thinking of me! She is not thinking of me! / Someone has set her on fire / Is it Jacques? Is it Paul or Leon? / Who's turning her furnace up higher? / Oh she's hot, but it's not for Gaston! Oh, she's gay tonight / Oh, so gay tonight / A gigantic, romantic cliché tonight / How she blushes, how she gushes / How she fills me with ennui! / She's so ooh-la-la-la-la, so UNTRUE-la-la-la-la / Oh, she's not thinking of me!
Gaston Lachaille: May I come in?
Madame Alvarez: Please, Gaston... no papers... no scandal.
Gaston Lachaille: Madame, will you do me the honour, the favour... give me the infinite joy of bestowing on me... Gigi's hand in marriage?
Madame Alvarez: Thank Heaven!
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Facts about
According to Vincente Minnelli, when shooting in the French restaurant Maxim's the film crew the restaurant's famous mirrored walls to be covered up because they would reflect the equipment, but Minnelli contended that they had to be seen (and uncovered) as they were the hallmark of Maxim's. Eventually cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg resolved the matter satisfactorily, by putting suction cups on photo flood lights.
Ina Claire was offered the role of Aunt Alicia but declined.
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