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
Madame Alvarez: Last week she taught her to eat cold lobster to perfection.
Gaston Lachaille: What in heaven's name for?
Madame Alvarez: She says it's extremely useful.
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!
Gaston Lachaille: I brought you some caramels.
Gigi: Thank you, Gaston.
Madame Alvarez: Gaston, you spoil her so.
Gaston Lachaille: The champagne is for you.
Madame Alvarez: You spoil me too.
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Facts about
When the film was originally completed, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe were unsatisfied at first; Lerner felt it had slow action and was twenty minutes too long. He proposed changes that would cost Arthur Freed an additional $300,000, which Arthur Freed was dead against spending. The songwriting team offered to buy 10% of the film for $300000, and then offered $3 million for the print. Impressed with their faith in the film, MGM executives agreed to the changes, which included eleven days of considerable reshooting and put the project $400,000 over budget. However, the test screenings of the film changed from favourable (before the change) to affectionate (after the change), and Lerner felt the film was finally complete.
When Alan Jay Lerner met Leslie Caron in London to discuss the film with her, he was surprised to discover that Caron, who was of French birth, had become so immersed in the English culture that she had lost her French accent.
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