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).

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Gigi was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1991.

Academy Awards 1958 --- Ceremony Number 31 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: William A. Horning, Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Henry Grace, Keogh GleasonWon
Best CinematographyJoseph RuttenbergWon
Best Costume DesignCecil BeatonWon
Best DirectorVincente MinnelliWon
Best Film EditingAdrienne FazanWon
Best Music - ScoringAndre PrevinWon
Best Music - SongMusic by Frederick Loewe; Lyrics by Alan Jay LernerWon
Best PictureArthur Freed, ProducerWon
Best WritingAlan Jay LernerWon
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Gigi: BlogHub Articles:

Thank Heaven For GIGI (1958) (1)

By Margaret Perry on Oct 13, 2012 From The Great Katharine Hepburn

Thank 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 Hepburn

Thank 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 Blog

About 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:

Aunt Alicia: Marriage is not forbidden to us, but instead of getting married at once, it sometimes happens we get married at last.


Aunt Alicia: And how is your dear father? Well, I hope.
Gaston Lachaille: He has diabetes.
Aunt Alicia: Well, I suppose if you are in the sugar business...


Honore Lachaille: The River Seine!
Gaston Lachaille: All it can do is flow.
Honore Lachaille: But think of wine!
Gaston Lachaille: It's red or white.
Honore Lachaille: But think of girls!
Gaston Lachaille: It's either yes or no, and if it's no or if it's yes! / It simply couldn't matter less!


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Facts about Gigi:

Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier are all French, just like the characters they play (Gigi, Gaston, Honore Lachaille).
By mid-July 1957, the songwriters had still not come up with the title song. One evening, Frederick Loewe was at a piano while Alan Jay Lerner was indisposed in the bathroom, and when Loewe began playing a particular melody, he later recalled Lerner jumped up, "his trousers still clinging to his ankles, and made his way to the living room. 'Play that again,' he said." That melody ended up as the film's title song.
With only four letters, this movie has the shortest title of any film to win the Oscar for Best Picture. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the longest.
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Gigi: book or play


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Best Picture Oscar 1958






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National Film Registry

Gigi

Released 1958
Inducted 1991
(Sound)




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Also directed by Vincente Minnelli




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Also produced by Arthur Freed




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