Gigi Review
By Christopher Null
The premise: a wealthy Parisian (Louis Jourdan) is training a young girl (Leslie Caron) to be his mistress. He and his ribald uncle (Maurice Chevalier) even sing songs like "Thank Heaven for Little Girls." It's a musical about pedophilia -- and this is one of Hollywood's most glorified song-and-dance films. Even more bizarre is that Caron was 27 when she was tapped to play young Gigi. She looks like she's about 16.
I suppose people get caught up in the famous songs like "Ah Yes, I Remember It Well," the colorful location photography of Gay Paree, and zee out-RAY-juss Frahnch accents. Sad to say, Gigi is all style, and zilch in the way of substance.
Facts and Figures
Year: 1958
Run time: 115 mins
In Theaters: Monday 4th August 1958
Distributed by: MGM Home Entertainment
Production compaines: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Arthur Freed Production
Reviews
Contactmusic.com: 2 / 5
Rotten Tomatoes: 75%
Fresh: 21 Rotten: 7
IMDB: 6.9 / 10
Cast & Crew
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Producer: Arthur Freed
Screenwriter: Alan Jay Lerner
Starring: Leslie Caron as Gigi, Maurice Chevalier as Honoré Lachaille, Louis Jourdan as Gaston Lachaille, Hermione Gingold as Madame Alvarez, Eva Gabor as Liane d'Exelmans, Jacques Bergerac as Sandomir, Isabel Jeans as Aunt Alicia, John Abbott as Manuel, Corinne Marchand as Young Lady with White Sunshade, Pat Sheehan as Blonde, Marie-Hélène Arnaud as Girl at Maxim's
Also starring: Arthur Freed, Alan Jay Lerner