Everyone in the film looks like they are having a good time (particularly Chevalier), and the great Lerner-Loewe music against the Parisian backdrop is enough to sell me.
Sure, the revelations and epiphanies are pretty easy and kind of out of nowhere, but considering it is an MGM musical from the 1950's, I would be surprised if there weren't these kinds of things. And I cannot get through the scene between Chevalier and Gingold when they sing "I Remember it Well" by the seaside without tearing up because it is just so damn cute. What makes "Gigi" such a good film is its unmitigated Charm with a capital "C" one can't help but grin a little when Chevalier sings "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" because he doesn't stop flashing that high voltage smile himself. Musicals are a rare genre on my "films I adore" list, but "Gigi" has long been a favorite film of mine, despite its sappy moments and sometimes corny jokes. However, Gigi's innocence may not allow this to happen, as she struggles with making the transition between carefree girl to a refined lady with social responsibilities. Gigi is being bred by her grandmother and aunt to become a refined woman so she can become a mistress for rich and powerful men, so it comes as both a surprise and delight to the women to discover that Gaston may be a suitable candidate. The pseudo-narrator of the film is Henri Lachaille (Maurice Chevalier), Gaston's uncle and a notorious playboy in his own right, who loves to give his nephew relationship advice, solicited or not. Gigi is a coltish teen in 1900's Paris who lives with her grandmother Madame Alvarez (Hermione Gingold) and who loves to hang out with family friend Gaston Lachaille (Louis Jourdan), an international jet-setter and playboy whose every relationship is documented in the papers.
Directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Leslie Caron as the title character, "Gigi" (1958) is nothing short of sweet and delightful.
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