Happy Birthday: Leslie Caron!

Personal Quote:
Even now I feel furious with myself because whenever there's a camera pointed towards me my MGM training makes me smile. I don't like it. You can see it on all the people who came from that era because there was no question of them not smiling for the camera. Even Katharine Hepburn -- and God knows she was a dramatic actress -- if the camera is on her she smiles.

Please click here to learn more about Leslie Caron.

An American in Paris (1951).

An American in Paris(1951). MGM musical film inspired by the 1928 orchestral composition by George Gershwin. Cast: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, and Oscar Levant, the film is set in Paris, and was directed by Vincente Minnelli from a script by Alan Jay Lerner. The music is by George Gershwin, with lyrics by his brother Ira, with additional music by Saul Chaplin, the music director.

Jerry Mulligan, an American World War II veteran, is now living in Paris trying to make a living as a painter. His friend, Adam, is a struggling concert pianist who has worked with French singer, Henri Baurel. A lonely society woman, Milo Roberts, befriends Jerry and wants to support him. Jerry falls in love with Lise, a French girl who he meets at a restaurant. Lise loves him as well but she is engaged to Henri, to whom she feels indebted for having saved her family during World War II.

Will Milo ever figure out that Jerry is not interested in her and will Jerry prevent Lise from marrying Henri?

The cast performances are excellent. Leslie Caron, who is making her film debut, is so wonderful you would think she'd been making films for years. Oscar Levant, is hilarious and gets a couple of great scenes: during the end party sequence (which I will not give away for anyone who hasn't seen the film), and one of the film's most memorable musical numbers.




Fun Facts:

Hayden Rorke, best known for playing Dr. Bellows on the TV series I Dream of Jeannie has a small part as a friend of Nina Foch's character.

Noel Neill, later to portray Lois Lane on the TV series The Adventures of Superman, has a small role as an American art student who tries to criticize Jerry Mulligan's paintings.

Judy Landon, better known for her appearance in Kelly's next musical Singin' in the Rain (and as the wife of Brian Keith), appears as a dancer in the Stairway to Paradise sequence.

Happy Birthday: Leslie Caron , Receving her Star on the Walk of Fame and The Glass Slipper (1955) movie review.

Leslie Caron, Received the 2,394th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (December 2009).


The Glass Slipper (1955). Is a musical film of Cinderella. Director: Charles Walters and produced by Edwin H. Knopf from a screenplay by Helen Deutsch. The music score is by Bronislau Kaper, the cinematography by Arthur E. Arling, the art direction by Daniel B. Cathcart and Cedric Gibbons and costume design by Walter Plunkett and Helen Rose.cast: Leslie Caron,Michael Wilding, Keenan Wynn, Estelle Winwood, Elsa Lanchester, Barry Jones, Lurene Tuttle, Liliane Montevecchi and Walter Pidgeon as Narrator.

In a small European village the towns people wait for the return of Prince Charles, who as a child was sent away to school. As the villagers prepare the town square, a shy girl named Ella offers to help, but the towns people reject her offer. Calling her "Cinderella" because of her dirty face and clothes. Ella goes home and finds her stepsisters, Birdena and Serafina, getting ready for the prince's arrival. Feeling sorry for herself, Ella goes to her favorite spot, a quiet little pond. She is soon joined by a kind old woman, Mrs. Toquet. Ella shares with her, on the day of her birth, a fortune teller told her mother that Ella would someday live in a palace. Ella also tells her that her mother died when she was five, and Mrs. Toquet says she would like to be her friend. When Ella returns home she asks her stepmother, about Mrs. Toquet. Widow Sonder shares with her that Mrs. Toquet was a eccentric woman known for stealing things and putting them back later.


Back at the palace, Charles father, reminds him that a ball is being held in his honor the following evening. Charles goes walking in the countryside with his friend Kovin, and shares a memory that years earlier while he was home for the holidays. He saw a five-year-old girl crying. Charles never forgot the girl's sad face, adding that he has a weakness for women with an air of sadness about them. Ella is angry to find them in her secret place. Realizing that Ella does not know who Charles is, they tell her that they work in the palace. When Charles tries to talk with her, she pushes him into the water.

When Ella later returns to the dell, she again runs into Charles. This time they experience an immediate friendship. Charles gives Ella an invitation to the ball and teaches her how to dance. That night, Ella happily imagines herself dancing on an enormous wedding cake.

The following evening, Ella attends the ball, wearing gorgeous ball gown and shoes made of glass. Ella finds a splendid coach waiting, and Mrs. Toquet tells her she must leave the palace at midnight. When Charles sees Ella, she is surprised to find out that he is the prince. Ella leaves just as the clock begins to strike twelve and she leaves behind one of her glass slippers. Will the Prince find his Princess?

I just saw the movie, The Glass Slipper, on TCM for the first time. I thought Leslie Caron, made a very charming "Ella" and Estelle Winwood, is a wonderful fairy-godmother. It was fun to see Amanda Blake (Miss Kitty on "Gunsmoke"), as one of the stepsisters.

AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)

An American in Paris (1951). Musical inspired by the 1928 orchestral composition by George Gershwin. Cast: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, and Oscar Levant. The film is set in Paris. Director: Vincente Minnelli. The music is by George Gershwin, with lyrics by his brother Ira, with additional music by Saul Chaplin. The story of the film is mixed with show stopping dance numbers choreographed by Gene Kelly. Songs include "I Got Rhythm," "I'll Build A Stairway to Paradise," "'S Wonderful," and "Our Love is Here to Stay". The American in Paris ballet featuring Kelly and Caron set to Gershwin's An American in Paris. The ballet alone cost more than $500,000.

FUN FACTS:

According to Leslie Caron, her introductory dance number, was considered too suggestive by censors.

Leslie Carons first movie.

Gene Kelly discovered Leslie Caron while vacationing in Paris where he saw her perform in a ballet.

Leslie Caron had suffered from malnutrition during WWII and was not used to the rigorous schedule of filming a movie. Because she would tire so easily, she was only able to work every other day.

Soundtracks:
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"Our Love Is Here to Stay"
(1937) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Sung by Gene Kelly
Danced by Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron
Played often in the score as the love theme between Jerry and Lise

"By Strauss"
(1936) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Lyrics Revised for this film by Ira Gershwin (1951)
Sung by Gene Kelly, Georges Guétary, Oscar Levant (dubbed by Mack McLean)

"Tra-la-la (This Time It's Really Love)"
(1922) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Performed by Gene Kelly (vocal and dance) and Oscar Levant (vocal and piano)

"I Got Rhythm"
(1930) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Performed by Gene Kelly and children

"I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise"
(1922) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Buddy G. DeSylva)
Sung and Danced by Georges Guétary in his show

"'S Wonderful"
(1927) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Played during the opening credits
Sung and Danced by Gene Kelly
Sung, Whistled and Hummed by Georges Guétary

"Nice Work if You Can Get It"
(1937) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Sung by Georges Guétary

"Embraceable You"
(1930) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Danced by Leslie Caron

"An American in Paris Ballet"
(uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Played during the opening credits and often in the score
Danced by Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron and ensemble
Played by The MGM Symphony Orchestra, in an arrangement by Conrad Salinger based on Gershwin's orchestration
Conducted by Johnny Green

"Strike Up the Band"
(1927) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Played as background music

"Third Movement from 'Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra'"
(1925) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Played by Oscar Levant and The MGM Symphony Orchestra conducted offscreen by Johnny Green,
and onscreen by Oscar Levant

"But Not for Me"
(1930) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Played as background music

"How Long Has This Been Going On?"
(1928) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Played as background music

"Someone to Watch Over Me"
(1926) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Played as dance music at the Flodair Café

"Oh, Lady Be Good"
(1926) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Played as background music

"I've Got a Crush on You, Sweetie Pie"
(1927) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Played as background music

LESLIE CARON

Caron was ballet dancer when Gene Kelly discovered her, and cast her to perform with him in the musical An American in Paris(1951), a role in which a pregnant Cyd Charisse was originally cast. This led to a MGM contract in films, The Glass Slipper (1955)

Also, the drama Gaby (1956). She also performed in the musicals Lili (1953), with Mel Ferrer; Daddy Long Legs(1955), with Fred Astaire, and Gigi (1958) with Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier.

FUN FACT:

When she said to Fred Astaire that she wanted to create her own costumes for Daddy Long Legs (1955), he said, "OK, but no feathers, please". Astaire remembered one of Ginger Rogers costumes in a dance scene in Top Hat (1935). Some ostrich feathers came loose from Ginger Rogers' gown and floated around Astaire's face.