Les Girls (1957)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

the audience applauded

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Cole Porter in the last original score he wrote showed that even with all of the tragic health problems he had suffered through, he could still write witty words and hummable music with this rather obscure MGM musical, the last Gene Kelly did for the studio. Playing once again an American in Paris (as well as the rest of Western Europe), he is a cabaret star involved in romantic scandal with the three "les girls" (no relation to the Australian drag queens of the same name from "Priscilla Queen of the Desert") he performs with in a lavish Moulin Rouge like cabaret show. The three girls are Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall and Taina Elg, and they each have to tell their side of the story when one of the girls suddenly attempts suicide. "What is truth?" an observer outside the courtroom writes on a banner he carries. In this era of even worse obsession with public scandal of performers, this musical is very modern in its thinking, and thanks to a jet-perfect screenplay and the wonderful songs surrounding it, "Les Girls" is a gem worthy of being re-discovered, and even better in my opinion than Kelly's previous visit to Paris back in 1951.The songs vary, from spoofing "The Wild Bunch" ("Why am I So Gone About That Girl?") with Kelly in Brando gear, a wonderful art deco title song, and the extremely campy "Ladies in Waiting" with lyrics that are just as witty as Porter's songs for his series of hit musical comedies on Broadway of the 1920's, 30's and 40's (many of them set in Paris where he was the toast of the town). As heard on the original soundtrack album, "Ladies in Waiting" is a definite drag number, here performed by women in vintage Bourbon era costumes, and seen twice, one with one of the characters intoxicated and altering the lyrics in her boozy state.The acting honors go to Kay Kendall here, a delightful British actress whose career was cut short by leukemia. Her character seems oh so sophisticated and cool, but as the audience learns in the second part of this episodic story, her character has a major battle with the bottle. In her duet with Kelly, "You're Just Too Too!", she is delightfully lovable and eccentric, and her fun performance won her a Golden Globe (in a tie with her co-star, Taina Elg). Elg plays the most sensitive (and neurotic) of the three, and her solo, Ça c'est l'amour", is truly profound. Gaynor's chorus girl is the most undeveloped, although she gets to be the femme fatal in the "Wild Bunch" spoof which has a very colorful red based set, offshot by the black waitress outfit that Gaynor wears and Kelly's leather motorcycle jacket. Also prominent in the film are Jacques Bergerac as Elg's society born fiancée, Leslie Phillips as the British nobleman who entices Kendall with the possibility of a title and vinegar voiced Henry Daniell (a veteran of villain roles) as the sour faced judge. This is a spectacular musical to look at (as well as delightfully funny), and I am surprised that as well liked as reviewers here have made it that it isn't more well known. The story does slow down in the later moments, and like artistic flops "Yolanda and the Thief" and "The Pirate", it may seem pretentious to some. It should come as no surprise that its director was George Cukor, who would later have another more well known musical triumph with the film version of "My Fair Lady". For me, the important factor of this musical is the idea of "What is Truth?", the multiple conflicts of sensitive Elg, boozy Kendall and down to earth, realistic Gaynor when paired with the Pal Joey like egotistical Kelly who ends up with some health issues in the final sequence. The obsession with personal scandal today remains fresh, and perhaps it is a bit ahead of its time in its seemingly knowing of the future of court T.V. where fifteen minutes of fame becomes the obsession of so many non-public figures. With many MGM musicals having been adapted for the Broadway stage, this one seems one of the more deserving, perhaps because of the fact that it simply isn't as well known as the over-abundance of classics ("An American in Paris", "Meet Me in St. Louis", "Gigi") that have been done, often with mixed results.

While I really do like this film, every time I hear "Ca C'est L'amour", I'm reminded how similar it is to "C'est Magnifique". Anyone else notice the obvious similarity in the music and the lyrics between the two songs? "Love is wonderful. When love goes away, it's terrible. When love comes back, it's wonderful again." I think Porter simply did a rewrite of "C'est Magnifique", and hoped nobody would notice.Otherwise, I think this is a well-done film. Although the music isn't the best, it is serviceable. One disappointment is that the "Ladies In Waiting" number has so much peripheral stuff going on (Elg trying to hide her face, Kendall drunk), that you don't get the full impact of Porter's "naughty" lyrics.

Wonderful movie where the late Kay Kendall writes a book about her experiences with her dancing troupe. Trouble is that she soon finds herself in a British court being charged with libel.With a superlative cast, fine gowns by Orry-Kelly, and dancing and singing routines that are memorable, Les Girls is an absolute pleasure to watch.The film deals with three different versions of a story. It is done in a comical and musical way which makes it so appealing.Two of the women accuse each other of attempting suicide. As the master of the dance group, Gene Kelly is absolutely fabulous here. The story that he concocts by the end of the film is hilarious, but it's great as it restores a friendship and saves two marriages.After each story is told, there is someone walking around the court with a sign-The Truth Be Told. May I use the words on the sign to state the truth that this 50+ year film is a gem.

Cole Porter's score is far from his best and you probably would never guess that George Cukor directed it and Gene Kelly, although he dances as well as ever, isn't well served by either the script or indeed the choreographer, (it's virtually a supporting role). But what it has in spades are the Les Girls of the title; Mitzi Gaynor, (she's the 'sassy' bundle of fun), Taina Elg, (the gold-digger) and that great leggy British comedienne Kay Kendall who is not particularly well served by the script either but who is so graceful and witty and sophisticated she can lift the material. She isn't as good here as she was in "Genevieve" but she is better than anyone else in the movie and she won a Golden Globe for it, (though Elg, too, is a duplicitous little spitfire and is probably better here than in anything else she did). It looks fabulous, (Orry-Kelly's costumes won an Oscar), but, as we know, looks aren't everything. Nobody's finest hour, then, but neither is it totally negligible.