Les Girls (1957)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

John Patrick (screenplay)
Vera Caspary (story)

Release Date:

26 December 1957 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

They're the most vivacious...vexacious...flirtatious personalities in gay Paree!

Plot:

After writing a tell-all book about her days in the dance troupe "Barry Nichols and Les Girls", Sybil...

Plot Keywords:

Dancer | Dance | Told In Flashback | Courtroom | Backstage

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Gene Kelly	...	Barry Nichols
Mitzi Gaynor	...	Joanne 'Joy' Henderson
Kay Kendall	...	Lady Sybil Wren
Taina Elg	...	Angèle Ducros
Jacques Bergerac	...	Pierre Ducros
Leslie Phillips	...	Sir Gerald Wren
Henry Daniell	...	Judge
Patrick Macnee	...	Sir Percy
Stephen Vercoe	...	Mr. Outward
Philip Tonge	...	Associate Judge

Also Known As:

Cole Porter's Les Girls (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (35 mm optical prints)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Australia:G (TV rating) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Sol C. Siegel Productions

Trivia:

On the DVD, 'Tania Elg' says the original cast was supposed to include Cyd Charisse as the American girl, Leslie Caron as the French girl and Kay Kendall as the English girl. Cyd Charisse decided to do Silk Stockings (1957) instead, so Mitzi Gaynor took her part. At one point, Kay Kendall didn't want to do the film and Tania Elg was tested for her part. Ms. Kendall took the part after all, but then Leslie Caron withdrew. Tania Elg was tested for THAT part and received her first major film role.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Barry walks away from Joy after he first fakes heart problems at the outside market, Joy's voice can be heard telling the salesperson in French that she wants celery. But as she is turning her head to watch Barry leave, you can clearly see that her mouth is not moving.

Quotes:

Joy Henderson: Barry, remember what the doctor told you!
Barry Nichols: The doctor told me not to dance. I'm not gonna dance.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Have Gun - Will Travel: Les Girls (#3.3)" (1959)

Soundtrack:

Ça c'est l'amour

Cute, fun musical with a hilarious point-of-view

I love classic films, but I'm not one for musicals. I like melodramas. With "Les Girls", however, I have to make an exception. This is fun, colorful, comic-musical in which Kay Kendall plays Lady Wren, former member of a European dance troupe, who writes a book exposing the backstage "truths" and scandals. Along comes Taina Elg, also a former member of that troupe, suing Lady Wren for defamation of character. A trial ensues in which we get flashbacks, giving the various points-of-view of how things really happened. Cute and fun from the opening moments of plantiff and defendant entering the courtroom to the flashbacks showcasing Kendall's brilliant comedic abilities and the oft-referred to gin in the perfume bottle sequence. This is truly a good show and Gene Kelly's great too.