Somebody Else's Nimrod

An American in Paris

As far as I can tell, An American in Paris is the Titanic of its time--a popular sensation that won a slew of Oscars which people now look back on and wonder, "What were we smoking?" No, it's not a dreadful movie. Even mere recycled Gershwin and coasting Gene Kelly are enough to prevent that. However, it's scattered, saccharine, painfully padded-out, and overblown. It also shares with the far superior Singin' in the Rain that film's one sour note: a really unpleasant and distasteful treatment of the older and powerful woman who has the misfortune of getting in the way of the hero's romance with the ingenue. Buy a couple of Gershwin CDs if you want to listen to the music, and give this film a miss.