An American in Paris

Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron play the star-crossed lovers in this archetypal glamorous MGM musical. Among its six Oscar wins, it picked up best picture, collected by genius producer Arthur Freed, while Kelly was presented with a special award for advancing the art of choreography on screen. It still looks pretty good today, with marvellous Technicolored design, athletic dancing from Kelly and a superb Gershwin score, but some sequences have dated. The climactic 17-minute ballet on the theme of the French Impressionists is a little precious and overstaged by today's standards. But much of the movie remains a delight, not least Kelly and the children performing I Got Rhythm, Georges Guetary's I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise and a wonderful debut performance from Caron. If you've never seen it, don't miss, but better fare was to come with Singin' in the Rain and The Band Wagon.