Comwayon
A Disappointing Continuation
AutCuddly
Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,
Gurlyndrobb
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
brena10-355-271784
The music isn't one of the best from Cole Porter and it features a strangely subdued Gene Kelly. There's a reason Cukor was called a woman's director, because in this film the women are the focus and are they hilarious! I never heard of Kay Kendal before watching this movie. Her unique beauty and comedic timing are genius. It is the worlds loss that she passed away so soon. Top notch performances, sumptuous costumes and choreography make this musical a must see.
MartinHafer
The plot for this film is a lot like taking the Kurasawa film "Rashomon" and combining it with "An American in Paris". The final product, while pretty to look at, it pretty dreadful--overly long, overly familiar and amazingly slight.The film begins with Angèle (Taina Elg) suing Sybil (Kay Kendall) following the publication of Sybil's tell-all book "Barry Nichols and Les Girls". What follows is a Rashomon-style plot where each of the particulars in the story tell their account of what happened back when they were a successful dance team--and each has a completely different idea of what has really occurred--and each thinks they were Barry's one love. So why wasn't I in love with this film? The biggest problem is that the characters are generally unlikable--especially the very manipulative Barry (Gene Kelly). As for the dancing, I hated it but it all depends on what style music you like. If you like big production numbers and lots of very modern dance, you'll probably like it. I prefer musicals where the singing and dancing are more integrated into the plot-- such as in the infinitely more successful film from this same period, "Gigi". Also, the film just lacks originality, as it did borrow so heavily from "Rashomon". But most importantly, I just found the film overly long and pretty dull. Pretty to look at...but dull.
bkoganbing
Cole Porter's final film score and next to last music written for any media is Les Girls. The same team producer Sol Seigal and writer John Patrick who produced and wrote the adaption of The Philadelphi Story for High Society worked with Porter again and this time George Cukor was directing. It's a good film, but I've got the feeling that it could have been a whole lot better. One of the criticisms that Porter used to get annoyed with was the perennial 'it isn't up to Cole Porter's standard' and then you'd look in the score and see a lot of classics. Can-Can is the best example of that. But in the case of Les Girls Porter admitted this to be true. According to the George Eells biography of Porter, he was starting to suffer the decline in health that would eventually end his life in 1964. He did have surgery to bypass an ulcer and was not feeling up to par.Still the numbers are mostly for a vaudeville act, Barry Nichols and Les Girls so they're serviceable to a bright Rashomon like plot. The members of the act are Gene Kelly and the girls are Mitzi Gaynor, Taina Elg, and Kay Kendall. Kay's written a memoir that includes an alleged suicide attempt by Elg and she's suing her in an English court. As we get testimony from Elg, Kendall, and Kelly, they all give out with different versions. It's also clear he had his fling with all of them at one time despite his alleged no fraternization policy.Elg has the best ballad of the score, Ca C'est L'Amour which sounds like something that might have been written for Can-Can and discarded. Cole Porter discards are better than a lot of composer's best efforts. The sparkling Kay Kendall was never shown to better advantage on the screen than with You're Just Too Too in a duet with Kelly. And Cole Porter wickedly satirizes Marlon Brando and The Wild One in Why Am I So Gone About That Gal with Kelly and Mitzi Gaynor.In addition to this being Cole Porter's last film score, this film also marks Gene Kelly's last full blown musical. He did do other musical numbers in films like What A Way To Go and Young Girls From Rochefort and Xanadu, but this was the last musical he did. They were getting way too expensive to make, something Kelly learned from behind the camera when he directed Hello Dolly.Even with a score that Cole Porter himself wasn't thrilled with, Les Girls is still a fresh bit of film making. And since it's original to the screen, the Porter wit is not edited severely. All in all four great musical performers, three of them Les Girls.
edwagreen
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.
