Leslie Caron Still Retains Her Youthful Piquancy at Age of 52

Roguish, saucy young girls like Leslie Caron in 1950 grow up to become chic and stylish women like Leslie Caron now.

When she first came to the screen, we saw her as the big-eyed, round-faced ballerina in “An American in Paris” (1951). She charmed us further as the waif in “Lili,” talking to her puppet friends, and yet again as “Gigi,” the innocent Parisian teen-ager in love for the first time.

Caron personified the gamin--a girl with an impish appeal, flirtatious manner, dimples and provocative smile.

In 1962 she set aside that persona in “The L-Shaped Room,” a superb drama for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for best actress.

But still, Caron retained a piquancy that stays with her now in her 50s.

Her talent, too, is intact as is evident in her newest movie, “Courage Mountain,” an extension of the adventures of “Heidi.”

As a child she might have played the title role, but in this production Caron is seen as the mistress of a girls’ school in World War I Italy.

“The picture is a variation on a theme,” she said. “It might be considered a continuation of Heidi’s adventures in 1915. The story probably will be most appealing to children, but I took my part very seriously. I play a high-minded, ethical woman who is breaking away from the old Victorian ethics. There is nothing of the gamin in her, to be sure.

“This is my first motion picture in quite some time. I’ve been occupied with writing a screenplay, which I hope to direct. A French comedy, in the French language.

“I have chosen a comedy because humor is internationally appreciated. The story involves a woman involved in a rent-controlled apartment in Paris. I have been working on it for about three years.

“If possible, I would like to make the film in Paris because I live there and because it could be made for only $3 million. In America it would be much more expensive to produce.”