‘An American in Paris’: ‘S Wonderful

Movie musicals, properly transferred and annotated, can be one of the real joys of laser discs. By and large, that’s what MGM/UA has done with 1951’s “An American in Paris,” due in stores Wednesday with a beautiful print that does full justice to the movie’s full-throttle Technicolor.

To restore the film to its original richness, MGM/UA created a digital master from a new 35-millimeter interpositive, made from MGM’s original three-strip Technicolor negative under the supervision of Turner Entertainment’s Richard P. May. The results, released in the full-feature CAV format, are worth the wait.

“An American in Paris” ended up being one of the old MGM studio’s last roars, and the big lion pulled out all the stops. Producer Arthur Freed brought in Alan Jay Lerner for the story and screenplay and Vincente Minnelli to direct. The film won seven Oscars, including one for best picture against “The African Queen” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

An 18-year-old Leslie Caron was introduced to American audiences as Gene Kelly’s love interest and dance partner. Oscar Levant couldn’t have written a better role for himself as a sardonic concert pianist (that’s one who’s out of work, he quips).

But the real star of the 1951 film is the George Gershwin music and Ira Gershwin lyrics. The movie was conceived as a prelude to the unprecedented 17-minute “American in Paris” ballet that ends the film, choreographed and danced by Kelly at the top of his form. He received a special Academy Award.

Laser producers George Feltenstein and Peter Fitzgerald give the atmospheric ballet--a first and last for film at this length--the attention it deserves. It constitutes most of Side 5 and is itself broken down into 11 chapter stops. Those that define the segments by the artists--Renoir, Utrillo, Rousseau, Van Gogh, Lautrec--around whom Kelly built scenes are convenient reminders for the uninitiated.

Kelly & Co. also do a fine job on Gershwin standards: “Nice Work if You Can Get It,” “Embraceable You,” “I Got Rhythm,” “Love Is Here to Stay, “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise,” “ ‘S Wonderful” and the Concerto in F.

Another delight of the film is Levant’s tour-de-force abbreviated version of the Concerto in F in which the pianist plays not only the soloist but also the conductor, timpanist, violinist and even the audience cheering himself on.

Levant gets some special audio moments on a Side 5 analog track consisting primarily of audio outtakes, essentially making for a bonus “record.” Among these musical moments is Levant singing “I Don’t Think I’ll Fall in Love Today,” and a piano medley (“My Cousin From Milwaukee” “A Foggy Day” and “But Not for Me”). In addition, there’s Kelly singing “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” Georges Guetary with “Nice Work if You Can Get It,” Levant with off-camera chatter on “Bidin’ My Time” and a Benny Carter & His Orchestra medley that includes “Do, Do, Do,” “Bidin’ My Time,” “I’ve Got a Crush on You” and “Love Is Here to Stay.”

Unfortunately, all this audio is offered over the “American in Paris” ballet, which makes for awkward viewing--and listening. It would have been better served over stills or other memorabilia from the film on what is a blank Side 6.

Additional material--an early tease anticipating the film and a trailer--provides telling glimpses of just how much clean-up was done on the laser transfer of the film itself. Both trailers are muddy contrasts to the restored “American in Paris.” Switching from the ballet to the trailer is a revelation.

A more recent musical given special laser treatment is Mark Rydell’s “For the Boys,” the 1991 vehicle that allowed Bette Midler several wonderful musical interludes between stilted stumblings with an awkward James Caan. The Fox Video/Image release, in a fine transfer print, also offers several scenes snipped from the two-hour, 24-minute film, including an enjoyable Midler-Caan duet on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

Rydell talks about each trim and why he made it in a badly edited interview at the end of the film. Other shorn scenes: a warm and sexy reunion between Midler and her combat-photographer husband (Arye Gross); Gross on a photo mission in North Africa; George Segal dressing-down Caan, who’s about to fire him as a writer under Red-scare-fueled network pressure.

Unfortunately, none of the deleted scenes is separately indexed; they’re all lumped together as a “For the Record” segment. Interior liner notes are little more than love notes to the stars and director.

* “An American in Paris,” 1951, MGM/UA: three discs; CAV (full-feature format); 1 hour, 55 minutes; 63 chapter stops; video and audio outtakes on analog track; theatrical trailers; $50; in stores Wednesday. * “For the Boys” 1991, Fox Video/Image: two discs; 2 hours, 20 minutes; stereo; 58 chapter stops; theatrical trailer; interview with director; outtakes; $50.