Gigi

Not a Broadway-based musical but a screen original, derived from Colette's short novel set in turn-of-the-century Paris, with famous if vapid songs by Lerner and Loewe ('I Remember It Well', 'Thank Heaven for Little Girls'). But the dominating creative contribution comes from Minnelli and Cecil Beaton (responsible for production design and costumes). The combination of these two visual elitists is really too much - it's like a meal consisting of cheesecake, and one quickly longs for something solid and vulgar to weigh things down. No doubt inspired by the finicky, claustrophobic sets and bric-à-brac, the cast tries (with unfortunate success) to be more French than the French, especially Chevalier. The exception is Gingold, who inhabits, as always, a world of her own.