Les Girls *** (1957, Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall, Taina Elg, Jacques Bergerac, Leslie Phillips, Henry Daniell, Patrick Macnee) – Classic Movie Review 9,021

George Cukor’s 1957 film Les Girls is an end-of-an-era event. Gene Kelly ended his MGM contract with this feisty, slick Cole Porter musical about a cabaret dance troupe (Kelly and Kay Kendall, Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg).

Director George Cukor’s 1957 musical comedy film Les Girls is an end-of-an-era event. It stars Gene Kelly, who rounded off his MGM contract with this feisty, slickly mounted Cole Porter musical about the adventures of a continental dancing troupe called Barry Nichols and Les Girls (Kelly and Kay Kendall, Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg).

The brightest performance comes from the deliciously madcap Kay Kendall, in an infectiously vivacious performance for her US debut, but Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg also greatly please.

Les Girls is the kind of show where you applaud the costumes – they are designed by Orry-Kelly – and the sets – they are designed by Gene Allen and William A Horning. But choreographer Jack Cole’s work is another major ingredient for its success. The Cole Porter music is very acceptable, in his final film score (and penultimate score). Though it is a cinema original, written by John Patrick, based on a story by the veteran American writer Vera Caspary, it plays like a filmed stage show.

Caspary was inspired by a reminiscence article of a dancer’s touring years in the American magazine The Atlantic. She said that only the title was used from her story for the screenplay, making her the world’s highest paid writer – $80,000 for only two words: Les Girls.

The 1957 American Metrocolor and CinemaScope musical comedy film is written by John Patrick, based on a story by Vera Caspary, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for Orry-Kelly and was nominated for Best Art Direction (William A Horning, Gene Allen, Edwin B Willis, Richard Pefferle) and Best Sound (Wesley C Miller). It won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical/ Comedy and for Best Actress (unusually Kay Kendall and Taina Elg jointly).

It is Gene Kelly’s last musical under his MGM contract that began in 1942. The end-of-an-era indeed.

Also in the cast are Jacques Bergerac, Leslie Phillips, Henry Daniell, Patrick Macnee, Stephen Vercoe, Philip Tonge, Richard Alexander, Barrie Chase, Nestor Paiva, Maurice Marsac, Gilchrist Stuart, Adrienne D’Ambricourt, George Davis, Owen McGiveney, Francis Ravel and Maya Van Horn.

Kay Kendall made only two more movies, The Reluctant Debutante and Once More, with Feeling!. She died of myeloid leukaemia on 6 September 1959, aged only 33.

Vera Louise Caspary (November 13, 1899 – June 13, 1987) is usually described as a mystery novelist and her best-known novel Laura was made into the 1944 movie Laura. Her Communist connections led to her being graylisted, affecting offers of work and income.

Les Girls is directed by George Cukor, runs 114 minutes, is made by Sol C Siegel Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, is released by MGM, is written by John Patrick, based on a story by Vera Caspary, is shot in Metrocolor and CinemaScope by Robert Surtees, is produced by Sol C Siegel and Saul Chaplin, and is scored by Adolph Deutsch, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and set designs by Gene Allen and William A Hornung.

Release date: October 3, 1957.

Mitzi Gaynor, Taina Elg, Kay Kendall and Gene Kelly in Les Girls.

The cast are Gene Kelly as Barry Nichols, Mitzi Gaynor as Joy Henderson, Kay Kendall as Lady Sybil Wren, Taina Elg as Angele Ducros, Jacques Bergerac as Pierre Ducros, Leslie Phillips as Sir Gerald Wren Henry Daniell as judge, Patrick Macnee as Sir Percy, Stephen Vercoe as Mr Outward, Philip Tonge as the associate judge, Barrie Chase as a dancer, Richard Alexander, Barrie Chase, Nestor Paiva, Maurice Marsac, Gilchrist Stuart, Adrienne D’Ambricourt, George Davis, Owen McGiveney, Francis Ravel and Maya Van Horn.

Betty Wand provides the singing voice of Lady Sybil Wren.

Musical numbers: “Les Girls” – Barry, Joy, Sybil and Angele; “You’re Just Too, Too” – Barry and Sybil; “Ca, C’est L’Amour” – Angele; “Ladies-in-Waiting” – Joy, Sybil and Angele; and  “Why Am I So Gone (About that Gal)?” – Barry.

MGM spent too much money on it and because of its high production costs lost the studio $1,635,000. It cost $3.4 million, and took a total of $3,865,000 worldwide.

Sadly the announced sequel called Les Boys never happened.

Mitzi Gaynor (born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber; September 4, 1931 – October 17, 2024)

Mitzi Gaynor (born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber).

Mitzi Gaynor (born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber) celebrated her 90th birthday on 4 September 2021. Her notable films include We’re Not Married! (1952), There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954), The Birds and the Bees (1956), The Joker Is Wild (1957), Les Girls (1957) and especially South Pacific (1958).

Mitzi Gaynor died from natural causes in Los Angeles on 17 October 2024, aged 93.

On 16 February 1964, she appeared between two sets by The Beatles on their second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Backstage, they borrowed her hair dryer for their moptop haircuts. After the show, she had dinner with them and they asked for her autograph.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9,021

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

Mitzi Gaynor in Photoplay in 1956.