An American in Paris

"What a joy! It's M-G-M's Technicolor musical!"

1951 1h 53m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

🔥

95%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.1

IMDB

★7.0TMDB · 677🍅95%Rotten Tomatoes●83Metacritic★7.1IMDB · 38,963

MusicRomanceComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Jerry Mulligan is an exuberant American expatriate in Paris trying to make a reputation as a painter. His friend Adam is a struggling concert pianist who's a long time associate of a famous French singer, Henri Baurel. A lonely society woman, Milo Roberts, takes Jerry under her wing and supports him, but is interested in more than his art.

“What a joy! It's M-G-M's Technicolor musical!”

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Cast

Gene Kelly
Jerry Mulligan
Leslie Caron
Lise Bouvier
Oscar Levant
Adam Cook
Georges Guétary
Henri Baurel
Nina Foch
Milo Roberts
Robert Ames
Ballet Dancer (uncredited)
Joan Anderson
Child in Ballet (uncredited)
Larry Arnold
Frenchman (uncredited)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Vincente Minnelli
Writers: Alan Jay Lerner, Alan Jay Lerner
Languages: English, French, German
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

75 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

237+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Vincente Minnelli, shot by Alfred Gilks. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by George Gershwin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Adrienne Fazan shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

AWARDS

Did you know

Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron and Oscar Levant carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "What a joy! It's M-G-M's Technicolor musical!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Vincente Minnelli directs. Alfred Gilks behind the camera. George Gershwin scores. Adrienne Fazan cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, French, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

175 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, French, German.
3237+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Vincente Minnelli, shot by Alfred Gilks. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by George Gershwin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Adrienne Fazan shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron and Oscar Levant carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "What a joy! It's M-G-M's Technicolor musical!".
9IMDB entry: tt0043278 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Alfred Gilks
Original score: George Gershwin
Editing: Adrienne Fazan
Costume design: Orry-Kelly
Makeup / hair: Robert J. Schiffer
Runtime: 113 min · 1h 53m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $5,635,000
Box office: $6,981,000
Return: 124% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: An American in Paris (1951)
Rotten Tomatoes: 95% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 83/100
IMDB rating: 7.1/10 · 38,963 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Won 6 Oscars. 13 wins & 8 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Art Direction, Color
Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color
Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color
Academy Award for Best Original Musical Score
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Vincente Minnelli

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-07-06
★ 7/10
Now that the war has been won, "Jerry" (Gene Kelly) has decided to stay on in Paris and try to make a living as a painter. He's not having much more luck doing that than his best pal "Adam" (the often quite scene-stealing Oscar Levant) is at writing his grand opus, but there might be a glimmer on the horizon. The wealthy "Milo" (Nina Foch) meets him, buys a few of his artworks and definitely takes a bit of a shine to him. She even sets him up in his own studio. He, though, isn't as enamoured of her as he is of the young "Lise" (Leslie Caron) whom he meets one evening and then pursues next day at the florist where she works. What he doesn't know is that she is already the gal of his other pal "Henri" (Georges Guétary), and so the beginnings of a love triangle start to form. When "Henri" gets an offer to go to America and offers to marry her and take her with him, she has choices to make - but whom will she choose and for just how much longer will "Milo" provide her unrequited meal ticket? Though Kelly takes top billing, I didn't actually care much for his really quite selfish "Jerry" character and so was much happier to revel in the joie de vivre brought to the screen by the entertaining Caron. Of course there are plenty of opportunities for Kelly to dance and he glides effortlessly amidst the Parisian settings, but there are also a few for her too and she has a grace and litheness that coupled with her mischievous smile brings this film to life. Musically, well it's probably "'S Wonderful" and "Nice Work if You Can Get It" that stick out from the pens of the Gershwins and along with Kelly, Guétary proves he has something of the bass baritone to him, too. There are plenty of entertaining set-piece dance numbers - including one with a few kids who look like they are improvising like the best of them, and the lengthy ballet sequence at the conclusion is stylishly and energetically choreographed to resemble something Florenz Ziegfeld might have staged. I didn't really love the conclusion, but hey - it's Hollywood!

Production companies