The Last Time I Saw Paris

"The sensational story of youth on a fling"

1954 1h 56m EN

😐

6.1

MID

🍅

70%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.1

IMDB

★6.1TMDB · 64🍅70%Rotten Tomatoes●49Metacritic★6.1IMDB · 4,616

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Reporter Charles Wills, in Paris to cover the end of World War II, falls for the beautiful Helen Ellswirth following a brief flirtation with her sister, Marion. After he and Helen marry, Charles pursues his novelistic ambition while supporting his new bride with a deadening job at a newspaper wire service. But when an old investment suddenly makes the family wealthy, their marriage begins to unravel — until a sudden tragedy changes everything.

“The sensational story of youth on a fling”

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Cast

Elizabeth Taylor
Helen Ellswirth
Van Johnson
Charles Wills
Walter Pidgeon
James Ellswirth
Donna Reed
Marion Ellswirth
Eva Gabor
Lorraine Quarl
Kurt Kasznar
Maurice
George Dolenz
Claude Matine
Roger Moore
Paul

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Richard Brooks
Writers: Philip G. Epstein, Julius J. Epstein, Richard Brooks
Languages: Hungarian, English
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

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

72 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Hungarian, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Richard Brooks, shot by Joseph Ruttenberg. 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 Conrad Salinger. 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 John D. Dunning shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Elizabeth Taylor and Van Johnson and Walter Pidgeon carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The sensational story of youth on a fling".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Brooks directs. Joseph Ruttenberg behind the camera. Conrad Salinger scores. John D. Dunning cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Hungarian, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
272 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Hungarian, English.
4Directed by Richard Brooks, shot by Joseph Ruttenberg. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Conrad Salinger. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor John D. Dunning shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Elizabeth Taylor and Van Johnson and Walter Pidgeon carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The sensational story of youth on a fling".
9IMDB entry: tt0047162 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 64 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Joseph Ruttenberg
Original score: Conrad Salinger
Editing: John D. Dunning
Costume design: Helen Rose
Makeup / hair: John Truwe
Runtime: 116 min · 1h 56m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,960,000
Box office: $4,940,000
Return: 252% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)
Rotten Tomatoes: 70% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 49/100
IMDB rating: 6.1/10 · 4,616 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

1 win total

Also by

Richard Brooks

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Wallpaper

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-01-18
★ 6/10
Journalist "Charles" (Van Johnson) returns to Paris after a two year absence and takes up his stool in the bar where he begins to reminisce about the reasons that kept him in the city after the end of WWII and of those that eventually drove him away. It all started when he was given a blind kiss on the day of liberation celebrations then later he meets the girl again. "Helen" (Elizabeth Taylor). He takes an immediate shine to her just as her sister "Marion" (Donna Reed) does to him. He's an aspiring writer and now settled with new, wealthy and party-going, wife and their daughter, he hopes to finish his magnum opus. Along the way he has crises of confidence and takes to the bottle - all putting a strain on his marriage that ends in tragedy. The purpose of his return is now clear, but will it find any traction with those who still remember? Liz Taylor does exude a degree of star quality here, but for then most part this is really a rather unremarkable melodrama that follows a fairly predictable arc of ups and downs before a Parisian showdown that doesn't really burn very brightly. Johnson is adequate here, and there are a few welcome interventions from Walter Pidgeon but otherwise this is all watchable and beautifully shot but forgettable stuff.

Production companies