Gigi (1958)

Directed by Vincente Minnelli and Charles Walters

Starring Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Hermione Gingold, Eva Gabor, Jacques Bergerac, Isabel Jeans, and John Abbott

I guess Leslie Caron just doesn't do it for me. She is the female lead in two of my least favorite Best Picture winners: 1951's An American in Paris, and this entry from 1958. This musical features a substandard score from the usually reliable Lerner and Loewe (My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, Camelot), Maurice Chevalier mugging like an idiot, and a completely forgettable love story. The fact that Audrey Hepburn starred in the non-musical play on Broadway and that Lerner and Loewe provided the score draw inevitable My Fair Lady comparisons. Do yourself a favor, skip this movie, and check out that 1964 Best Picture winner instead. It's a much better version of a similar story, all around. This is a very weak entry into the Best Picture canon, and every other nominee would have been more worthy of the prize.

Other nominees: Auntie Mame (Morton DaCosta), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Richard Brooks), The Defiant Ones (Stanley Kramer), and Separate Tables (Delbert Mann)