Les Girls (1957) User Reviews (48)

Why Am I Gone About Those Girls?

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 11 March 2009]

Cole Porter's final film score and next to last music written for any media is Les Girls. The same team producer Sol Seigal and writer John Patrick who produced and wrote the adaption of The Philadelphi Story for High Society worked with Porter again and this time George Cukor was directing. It's a good film, but I've got the feeling that it could have been a whole lot better.

One of the criticisms that Porter used to get annoyed with was the perennial 'it isn't up to Cole Porter's standard' and then you'd look in the score and see a lot of classics. Can-Can is the best example of that. But in the case of Les Girls Porter admitted this to be true. According to the George Eells biography of Porter, he was starting to suffer the decline in health that would eventually end his life in 1964. He did have surgery to bypass an ulcer and was not feeling up to par.

Still the numbers are mostly for a vaudeville act, Barry Nichols and Les Girls so they're serviceable to a bright Rashomon like plot. The members of the act are Gene Kelly and the girls are Mitzi Gaynor, Taina Elg, and Kay Kendall. Kay's written a memoir that includes an alleged suicide attempt by Elg and she's suing her in an English court. As we get testimony from Elg, Kendall, and Kelly, they all give out with different versions. It's also clear he had his fling with all of them at one time despite his alleged no fraternization policy.

Elg has the best ballad of the score, Ca C'est L'Amour which sounds like something that might have been written for Can-Can and discarded. Cole Porter discards are better than a lot of composer's best efforts. The sparkling Kay Kendall was never shown to better advantage on the screen than with You're Just Too Too in a duet with Kelly. And Cole Porter wickedly satirizes Marlon Brando and The Wild One in Why Am I So Gone About That Gal with Kelly and Mitzi Gaynor.

In addition to this being Cole Porter's last film score, this film also marks Gene Kelly's last full blown musical. He did do other musical numbers in films like What A Way To Go and Young Girls From Rochefort and Xanadu, but this was the last musical he did. They were getting way too expensive to make, something Kelly learned from behind the camera when he directed Hello Dolly.

Even with a score that Cole Porter himself wasn't thrilled with, Les Girls is still a fresh bit of film making. And since it's original to the screen, the Porter wit is not edited severely. All in all four great musical performers, three of them Les Girls.

A film starring Gene Kelly and directed by George Cukor where the ladies steal the show

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 17 September 2016]

Gene Kelly was one of the most talented and charismatic performers in classic musicals, some of his dance routines being among cinema's most jaw-dropping. And George Cukor was a fine director with a filmography that contained a number of favourites.

Both have done better films than 'Les Girls', in fact everybody involved pretty much has, but the film is definitely well worth watching and is entertaining in its own right. To me, what came off least successfully is the story, which is basically a musical version of Akira Kurosawa's 'Rashomon' (except that film handled its story structure much better). It is certainly intriguing, and it is difficult to resist its often risqué and disarming nature, but it does struggle at times to sustain momentum and material for a running time that feels over-stretched, making the latter half pedestrian narratively. And while interesting the flashback structure doesn't always feel as smooth as it could have been, some of it clumsy and disorganised.

Cole Porter's songs have been criticised for reasons that are understandable. None of the songs are bad, Porter was too good a composer/song-writer to write bad music, and are reasonably pleasant, but this is not one of Porter's better song scores. Pleasant enough, but nowhere near as memorable or as inspired, apart from some witty and naughty lyric-writing (though there are instances where they are over-shadowed by some distracting stage business in the choreography), as they could have been, disappointing for a great composer/song-writer who should have gone out on a high note but didn't. Jacques Bergerac is also insipidly dull in a role with practically nothing to it, basically the sort of role that's there for the sake of being a plot device but nothing more.

Despite how this all sounds, 'Les Girls' does have a number of merits that it is difficult to be too hard on it. The best assets are the production values and the performances of the ladies. 'Les Girls' is simply a stunning-looking film, the colours are eye-poppingly ravishing, the sets are lavish, the costumes are beautifully chic and the cinematography often dazzles. The ladies manage to steal the show under those who most would naturally see the film for (Kelly, Cukor and Porter). Particularly note-worthy is the perfection that is Kay Kendall, who is charming and hilarious and would have had a bigger career if it hadn't been cut short so early and tragically. Mitzi Gaynor also has fun with her role and makes the character sympathetic too, while Taina Elg is suitably sultry.

Kelly is always watchable, and dances with charisma and his usual polish and technical meticulousness in routines that, while not exactly career highlights, do show off how incredible a dancer he was, even if his character is one of his least endearing (though he does bring wit and charm). Cukor makes the most of the production values and there is enough elegance and lightness of touch, but it does seem in the early parts especially that he wasn't in complete control, or entirely trust or was comfortable, with the material. The script is wonderfully witty and also has a risqué boldness and sexiness.

On the whole, not a great film, and doesn't see the enormously talented people in front of and behind the camera doing the best work of their careers, but absolutely worth watching for the production values and Kendall. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Girls in Cukor's hands

[arichmondfwc · 8/10 · 1 February 2005]

There is a unique kind of elegance in Cukor's way to see the world. An elegance that is utterly personal. Witty, warm, enchanting. It could disguise, transform and magnify the smallest, thinnest trifle. I remember feeling my cheeks kind of numb after the film was over, not from laughing but from smiling all the way through. Cukor's reputation as a women's director was no myth. Here, the glorious Kay Kendall, in a character written with a tired left hand, shines all the same because Cukor knew and understood what made her so irresistible. She was, in the history of the movies, like a comet that flashed before us dazzling us and disappearing very fast but leaving behind a unique brand of magic. In "Les Girls" she even dances with Gene Kelly, wears hats and sun glasses like no one ever had before or since. She's an impossibly perfect combination of Allison Janney and Greta Garbo. This is a film that more often than not, people forget to remember. I think it's time to correct that. Rent it or buy it, switch on the weather channel, select a rainy winter Sunday, invite a bunch of friends and have a ball.

Kay Kendall makes it a delight

[otter · 28 February 1999]

This would have been an enjoyable film without the enchanting comic actress Kay Kendall, but with her it's hilarious. It's a musical comedy version of "Rashomon"; a trial for libel where all the principals give wildly different versions of the same events. Gene Kelly, Taina Elg, and even Mitzi Gaynor are all fun, but it's Kendall who carries the show. She is one of those rare performers who can make you laugh with just a look on her face, but when given something like a drunk scene she can make you weep with laughter. Who cares if she could neither sing nor dance. Good score, too.

Sadly, Kendall made only two more films before her untimely death, what a loss to the world.

Cute, fun musical with a hilarious point-of-view

[sabby · 7/10 · 25 April 1999]

I love classic films, but I'm not one for musicals. I like melodramas. With "Les Girls", however, I have to make an exception. This is fun, colorful, comic-musical in which Kay Kendall plays Lady Wren, former member of a European dance troupe, who writes a book exposing the backstage "truths" and scandals. Along comes Taina Elg, also a former member of that troupe, suing Lady Wren for defamation of character. A trial ensues in which we get flashbacks, giving the various points-of-view of how things really happened. Cute and fun from the opening moments of plantiff and defendant entering the courtroom to the flashbacks showcasing Kendall's brilliant comedic abilities and the oft-referred to gin in the perfume bottle sequence. This is truly a good show and Gene Kelly's great too.

Sophisticated Musical with Gene Kelly, Kay Kendall and George Cukor's Skills

[silverscreen888 · 7/10 · 26 July 2008]

The musical "Les Girls" (1957) is curious, I suggest for many reasons. It has three leading ladies, only a few very good musical numbers and a plot that is heavy on satirical comedy, with four distinct sections. It is also embedded within a trial about libel and takes part very largely indoors; yet it is arguably filled with clear 'action' from start to finish. John Patrick's screenplay I find clever and the dialog perhaps very good. Vera Casparay's story gave us three different versions of mostly the same events, with a subtle shift forward in time each time. Director George Cukor used shots from heights and clever low angles to give an extra dimension to what otherwise might have been boring indoor shots (in less-capable hands). The film produced by Saul Chaplin and Sol Siegel looks lovely in Technicolor and seems sumptuous as well as convincing throughout, I suggest. The cinematography by Robert Surtees, acting as director of photography, the vivid art direction by Gene Allen and William A. Horning and the set decorations by Richard Pefferle and the great Edwin Willis complement the well-matched art direction very well indeed, in my opinion. Among the film's musical numbers, "Ca C'est L'Amour", "You're Too Too" and the rope ballet seemed the most memorable moments to me. Orry-Kelly's wardrobe and costumes and the musical department's contributions stand out; Jack Cole and Alex Romero are credited with the choreography, no doubt with ideas from the star Gene Kelly. In featured roles, Jacques Bergerac, Henry Daniell as the judge, and Leslie Phillips and Patrick MacNee all make very strong impressions with little to work with. The three ladies in the act "Barry Nichols and Les Girls", are Kay Kendall, Taina Elg and Mitzi Gaynor. Kendall deserves an Oscar for her range of comedy and dramatic moments in the film, by my standards; Mitzi Gaynor is a good dancer and delivers both a decent characterization and some fine one-liners without being vocally strong. Taina Elg is the surprise--by turns charming, mischievous and intelligent; her accent perhaps harmed her opportunity to play more comedies within a shrinking 50's movie industry. Kelly is believable throughout and perhaps has never danced better. This film that retails the interplay among four interesting people on "the road" in Europe in the 1950s is undoubtedly both beautifully directed and professionally mounted. It has, I say as a writer, discreet charm, some nice comedic and emotional moments and a pace that director Cukor and the cast never allow to falter. It deserves more credit than it has ever been given, and I believe awards for some of its finest achievers' work exhibited herein.

A Beautiful enigma.

[movibuf1962 · 7/10 · 29 August 2006]

On the one hand, it has Gene Kelly and direction by George Cukor and the smart, smooth music of Cole Porter. But the structure of the plot is a bit bumpy, and most of this bumpiness stems from the RASHOMON-like tale starting, stopping, and starting again over two hours. A lot of people seem to think that the Porter score was sub-par; I wholeheartedly disagree. An especially lovely sequence is a rowboat scene between Kelly and Taina Elg which segues into the love song "Ca C'est L'amour." Also clever are the burlesque turn of "Ladies In Waiting" and the vaudeville-like "You're Just Too, Too" which pairs Kelly with the rapturous Kay Kendall. Kendall is, in many ways, the real star of LG with her deft comedy (drunkenly singing opera for five straight minutes!) and her cool, elegant beauty. Knowing that she died shortly after completing this film- and so young- makes one miss her charms all the more and also wish that the film had a larger following. (It's particularly enigmatic nowadays when compared to Kelly's bigger and better known hits: 'Singin' In The Rain,' 'An American In Paris,' 'Anchors Aweigh,' etc.) Still, Mitzi Gaynor is a dish, dancing with Kelly in a sexy black dress (in a weird Marlon-Brando-a'la-THE-WILD-ONE-send up). Thank goodness it's on widescreen DVD where it belongs.

Refreshing musical, ultimately spineless

[funkyfry · 6/10 · 24 October 2002]

Appealing but relatively uninspired vehicle for Gene Kelly's talents which contains some moments of great charm thanks to stars Kelly and Gaynor (a silent shot of her chewing on a carrot and trying to "gab" at practically the same time is one of the best parts of the movie!). Music is good, but not Porter's best (how many times has that been said? And truthfully? Many times), and Kelly's obligatory "grand finale" feels like an afterthought. The surrealist spoof of "The Wild One" just doesn't hold up for the length or show Gaynor off to best advantage. While very good, the writing doesn't allow for likeable characters. Big mistake on Kelly's part to go in this direction, although this type of characterization is his most effective; it's just that the split "he said, she said" style of the plot's structure lets too many loose threads get in the way, and we can't see where Gaynor and Kelly's real romance is coming from until it hits us like a truck. Got to give Kelly credit for not just making another movie with a bunch of old songs mixed together, but the story should have been more centered on the characters of the lovers, and not the french ingenues.

Kay Kendall and the other Ladies In Waiting...For the King

[theowinthrop · 9/10 · 18 December 2005]

LES GIRLS is the forgotten musical gem of the last great splurge of MGM musicals in the 1950s. It's reception (judging from the other comments here) is less than overly enthusiastic, due to the script. LES GIRLS is possibly the most philosophical of the MGM musicals, because it tackles an immortal issue of mankind: "What is truth?"

Gene Kelly had been leading a highly successful nightclub group around Europe for many years called LES GIRLS. But he has ceased doing so, and disbanded the group. We learn that Kay Kendall has published her memoirs. She has married Leslie Phillips, a wealthy British aristocrat. In her memoirs she describes what life on the road with the act was like, and how she saved the life of fellow dancer/singer Taina Eig when the latter tried to commit suicide with gas. Taina has married wealthy Frenchmen Jacques Bergerac, and she is furious at this libel suggesting that she was mentally ill enough to try to kill herself. She brings an action in London against Kendall.

This being a George Cukor film, he will have many touches in it that are normal. One, that I note, is the justice in this trial is none other than the old Cukor favorite Henry Daniell. Daniell appeared in Cukor's films from CAMILLE (as Baron De Warvell), through THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (as Sidney Kidd), up to MY FAIR LADY (as the Prince of Transylvania at the embassy ball - he only appears in one sequence as he died on the set). Here he is just determined to have an orderly libel trial in his court. In the end, he is just as amazed and perplexed by what he hears as everyone else. Also to be noted is Patrick Macnee, playing a titled barrister.

The act being a song and dance one (with Kelly, leading the two ladies and Mitzi Gaynor) the music is from none other than Cole Porter. It was the last complete music score that Porter made for a film. It is not a bad score, but not up to the par of say SILK STOCKINGS or CAN-CAN (both composed in the early to mid-1950s). My favorite song is "We're Ladies in Waiting" sung by the three ladies in 18th Century costumes. The lyrics suggest King Louis has plans for them outside their normal duties.

As the film continues, Eig produces as her defense that she was not the woman who tried to kill herself. It was Kendall, and she (Eig) rescued her. So now the court and the public have two versions of the story of the "suicide attempt". The final witness is Kelly, who gives his account of what really happened. I won't explain it (see the film) but in revealing what he claims happened he also reveals something of the lies told by him to the two woman and Mitzi Gaynor, as well as some subterfuges he is working out with both Bergerac and Phillips regarding their personal interests in the matter. The results of his testimony settle the trial, and all parties return to their lives. We even see Kelly going home with his wife (Gaynor), who was in the court but never questioned. But now she has questions about the validity of Kelly's testimony! As they yell at each other in the back of their car, we see a man wearing a sandwich board with the eternal question: "What is truth?" on it. And the film ends.

It was only a handful of years before that Akiro Kurasowa's brilliant RASHOMON tackled the same problem, again in relating a legal issue (who was responsible for the death of an nobleman, and how did the nobleman die). The screenwriters certainly picked up on this perennial problem of truth and it's limits, and a courtroom happens to be the best place to show it. Who can tell if somebody has told the truth completely or partially, and if partially why partially? In looking over the issue of telling the truth, note that besides Kendall, Eig, and Kelly, the behavior of Phillips and Bergerac get scrutinized. Gaynor is also pulled in (we have Kelly's version of how and why she behaved - but we never even hear her explanations). The tactics of Macnee and his opposing counsel (and all lawyers, including his Lordship Daniell) are based on playing out certain tell-tale facts that may hide other tell-tale facts. Who, in the end can judge the truth?

It is one of Kay Kendall's best performances, with GENEVIEVE and THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE. She was aware, in 1957, of physical problems that she revealed to her husband Rex Harrison. Before the end of the year he knew it was leukemia, and that she was doomed. In his autobiography REX he tells how he made her last two years the happiest in her life. One would never think of the sudden end of such a funny, vibrant actress being so close seeing her with Kelly doing a song and dance duet (and a saucy one at that). For that alone, I would recommend seeing the film to think of such a promising talent that was cut so tragically short.

Surprisingly ineffective.

[Hermit C-2 · 6/10 · 24 April 2000]

'Les Girls' sure does seem to have a lot going for it. It has style coming out the ears. It has Gene Kelly being Gene Kelly. Its female stars, especially Kay Kendall and Taina Elg, are captivating, and I don't mean to denigrate Mitzi Gaynor by omission. It has songs by Cole Porter. This should be a "can't-miss" film for those who like movies such as 'Gigi,' 'Funny Face' and 'An American in Paris.'

But 'LG' barely gets the nod of approval from me. That's because its 'Rashoman'-like story plays out rather long and dull. There is surprisingly little singing and dancing in the film compared to the seemingly endless retelling of the story three times. This just-under two hour movie felt like 'Cleopatra' by the end! And I thought the director could have pruned a bit of Kay Kendall's drunken singing in one scene. It was funny for a minute, yes, but it got awful annoying carried on at such length.

Just watch "Rashomon"!

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 30 November 2014]

The plot for this film is a lot like taking the Kurasawa film "Rashomon" and combining it with "An American in Paris". The final product, while pretty to look at, it pretty dreadful--overly long, overly familiar and amazingly slight.

The film begins with Angèle (Taina Elg) suing Sybil (Kay Kendall) following the publication of Sybil's tell-all book "Barry Nichols and Les Girls". What follows is a Rashomon-style plot where each of the particulars in the story tell their account of what happened back when they were a successful dance team--and each has a completely different idea of what has really occurred--and each thinks they were Barry's one love.

So why wasn't I in love with this film? The biggest problem is that the characters are generally unlikable--especially the very manipulative Barry (Gene Kelly). As for the dancing, I hated it but it all depends on what style music you like. If you like big production numbers and lots of very modern dance, you'll probably like it. I prefer musicals where the singing and dancing are more integrated into the plot-- such as in the infinitely more successful film from this same period, "Gigi". Also, the film just lacks originality, as it did borrow so heavily from "Rashomon". But most importantly, I just found the film overly long and pretty dull. Pretty to look at...but dull.

Great film always underrated

[jinchelsea · 9/10 · 27 December 2004]

Okay, perhaps this isn't on a par with Gene Kelly's greatest films, and perhaps the Cole Porter score is not one of his absolute best. But this film is so well written (its take on "Rashomon" is extremely clever), such a brilliant combination of comedy, drama, song and dance, with an exceptional performance by the great Kay Kendall, and equally fine turns by Mitzi Gaynor (who is always maligned, when she had developed into a terrific singing/dancing comedienne by this point in her career), Taina Elg and Kelly. John Patrick's screenplay is extremely witty, Porter's songs (while too few) are fun, George Cukor's direction is swift and elegant, and Jack Cole's choreography is great fun ("Why Am I So Gone" show Kelly and Gaynor off terrifically, and is a funny parody on the Brando craze of the 50s). All in all, a great show that deserves a far better reputation than it has; I've seen it many times since childhood, and always enjoy it immensely.

What Is Truth?

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 15 December 2020]

In London, the former dancer of the Barry Nichols (Gene Kelly) and Les Girls Company and presently Lady Sybil Wren (Kay Kendall) is sued by her former roommate and fellow dancer Angèle Ducros (Taina Elg). Sybil wrote a best-seller based on her memoirs from the time she was a dancer and lived with Angèle and Joanne 'Joy' Henderson (Mitzi Gaynor) and in a chapter she discloses the affair of Angèle with Barry and how she committed an attempt of suicide when Barry left her. However, Angèle tells a different story to the court and discloses that Sybil was indeed who had an affair with Barry. Finally Barry comes to the court and tells his side of the story.

"Les Girls" is an enjoyable 1957 musical based on the storyline of Rashomon (1950). The truth is told based on three different perspectives of the same story told by three former fellow dancers. The conclusion is funny and leaves to the viewers decide what the truth is. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Les Girls"

My Geishas

[writers_reign · 5/10 · 10 February 2017]

George Cukor directed one of the all-time great musicals in the Best (Judy Garland) version by far of A Star Is Born and Cole Porter was one of the all-time great songwriters so together they should have turned out a masterpiece. Helas! Hard to say what went wrong. None of the Porter Broadway shows that were adapted for the screen really worked and that includes two versions of Anything Goes, Dubarry Was A Lady, Panama Hattie, Let's Face It, Kiss Me Kate, Can Can and Silk Stockings. The latter was released the same year as Les Girls and had they waited for Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse to wind up Silk Stockings, deep- sixed Kelly and Elg Les Girls might have given Porter a more successful swan song - he did, in fact, pen one final score, the made-for-TV musical Aladdin the following year. With only five songs it weighs in with four less than the previous years' masterpiece High Society, written directly for the screen, and even one of those, Ca, C'est L'Amour was a recycling of C'est Magnifique from Can Can. Anything Cole Porter wrote is worth hearing but this remains a disappointment.

One of my favorites!

[gregcouture · 6 May 2003]

As the glory days of M-G-M as Hollywood's preeminent manufacturer of musical treasures entered the sunset years, this very stylish bit of fluff, under George Cukor's very astute guidance, graced the CinemaScope/Metrocolor screen. Cole Porter contributed a score quite a bit more slender than his best, with only one standout, "Ca c'est l'Amour" briefly delivered by Taina Elg. Gene Kelly wasn't permitted any extensive opportunities to display his more athletic dancing skills, possibly because Jack Cole seems to have been the sole credited choreographer. Some viewers, reading other IMDb comments on this one, were rather annoyed by the Rashomon-like structure of John Patrick's very clever, in my view, screenplay. But it's all quite sophisticated, at least for 1957, and the "Ladies In Waiting" production number, in which Porter indulges his penchant for the risque, is hilariously reprised as the story progresses, making naughty use of the three leading ladies' attributes.

Robert Surtees lensed the entire production within the confines of M-G-M's soundstages but, with Cukor's favorite collaborator, Hoyningen-Huene, helping to apply the visual gloss, the whole enterprise is much more elegant looking than Hollywood's usual musical output. Orry-Kelly won a well-deserved Oscar for his color costume design, with one gorgeous gown worn by Mitzi Gaynor that probably accounts for most of the votes cast in his favor.

Finally mention must be made of Henry Daniell's drily witty incarnation of a judge whose patience is sorely tried by the frivolity of the case before him and, of course, Kay Kendall's terrifically funny romp as Lady Wren. What a loss to the cinema when she died so suddenly. Her fans, and I am certainly in their forefront, do so regret her early departure. (If you add this one to your video library, the widescreen DVD is the only way to do it.)

Three points of view, three times the fun!

[ASuiGeneris · 7/10 · 12 September 2017]

I was pleasantly surprised by the film. The reviews were mixed; at least it was not as overwhelmingly positive as I feel it deserves. I think it might have a little to do with the fact that, for a musical, it did not have as many musical numbers.

I especially liked the three different points of view, told on the stand in flashbacks by two of the girls, Lady Sybil Wren and Angèle Ducros and Barry Nichols, the director of the show. It was a testament to the psychology behind our memories and a fun exposition on how broadly different the facts can seem when seen from a different point of view. The classic he said, she said. Gene Kelly was handsome as always and a lot of fun. Taina Elg, Mitzi Gaynor, and Kay Kendall all gave impressive performances. The costume design and sets were done beautifully, winning this film its only Academy Award. The dances and music numbers were both engaging and a pleasure to listen to; this comes as no shock Les Girls being the great Cole Porter's last film score.

Three girls, three tries at love. In the end, it is Gene Kelly's love story that wins my heart. His character is the type that tries to pretend he does not need a girl, but is an adorable romantic at heart.

Nobody's finest hour

[MOscarbradley · 6/10 · 2 June 2007]

Cole Porter's score is far from his best and you probably would never guess that George Cukor directed it and Gene Kelly, although he dances as well as ever, isn't well served by either the script or indeed the choreographer, (it's virtually a supporting role). But what it has in spades are the Les Girls of the title; Mitzi Gaynor, (she's the 'sassy' bundle of fun), Taina Elg, (the gold-digger) and that great leggy British comedienne Kay Kendall who is not particularly well served by the script either but who is so graceful and witty and sophisticated she can lift the material. She isn't as good here as she was in "Genevieve" but she is better than anyone else in the movie and she won a Golden Globe for it, (though Elg, too, is a duplicitous little spitfire and is probably better here than in anything else she did). It looks fabulous, (Orry-Kelly's costumes won an Oscar), but, as we know, looks aren't everything. Nobody's finest hour, then, but neither is it totally negligible.

MGM's stylish take on the classic Japanese tale "RASHOMON"...

[Isaac5855 · 7/10 · 29 March 2007]

Though made near the end of MGM's Golden years, LES GIRLS was a stylish and entertaining musical that brought to mind the Japanese tale "Rashoman" where we are given one story told from three very different points of view. The film opens with Lady Sybil Wren (the late great Kay Kendall), an elegant British bombshell, being taken to court for libel after the publication of a book she wrote about her experiences as the member of a song and dance troupe known as Les Girls. What we then get is a flashback where we meet Barry Nichols (Gene Kelly)the leader of the act and his girls, the aforementioned Sybil, a bubbly American named Joy (Mitzi Gaynor)and an exotic French beauty named Angele (Taina Elg). According to Sybil, Barry toyed with her affections, making her think he loved her, but Angele's version of the story reveals he made her feel the same way, but Barry, now married to Joy, does finally take the stand and tells his version of what happened, which is apparently what really happened. Stylish direction by George Cukor, a surprisingly meaty screenplay for an MGM musical, and some great musical sequences make for an offbeat but nonetheless richly entertaining film, which, if truth be told, is effortlessly stolen by Kay Kendall, whose luminous performance as Sybil lights up the screen, especially in a riotous comic duet she performs with Kelly called "You're Just Too Too.." Kendall was a supremely gifted actress taken from us much too soon and this film is ample proof of that. A nearly forgotten and underrated MGM classic.

Original storytelling and fun characters make this is a good late MGM musical.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 7/10 · 7 December 2006]

This is an enjoyable and good late MGM musical.

This is a good genre movie, from genre specialist George Cukor, with all of the typical and formulaic elements present in it. It's cheerful looking and slightly over-the-top, like it should be. The story is of course once more about love and the musical business.

The story might sounds formulaic and simple but it is yet the story that makes this movie distinct itself from other genre movies and make this an original one. The story is told from three different point-of-views in a courtroom, after each other. The storytelling is obviously inspired by Akira Kurosawa's "Rashômon". Does this storytelling work out perfect in this movie? I have to say no. Although it works original, it also tends to make the movie needlessly tiresome after a while. It's not always interesting or refreshing enough to follow the story from the three different viewpoints. Unlike "Rashômon", you as the viewer often feel cheated about what the real truth is. The three different stories too often make each other weaker, instead of stronger and more intriguing, even though it still makes the movie as a whole original and refreshing. So you can really say that the story and storytelling is one of the stronger- as well as one of the weaker points of the movie.

Gene Kelly is good in his role but really the main characters of the movie are the three girls. They mostly carry the movie and make the movie a delight to watch. The movie further more also features some other great supporting actors, such as; Patrick Macnee and Leslie Phillips. The characters are all fun and have some good chemistry, even though they are all far from well developed or written.

The sets, costumes (Oscar-winner) and the musical numbers are great looking, like you always should expect from a genre movie like this one, from the MGM-studios. This movie will surely not disappoint the fans.

It's a good and even one of the better and more fun musicals from the MGM-studios.

7/10

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Les Girls- Vive These Women ***1/2

[edwagreen · 9/10 · 20 December 2007]

Wonderful movie where the late Kay Kendall writes a book about her experiences with her dancing troupe. Trouble is that she soon finds herself in a British court being charged with libel.

With a superlative cast, fine gowns by Orry-Kelly, and dancing and singing routines that are memorable, Les Girls is an absolute pleasure to watch.

The film deals with three different versions of a story. It is done in a comical and musical way which makes it so appealing.

Two of the women accuse each other of attempting suicide. As the master of the dance group, Gene Kelly is absolutely fabulous here. The story that he concocts by the end of the film is hilarious, but it's great as it restores a friendship and saves two marriages.

After each story is told, there is someone walking around the court with a sign-The Truth Be Told. May I use the words on the sign to state the truth that this 50+ year film is a gem.

A MINOR KELLY-HOOFFEST...!

[masonfisk · 6/10 · 20 February 2024]

Gene Kelly headlines this Parisian song & dance flick from 1957. Kelly runs a struggling revue which perks up considerably when he casts a trio of women (Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall, Taina Elg) to join his show & it begins to take off but romantic entanglements soon start to eat away at the easy going relationship as Kelly hooks up w/Kendall & Elg (awkward since they're spoken for) leading to the break-up of the unit & a court case involving a penned memoir (which bookends the film) & its allegations. Not as fun as it could've been or lurid as the situation implies, director George Cukor (The Women/A Star is Born) makes the most of this flaccid soufflé but other than some okay hoofing, there's not much there, there. Also starring future John Steed from TV's Avengers, Patrick Macnee, as a court prosecutor.

Musical-comedy with Cole Porter songs is just "Too Too"...

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 2 May 2010]

Two ex-members of a female dancing trio, once partnered with a hard-working Lothario, have differing versions of what happened the night someone left the gas on in the girls' Parisian apartment. Handsome Robert Surtees cinematography and a funny performance by Kay Kendall nearly makes this overstretched bauble worth watching. The first two variations on the tale are tolerable, but the third (required to give star Gene Kelly more screen-time) is simply too much. Cole Porter provided the songs, none of which sparkle--and one, "Ladies in Waiting", which is surprisingly tasteless. The production is splashed with color, yet director George Cukor seems to have lost his snap, particularly in the early stages when the story exposition is laughably clumsy. Kelly performs in a much lower key than usual (which is a plus), however the choreography is lazy and fails to show off his dancing talents to an exciting advantage. ** from ****

Kay Kendall the enchantress

[jjnxn-1 · 8/10 · 21 May 2013]

Chic, light as air confection is a pleasant diversion and a wonderful showcase for its three leading ladies.

This was a career high for Taina Elg, a charming elfin actress who worked steadily but never broke through to the majors. She's pixish and very appealing.

As the most pragmatic of the trio Mitzi Gaynor is slyly comic, wonderfully relaxed and of course dances beautifully, this is one of her best performances.

But the real standout and the person who walks away with the picture is the magical Kay Kendall. A performer with an enormous comic gift and a vibrant screen persona she was already suffering symptoms of the leukemia that would take her life within two years. You would never know it from watching her on screen she is so full of life and radiates energy and vitality, a bewitching creature.

Gene Kelly is good but his is really a sidelined role.

The full MGM treatment was brought to bear on this, one of the last of the big successful musicals before the studios somehow lost their way and gave in to gargantuan overproduction. There were still a few good musicals that came after, Gypsy, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Funny Girl and a few others but before too long overblown dinosaurs like Hello, Dolly, Finian's Rainbow and Dr. Doolittle killed off the genre.

Not quite in the same league as Singin' in the Rain, On the Town, Meet Me in St. Louis or other MGM musical classics this is still a solid show from the time when MGM reigned supreme and was able to manufacture this sort of quality entertainment effortlessly.

top-notch musical, lame script

[lasttimeisaw · 6/10 · 14 August 2014]

It is also known as Cole Porter's LES GIRLS, a tremendously fun-packed vaudeville directed by George Cukor, which is configured in the RASHOMON-esque love affairs among the leader of the dance troupe Barry Nichols (Kelly) and his three "les girls" the French Angèle (Elg), the British Sybil (Kendall) and the American Joy (Gaynor).

The film opens in London, a libel lawsuit springs 3 sides of the story, first from Sybil's angle, then Angèle tells a completely different story, finally Barry comes to the fore and wraps up the case with his truth-revealing recount, yet what is the truth? (as a man holding a billboard written the said words consecutively appears in front of the courtroom). Each story is elaborated with the narrator's own premeditated embellishments which lean toward their favor, frustratingly, viewers will never get what had happened in lieu of many contradictions galore, and surely it is not the film's true intent neither.

Cole Porter's music numbers and Jack Cole's choreography are the mainstay, each girl is squarely allotted to one-third of the leading status of their story and each consummates a distinctive pas de faux with Kelly, Elg is exotic and bewitching, Kendall is demure yet loopy, but it is Gaynor, who stuns with her ultimate dance routine with Kelly, she is a top-notch dancer, and although all three women are imbecilic to some extent and Barry is a philandering swine, her Joy is the closest one with a speck of wisdom, her tactic to Barry's insincere proposal is golden, alas she will soon capitulate to an abominable male-skewing plot device of a fake heart condition. As a film actress, Ms. Rex Harrison, Kendall stands out among the rest, embalms a scent mingled with mild hysteria and glacial indifference to a larger-than-life character, two years before her untimely death due to myeloid leukaemia at the age of 33. Gene Kelly, on the contrary, is past his prime, mostly delegated to the foil of three ladies' show pieces. But he has the luck to kiss all the three beauties, so, it is a bad deal for him I guess.

Porter's ear-friendly ditties are charmingly mellifluous, there are superlative musical materials and Cukor's direction is executed in moderate discretion, but the fussy and preposterous storyline is a major turn-off, not to mention the badly organized courtroom confrontation and the final hypocritical reconciliation, yuk, it is an insult to the female gender, I cannot squeeze a smile when it ends, but I will go to youtube and watch the splendid musical performances alone.

Skip this movie

[richard-1787 · 2/10 · 29 June 2012]

This movie is a failure on so many fronts, I'm not sure where to start.

Perhaps by saying how very sorry I am that it's such a disappointment. I very much like Gene Kelly's other work, love a lot of Cole Porter, many George Cukor movies, etc. Yet everything goes wrong here.

To begin with, this is a dud of a musical. None of the numbers come close to being memorable, the plot is uninteresting, the characters all often disagreeable. And if you were ever to watch it a second time - which I don't recommend - to see if the end resolves the apparent contradictions that come up throughout the movie, I suspect you'd find that it doesn't.

Because the plot and the characters are uninteresting, the actors really have nothing to work with. Kelly has been so good in so many movies, it is almost painful to watch him try to do something with this mess of a role. The three women, though all fine dancers, simply don't have the star power between them that you need to bring off such a movie. Even Mitzi Gaynor, a great performer, seems weak here, except in her one dance number with Kelly, the motorcycle number, where they are both first rate.

There's no point in going on further. There just isn't anything here of interest. More's the pity.