Mark Griffin by A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life, Films of Vincente Minnelli Page A
Tags: United States, General, Biography & Autobiography, Entertainment & Performing Arts, Biography, Performing Arts, Film & Video, Motion picture producers and directors, Individual Director, Minnelli; Vincente, Motion Picture Producers and Directors - United States
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occasions that the entire family was together. “Working day after day, long into the night, cut drastically into our domestic life,” Minnelli would say of his conspicuous absence from the sprawling residence on Crescent Drive that they had recently moved into. As Georgette was more often than not home alone, it was as though her marriage to Vincente was in name only, which many in the Hollywood community assumed anyway.
With Minnelli shooting an elaborate period musical on location and under pressure, the highly charged atmosphere didn’t seem at all conducive to bringing an already distant couple any closer together. And as usual, work won out. Said Minnelli: “If you’re going to do a musical and have it linger with people awhile, then I think you have to put as much thought and sweat and intelligence into it as a dramatic picture.” The sweat would be easy to come by, as Paris was hit with what Caron remembered as “The worst summer in twenty years.” 5 Hot enough to blister. That didn’t deter the film’s unstoppable director, however. Minnelli was already consumed with resurrecting an entire bygone era. And no detail was too minute to escape his attention.
Just as 5135 Kensington Avenue had been a central “figure” in Meet Me in St. Louis and New York had become a third character in The Clock , the locations in Gigi were not just scenic backdrops but a vital part of the story. Lerner observed, “Paris was as much a character as Gaston and Gigi themselves.” 6 As Gigi’s Aunt Alicia understood and appreciated the difference between a marquise-shaped diamond and a yellow diamond of the first quality, Minnelli knew that each of the film’s locations was like one of those multifaceted gems—every setting would create a distinct mood and illuminate the characters in different ways.
Shooting began in August. “It was a battle of the queens,” says former second assistant director Hank Moonjean, who would witness the converging of several outsized egos on the set. “Beaton thinks the most important thing about the movie are the dresses. The camera man thinks the most important
thing is the camera work. The make-up man thinks the most important thing is the make-up. And Sydney Guilaroff thinks the most important thing in the movie is the hair. . . . It wasn’t an easy shoot.” 7 Vincente seemed oblivious to it all. With Gigi , he was bound and determined to create his most breathtaking canvas yet.
The film would open and close with Chevalier crooning “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” in the Bois de Boulogne. In the opening sequence, Chevalier’s boulevardier introduces himself, the youthful Gigi, and the risqué notion that in Paris, “there are some who will not marry and some who do not marry.” The opener would also set the visual tone for the film. Throughout the picture, Minnelli would pay tribute to France’s greatest artists, particularly the caricaturist Sem, though it was the work of watercolorist Constantin Guys that served as the inspiration for the look of the Bois. In these initial images in the film, the luxurious fairy tale that is Gigi begins to cast its spell. Though on the set, the mood was decidedly more nightmarish.
The heat was punishing. Tightly corseted cocottes fainted dead away. Freed’s beleaguered assistant, Lela Simone, seemed to be extinguishing a dozen fires at once. And all was not right according to Minnelli’s unerring eye. For starters, the Bois de Boulogne wasn’t nearly verdant enough. Vincente called for a small row of trees to be planted so that the location would more closely resemble the paintings of Constatin Guys. But it seemed that the moment one problem was solved, another emerged.
When Minnelli took a good look at the rented costumes the assembled extras were wearing, he pronounced them “disasters.” In an attempt to salvage the offending ensembles, Beaton and his dutiful assistants scurried over to each actor, affixing ribbons, plumes, and
With Minnelli shooting an elaborate period musical on location and under pressure, the highly charged atmosphere didn’t seem at all conducive to bringing an already distant couple any closer together. And as usual, work won out. Said Minnelli: “If you’re going to do a musical and have it linger with people awhile, then I think you have to put as much thought and sweat and intelligence into it as a dramatic picture.” The sweat would be easy to come by, as Paris was hit with what Caron remembered as “The worst summer in twenty years.” 5 Hot enough to blister. That didn’t deter the film’s unstoppable director, however. Minnelli was already consumed with resurrecting an entire bygone era. And no detail was too minute to escape his attention.
Just as 5135 Kensington Avenue had been a central “figure” in Meet Me in St. Louis and New York had become a third character in The Clock , the locations in Gigi were not just scenic backdrops but a vital part of the story. Lerner observed, “Paris was as much a character as Gaston and Gigi themselves.” 6 As Gigi’s Aunt Alicia understood and appreciated the difference between a marquise-shaped diamond and a yellow diamond of the first quality, Minnelli knew that each of the film’s locations was like one of those multifaceted gems—every setting would create a distinct mood and illuminate the characters in different ways.
Shooting began in August. “It was a battle of the queens,” says former second assistant director Hank Moonjean, who would witness the converging of several outsized egos on the set. “Beaton thinks the most important thing about the movie are the dresses. The camera man thinks the most important
thing is the camera work. The make-up man thinks the most important thing is the make-up. And Sydney Guilaroff thinks the most important thing in the movie is the hair. . . . It wasn’t an easy shoot.” 7 Vincente seemed oblivious to it all. With Gigi , he was bound and determined to create his most breathtaking canvas yet.
The film would open and close with Chevalier crooning “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” in the Bois de Boulogne. In the opening sequence, Chevalier’s boulevardier introduces himself, the youthful Gigi, and the risqué notion that in Paris, “there are some who will not marry and some who do not marry.” The opener would also set the visual tone for the film. Throughout the picture, Minnelli would pay tribute to France’s greatest artists, particularly the caricaturist Sem, though it was the work of watercolorist Constantin Guys that served as the inspiration for the look of the Bois. In these initial images in the film, the luxurious fairy tale that is Gigi begins to cast its spell. Though on the set, the mood was decidedly more nightmarish.
The heat was punishing. Tightly corseted cocottes fainted dead away. Freed’s beleaguered assistant, Lela Simone, seemed to be extinguishing a dozen fires at once. And all was not right according to Minnelli’s unerring eye. For starters, the Bois de Boulogne wasn’t nearly verdant enough. Vincente called for a small row of trees to be planted so that the location would more closely resemble the paintings of Constatin Guys. But it seemed that the moment one problem was solved, another emerged.
When Minnelli took a good look at the rented costumes the assembled extras were wearing, he pronounced them “disasters.” In an attempt to salvage the offending ensembles, Beaton and his dutiful assistants scurried over to each actor, affixing ribbons, plumes, and
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