IMDb RATING
6.6/10
3.1K
YOUR RATING
The former members of a dance troupe are suing because of recently published memoirs. Each one insists on own point of view.The former members of a dance troupe are suing because of recently published memoirs. Each one insists on own point of view.The former members of a dance troupe are suing because of recently published memoirs. Each one insists on own point of view.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 7 wins & 7 nominations total
Richard Alexander
- Stagehand
- (uncredited)
Gordon Armitage
- Courtroom Spectator
- (uncredited)
Frank Arnold
- Taxi Driver
- (uncredited)
Herman Boden
- Angèle's Backup Musician
- (uncredited)
Brad Brown
- Court Barrister
- (uncredited)
Barrie Chase
- Dancer in 'Les Girls' Number
- (uncredited)
Lilyan Chauvin
- Dancer
- (uncredited)
Gene Coogan
- Stagehand
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOn the DVD, Taina Elg says the original cast was supposed to include Cyd Charisse as the American girl, Leslie Caron as the French girl, and Kay Kendall as the English girl. Charisse decided to do Silk Stockings (1957) instead, so Mitzi Gaynor took her part. At one point, Kendall didn't want to do the film and Elg was tested for her role. Kendall took the part after all, but then Caron withdrew. Elg was tested then for THAT character and received her first major film role.
- GoofsDuring the European tour, multiple clips are shown of American-style steam locomotives instead of European-type engines.
- Quotes
Lady Sybil Wren: If I was a man I'd have nothing to do with me.
- ConnectionsEdited into American Masters: Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer (2002)
- SoundtracksLes Girls
(uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Performed by Gene Kelly, Kay Kendall (dubbed by Betty Wand), Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg
Danced by Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg
Featured review
Why Am I Gone About Those Girls?
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.
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.
helpful•180
- bkoganbing
- Mar 11, 2009
- How long is Les Girls?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 54 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content