Thursday, July 15, 2010

From Gene To Lucy - In Paris


So far, my FAVORITE French movie is An American in Paris, starring the incomparable Gene Kelly and beautiful Leslie Caron. The movie captures what Five Months Until Paris blog readers say they love most about The City of Light ...
 ... its incredibly contagious atmosphere, where hope seems to spring eternal. If you haven't seen this movie, do so immediately and be in for a delight that's even better than a freshly baked macaron

An American in Paris was made in 1951 - and it undoubtedly influenced this next bit of entertainment I'd like to share with you. From the same time period, here's a little humor - I Love Lucy style - about Paris. And as you'll see, should you get in trouble, you'd better be able to speak French! The shenanigans start here in an I Love Lucy Paris at Last episode that aired in 1956. In this episode, Lucy thinks she's discovered an unknown, struggling artist much like Gene Kelly's artist character in An American in Paris. Turns out Lucy's artist find is a fraud, out to take her francs - which by the way are counterfeit!



When Lucy is caught passing counterfeit francs (before there even was such a thing as the euro) at a outdoor cafe, she's whisked off to a Paris jail. In this clip, Ricky comes to her rescue at the jail and tries to help her out.



Until Paris ... only 69 days to go!

6 comments:

Meg Mitchell said...

Your poll was a difficult one to answer. "All of above" might have been another choice.
Meg

Marie-Thérèse said...

Since I have friends and family in Paris, I would have to answer all of the above. "Juste un petit conseil" would be that there is no better place on earth to spend your 50th birthday than in Paris. I celebrated my 50th for an entire month, from friend/family to friend/family all over France; but.....the day of my 50th I had dinner in Paris at Le Grand Véfour....just my husband and me and La Grande Dame (Veuve Clicquot). I highly recommend you do the same.

Sweet Freak said...

Thank goodness for Lucille Ball!

And, I am somewhat chagrined to say, I don't think I've ever seen An American in Paris! I'm downloading that tout de suite!

Anonymous said...

I just spent my over 80th (ahem)birthday in Paris last month and I must say first of all, the people! I can say some things in French and they they respond in English which makes us both laugh. If you are polite, like anywhere in the world, it is returned. I so enjoyed my time there and hope to go back often as long as I can walk.
My guide for years has been, "Artwise Paris" bought at Barnes&Noble, a fold-up plastic map. We have a list of hotels & bistros we use when needed. Don't worry about fashion, nobody cares about tourists and the top restaurants are tres $$$$ where the well dressed go.
Tourists forget they are in a large city and dress for the beach. You can wear city clothes and be confortable!
Have fun in France.
From an old lady

Will said...

Liked "An American in Paris", LOVED the "Lucy" clip. There are too many French movies that I love to even narrow the list down to 5, much less choose just one.

You'll be in Paris before you know it! I wanted to go for many years before I made it there for the first time. I was a little worried that I'd built up an unreasonable vision of the City of Light in my mind, but let me just say that it my case the experience was even better than the dream! It's such a beautiful place, and most of the people I met on each visit were just wonderful.

As much as I enjoy reading this blog now, I'm looking forward to seeing some of your posts once you get back from your trip.

Anonymous said...
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From the BBC series on Paris, Blood and Chocolate (Part 2 of 3). Enjoy!

Streets of Paris - I shot this the day I left Paris, on a rainy September morning.

Small group Paris tours for women