An American in Paris (4 Stars)

Forget Fred Astaire. For me Gene Kelly has always been the big man of the classic Hollywood musicals. He had a touch of comedy to his routines which sets him above all his contemporaries. I always wait for the moment when he does his trademark gesture of gazing upwards during longer dance routines, as if in a trance. I don't like his singing, but there are enough opportunities to watch him just dancing in his films.

This is a bittersweet film about everyone falling in love with someone who loves somebody else. Even the abrupt "happy ending" for Gene doesn't resolve the sadness of the other characters. The highlight is his 16-minute dance routine with the ballet dancer Leslie Caron. Somehow it doesn't clash with Gene's tap dancing, the styles dissolve naturally into one another.