Casino De Paris (1957)

A well known playwright (Vittorio De Sica) spots a musical comedy performer (Caterina Valente) and becomes enchanted with her. He becomes determined she give up musicals and make her dramatic debut as an actress in his play. Directed by Andre Hunebelle (OSS 117: MISSION FOR A KILLER), this lightweight piece of French fluff is the kind of minor musical MGM would have tossed off in the early 1950s with Stanley Donen directing Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor but probably better. Shot in vivid color (Eastman) and wide screen (Franscope), it looks great but its screenplay is hackneyed, its songs are ordinary and its choreography generic. Caterina Valente and Gilbert Because (as De Sica's secretary) are good singers and decent dancers but they can't overcome the mediocrity of the material. It's a weak imitation of the American musical which Jacques Demy would transcend in the mid 1960s. I must confess that I'm crazy about musicals so in spite of its flaws, I was more tolerant toward it than the average moviegoer would be. With Gregoire Aslan, Grethe Weiser, Rudolf Vogel and Vera Valmont.