Development Hollywood producer
Arthur Freed first proposed a musicalization of the
Colette novella to
Alan Jay Lerner during the
Philadelphia tryout of
My Fair Lady in 1954. When Lerner arrived in Hollywood two years later, Freed was battling the
Hays Code to bring his tale of a courtesan-in-training to the screen. Another roadblock to the project was the fact Colette's widower had sold the rights to her novella to
Gilbert Miller, who planned to produce a film version of the 1954 stage adaptation by
Anita Loos. It cost Freed more than $87,000 to purchase the rights from Miller and Loos. Lerner's songwriting partner Frederick Loewe had expressed no interest in working in Hollywood, so Lerner agreed to write the screenplay only. He and Freed discussed casting; Lerner favored
Audrey Hepburn, who had starred in the
Broadway production written by Loos, but Freed preferred MGM contract star
Leslie Caron, who had co-starred in
An American in Paris for him. Both agreed
Maurice Chevalier would be ideal for aging boulevardier Honoré Lachaille, and Lerner proposed
Dirk Bogarde for Gaston. Lerner agreed to write the lyrics if Freed could convince Bogarde and designer
Cecil Beaton to join the project. He decided to approach Loewe once again, and when he suggested they compose the score in Paris, Loewe agreed. In March 1957, the duo began working in Paris. When Chevalier, who already had agreed to appear in the film, first heard "
Thank Heaven for Little Girls", he was delighted. When he discussed his waning interest in wine and women in favor of performing for an audience in
cabarets, Chevalier inadvertently inspired the creation of another tune for his character, "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore". The lyrics for another of his songs, the duet "I Remember It Well", performed with
Hermione Gingold as his former love Madame Alvarez, were adapted from words Lerner had written for
Love Life, a 1948 collaboration with
Kurt Weill. "Say a Prayer for Me Tonight", a solo performed by Gigi, had been written for
Eliza Doolittle in
My Fair Lady but was removed during the pre-Broadway run. Lerner disliked the melody, but Loewe, Freed, and Minnelli voted to include it in the film.
Casting Lerner recalls that for the film
Gigi, "The casting was so haphazard, I don't know how they ever got it on." He wrote the part of Honoré Lachaille for Chevalier, but the rest of the casting was still undecided. Having second thoughts about Audrey Hepburn, Freed asked Lerner to meet with her in Paris, but she declined the role. The producer then asked him to fly to London to speak to Leslie Caron, who was living there with her husband
Peter Hall. Lerner was surprised to discover the star had become
anglicized to the point of losing her French accent. She had recently starred in an unsuccessful stage production of
Gigi, but when she heard Lerner's interpretation of the story greatly differed from that of the play, she accepted his offer. Her singing voice was dubbed by
Betty Wand, though Caron filmed mainly to her own tracks (a brief clip of Caron's voice is heard in the DVD extras).
Dirk Bogarde expressed interest, as well, but ultimately was unable to free himself from his contract with
J. Arthur Rank. Recalling
Louis Jourdan from his performance in the 1954 film
Three Coins in the Fountain, Freed offered him the role of Gaston.
Filming In late April, Freed and Minnelli and their entourages arrived in Paris. The weather had become unseasonably hot, and working in hotel rooms without air-conditioning was uncomfortable. Minnelli began scouting locations while Freed and Lerner discussed the still-incomplete script. Lerner had taken liberties with Colette's novella; the character of Honoré, nonexistent in the original book and very minor in the Loos play, was now a major figure. Gigi's mother, originally a significant character, was reduced to a few lines of dialogue delivered off-screen. Lerner also expanded the focus on Gigi's relationship with her grandmother. A signature scene was filmed on location at Maxim's, the famous Belle Epoque restaurant with its ornate Art Nouveau mirrored walls. Shooting at the restaurant was a logistical nightmare, as the mirrors reflected lighting equipment, the camera, and other undesirable behind-the-scenes artifacts. Minelli and cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg worked together to come up with careful camera placements and a low-light visual scheme so that the location could be used without covering up the iconic mirrors. Ruttenberg even managed to cut down on the need for lighting stands and securing lights in corners by attaching lights with suction cups. By mid-July, the composers had completed most of the score, but still were missing the title tune. Loewe was at the piano while Lerner was indisposed in the bathroom, and when the former began playing a melody the latter liked, he later recalled he jumped up, "[his] trousers still clinging to [his] ankles, and made his way to the living room. 'Play that again,' he said. And that melody ended up being the title song for
Gigi." In September, the cast and crew flew to California, where several interior scenes were filmed, among them a scene in Maxim's, which included a musical number by Jourdan. Lerner was unhappy with the look of the scene as it had been shot by Minnelli, so, at considerable expense, the restaurant was recreated on a
soundstage and the scene was reshot by director
Charles Walters, since Minnelli was overseas working on a new project. The
film title design uses the artwork of
Sem's work from the
Belle Époque.
Musical numbers •
Overture – Played by MGM Studio Orchestra • "Honoré's
Soliloquy" – Sung by Maurice Chevalier • "
Thank Heaven for Little Girls" – Sung by Maurice Chevalier • "It's a Bore" – Sung by Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan and John Abbott • "The Parisians" – Sung by Betty Wand • "The Gossips" – Sung by Maurice Chevalier and MGM Studio Chorus • "She is Not Thinking of Me" – Sung by Louis Jourdan • "The Night They Invented Champagne" – Sung by Betty Wand, Hermione Gingold and Louis Jourdan • "I Remember It Well" – Sung by Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold • "Gaston's Soliloquy" – Sung by Louis Jourdan • "
Gigi" – Sung by Louis Jourdan • "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore" – Sung by Maurice Chevalier • "Say a Prayer for Me Tonight" – Sung by Betty Wand • "Thank Heaven for Little Girls (Reprise)" – Sung by Maurice Chevalier and MGM Studio Chorus The principal credited orchestrator was
Conrad Salinger with vocal arrangements supervised by Robert Tucker. The conductor and general music supervisor was
André Previn. ==Release==