Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Les Girls Blu-ray Movie Review

Kelly's Heroines

Reviewed by Michael Reuben April 18, 2018

The 1957 musical Les Girls had a bevy of big names attached to it. It starred Gene Kelly, in what would turn out to be his last MGM musical. It had songs by Cole Porter, in what would turn out to be his last feature film project. It had a script by John Patrick, who had written the previous year's MGM smash, High Society. And it had direction by George Cukor, a veteran of The Philadelphia Story and A Star Is Born and a future Oscar winner for My Fair Lady.

Unfortunately for MGM, this storied assemblage did not produce another hit. Les Girls was nominated for Oscars for sound, art direction and costume design, winning in the last category, but it failed at the box office. In this instance, Oscar got it right, because the film is more notable for technical polish than for engaging characters or an interesting story. It's a lesser light in MGM's library, but Les Girls' memorable visuals can be newly appreciated in a fresh transfer from the Warner Archive Collection.

Les Girls employs the narrative device of a trial, although it's easy to forget about the court case for long stretches, because most of the film plays out in the past. A former English dancer, Sybil Wren (Kay Kendall), who is now Lady Sybil Wren, thanks to her marriage to Sir Gerald (Leslie Phillips), has written a tell-all memoir of her years touring the continent with a revue called "Barry Nichols and Les Girls". Another member of the company, Angèle Ducros (Taina Elg), has sued Lady Sybil for libel over her depiction in the book as a sentimental naïf, who was having an affair with company leader Barry Nichols (Kelly), which she desperately tried to conceal from her then-boyfriend, and now husband, Pierre (Jacques Bergerac). According to Sybil's account, young Angèle was so overcome with love and guilt that she tried to take her own life.

In Angèle's version, however, it was Sybil who was carrying on with Barry, while she remained faithful to Pierre. Angèle also claims that Sybil was an alcoholic, whose intoxication ruined performances, and that it was Sybil who attempted suicide when Barry ended the affair and fired her from the troupe.

After several days of conflicting testimony and blaring tabloid headlines, Barry arrives from America, where he now has both a successful chain of orange juice stands and his own TV show sponsored by his own company. According to Barry's testimony, he wasn't involved with either of the two litigants. Instead, his attentions were focused on the third woman in the revue, a fellow American named Joy Henderson (Mitzi Gaynor), who repeatedly spurned his overtures because of his reputation as a womanizer. In Barry's version, neither Sybil nor Angèle tried to kill herself, although both were nearly victims of a faulty gas heater. As a result of Barry's testimony, everything ends amicably (well, almost), while a scruffy vagrant wanders outside the courthouse wearing a sandwich board sign that reads "What Is Truth".

Kendall, Gaynor and Elg have little chemistry as actors, either with each other or with Kelly, who seems to have devoted more energy to his dance routines than to creating his character. John Patrick's script wastes its Rashomon framework by failing to cut back and forth between the courtroom scenes and the witnesses' recollections, which might have offered opportunities for both greater character development and livelier narrative rhythm. Cukor, who came late to the project, reportedly resented his lack of input into the script and casting, which prompted him to focus all his attention on the film's visual elements. Les Girls looks great, but it's dramatically inert.

The best reason to see Les Girls is its production numbers, especially the troupe's performance of "Ladies in Waiting" (in elaborate 18th Century royal court outfits and wigs) and Kelly's parody of Marlon Brando in The Wild One, danced to the tune of "Why Am I So Gone (About that Gal)?", with Mitzi Gaynor's Joy playing the intrigued ingenue. According to the disc's extras, Kelly choreographed the latter number himself, pushing aside credited choreographer Jack Cole. If he'd brought the same level of enthusiasm to the rest of his performance, Les Girls might be a much better movie.

Les Girls Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Les Girls was photographed by three-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Surtees, whose extensive credits include Ben-Hur, Oklahama! and The Sting. The film was shot on the version of Eastmancolor stock that has since proven to be subject to the problematic phenomenon known as "yellow layer collapse", previously discussed in the review of Silk Stockings. Indeed, after its struggles to obtain a viable image from the negative of Silk Stockings, the Warner Archive Collection initially hesitated before attempting a new scan of Les Girls. However, a thorough search of the archives turned up an interpositive that had been struck over thirty years ago, before the full effects of yellow layer collapse degraded the camera negative. This IP had apparently sat untouched since its creation. Upon close review, it was found to have far more stable colors than the more recently created IP used for Les Girls' 2003 DVD.

The newly located IP was scanned at 2K by Warner's Motion Picture Imaging facility, then color-corrected using Ektachrome production stills as a color reference, followed by WAC's customarily thorough cleanup to eliminate dirt, scratches and age-related damage. The result on this 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is an image that is impressively sharp and detailed, given the limitations of the era's CinemaScope lenses, as well as smoothly film-like, with a grain field that is observable but well-controlled. In its resolution and overall texture, Les Girls' 2K scan from an IP compares favorably to Silk Stockings' 4K scan from negative, a testimonial to the importance of choosing the right elements when bringing classic films to Blu-ray.

Then there's the color, which is alternately brilliant (notably in the staged production numbers and, sporadically, in the actresses' off-stage outfits) and sedate (in courtroom sequences and remembrances of behind-the-scenes romantic intrigue). Blacks are dark and solid, contrast is excellent, and there isn't a sign of noise, interference or untoward digital manipulation. Optical dissolves between scenes have been exceptionally well managed to maintain a consistent palette, which is frequently a challenge with films of this vintage. As per its customary practice, WAC has mastered Les Girls with a high average bitrate, here just under 35 Mbps.

Les Girls Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The soundtrack of Les Girls was remixed for its 2003 DVD release, using the original musical recordings and dialogue and effects stems to create a 5.1 presentation. The original four-track magnetic master was used as a reference for balance and prioritization. The same 5.1 remix appears on the Blu-ray, but now encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA. The fidelity is remarkable, with smooth transitions between spoken and singing voices and a broad front sound stage with clear stereo separations in the rich orchestral presence. The surrounds are used primarily to expand the listening space. Cole Porter's songs were orchestrated by Skip Martin and none other than Alexander Courage, composer of the original Star Trek theme.

Les Girls Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The extras have been ported over from Warner's 2003 DVD of Les Girls. The trailer has been remastered in 1080p.

• Cole Porter in Hollywood: Ca C'est L'Amour (480i; 1.33:1; 8:44): Created in 2003, this featurette provides an informative overview of the making of Les Girls, enthusiastically narrated by actress Taina Elg ("Angèle").



• The Flea Circus (480i; 1.37:1; 7:01): This 1954 Tex Avery cartoon involves a French musical revue performed entirely by talking fleas. A stray dog that wanders through an open stage door nearly destroys the show, but eventually love conquers all.



• Trailer (1080p; 2.35:1; 2:33).

Les Girls Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Now that WAC has done Les Girls, we can only hope that it proceeds with High Society, which is a far superior Cole Porter musical in Warner's MGM library. My understanding is that there are significant problems with that film's VistaVision elements, but WAC's and MPI's skills at confronting the challenges of films from this era seem to be rapidly increasing. In the meantime, Porter's fans (or Gene Kelly's or Mitzi Gaynor's) can enjoy Les Girls intermittent pleasures in this splendid technical presentation.