Gigi (Blu-ray)

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Despite the movie's questionable thematic material, the songs, costumes, settings (much of the film shot on location in Paris; yes, that really is Maxim's), and general atmosphere carry the picture, along with the actors' scintillating charm. There is endless fun and a bit of mischief in songs like the ones I've mentioned and "It's a Bore," "The Parisians," "Gossip," "The Night They Invented Champagne," "Lessons," "Gigi," the "Waltz at Maxim's," "Say a Prayer for Me Tonight," and many more.

"Gigi" had its work cut out for it. After all, it's one thing to show a phonics professor teaching a young girl to speak properly in order to gain access to high society ("My Fair Lady"), and it's another thing to show a family teaching a young girl to be a prostitute in order to gain access to high society ("Gigi"). Nevertheless, with a strong cast, splendid songs, and wonderful costumes and settings, "Gigi" continues to entertain, making us forget its dubious story line. Just be glad that it all ends well and enjoy the film's warmth along with its glitz and glitter.

Video:
The Warners video engineers have given "Gigi" a spanking new digital transfer reproduced here via a dual-layered BD50 and a VC-1 encode. The fancy processing does justice to the movie's sparkling colors, lavish sets, and vivid costumes. The disc presents the film in its original 2.40:1 CinemaScope aspect ratio, in hues rich, deep, and luxurious. In fact, the colors are so deep and brilliant, they are almost too good a thing, particularly when set off as they are by strong black levels. The parks, gardens, buildings, and restaurants of Paris show up opulently, with only a touch of gloss and a touch of natural print grain. Just look at the opening shots of women's pastel dresses and then on to the plush reds of Gigi's apartment, and you'll get the idea of how vibrant the whole color scheme is and how sharply the HD replication brings it out. The only minor concern I had was that colors do seem to fluctuate very slightly in a few scenes, and, for reasons unknown, a small number of images seem unnaturally stretched. Both of these concerns are so small, though, I doubt most viewers will even notice them, so not to worry.

Audio:
The disc comes in English with both lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1. In my earlier review of the regular Dolby Digital, I mentioned I found it a tad hard, thin, and sharp sounding, as well as oddly low in output level. The TrueHD track modulates the situation somewhat, smoothing out the rougher edges and producing a slightly more satisfying sound. However, the level is still rather low; when you switch back to the main menu, you'll have to turn down the volume. In any case, there is a wide front-channel stereo spread, with voices moving left and right between the speakers rather than being anchored out in the center as in most of today's films, and there is a fair degree of ambience reinforcement in the rear channels that fills out the room nicely during musical numbers.

Extras:
The Blu-ray disc contains the same bonus materials found on WB's Two-Disc Special Edition DVD set. They are not numerous, but they are extensive and important. The first item is an audio commentary by historian Jeanine Basinger and star Leslie Caron that can be enlightening. The second is a 2008 documentary in high definition, "Thank Heaven! The Making of Gigi," about thirty-five minutes, with comments from various film historians, authors, and critics, and Ms. Caron (who is a delight). After those items we find an entire second movie: the 1949 nonmusical version of "Gigi," eight-two minutes long, in French with English subtitles, with twenty-two unmarked chapter stops. It stars Danielle Delorme as Gigi, with Frank Villard, Gaby Morlay, and Jean Tissier. Interestingly, the French version of a decade earlier is more provocative--more sexually suggestive--than the later Hollywood version.

Following the main items, we get a vintage short, "The Million Dollar Nickel," about ten minutes, and an MGM "Tom and Jerry" cartoon, "The Vanishing Duck," in CinemaScope. In addition, the main feature contains thirty-three scene selections; along with a non-anamorphic widescreen theatrical trailer; English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian spoken languages; French, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Swedish subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.

Parting Thoughts:
The documentary suggests that "Gigi" was one of the last great musicals to come out of Hollywood, but that isn't quite true. "West Side Story," "The Music Man," "My Fair Lady," "How to Succeed in Business," "The Sound of Music," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Oliver," "Camelot," "Paint Your Wagon," "Cabaret," "Chicago," and many more notable musical productions were yet to come. Still, "Gigi" holds a firm place in many moviegoers' hearts as one of Hollywood's most celebrated classics from an era when studios were still making meticulous, tune-filled musicals. Moreover, the film's new high-definition Blu-ray transfer renders the picture and sound all the more pleasurable, making a good thing even better.

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