The Last Time I Saw Paris

The Last Time I Saw Paris

The Last Time I Saw Paris

The Last Time I Saw Paris

Come on, IMDb-ers! Check the credits for a film before you embarrass yourselves. It was Eva Gabor, not her sister, Zsa Zsa, who had a small role in this film. Mama Jolie and her glamorous daughters are a part of the American celebrity/entertainment scene that so many of us remember rather fondly and Eva, among them, was quite a charming actress. (Check out her appearances in Minnelli's "Gigi" and the Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward clunker, "A New Kind of Love," in which Eva almost stole the show, despite the presence of Thelma Ritter who usually carried off that particular prize.) "The Last Time I Saw Paris" was typical mid-Fifties high gloss soap opera from M-G-M, and it's a bit of a surprise that Richard Brooks was the director, since he's noted for somewhat more topical and/or hard-hitting stuff. But, as a look back at the gorgeous Elizabeth emoting most fetchingly at the peak of her camera-worthiness, this one can hardly be beat.

Sometimes a movie tries too hard. It enters a space so minimally theatrical that what you see is nothing but what advances the melodramatic drive to tragedy. I don't mind this a bit. But here, it is too cloying. Van Johnson just doesn't have the chops for this. The women do, and there are undercurrents they lay that probably aren't in the script. The idea is attractive. The situation is too. The characters of the family work. Especially useful is the business about Liz's image being created by herself in the café, and then literally on the wall by an artist. But Van and overall heaviness ruin this This was one of those subsidized movies that the US used to convince the world that Paris was a romantic city. A Marshall Plan thing. Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

It is the end of WWII. Van Johnson, a reporter in the military, celebrates together with all of Paris. At a café he meets a friend and his girlfriend. The girl, played by Donna Reed, immediatly fells in love with Van Johnsson. Unfortenatly for Donna Reed, Van Johnsson is bound to meet her sister, a young beautiful girl played by Elisabeth Taylor. There is love at first sight, They get married and their marriage has its ups and downs but results in a baby girl. In the most troubled period in their marriage, Van Johnsson no longer works as a reporter but as a novelist. All he gets is rejections and this affect both of them to that he moves back to the states. After a year he understands where he went wrong and goes back to France for his daughter. The movie features good actors, especially Walter Pidgeon as the father of the two sisters. We also get to see a young Roger Moore in his first American movie. sadly the movie suffers from its lenght, almost two hours. At times it seems dull and uninteresting. 4/10

How anyone could indicate that Van Johnson is "wooden" or miscast in this film is an incredible conumdrum. With his usual innocent charm, he builds the character with an authenticity which is totally suited to the screenplay. He is totally credible and authentic. If no other success can be perceived, surely the later scenes with his concern for both wife and daughter are amazingly touching; his tears are touching and beautifully demonstrated as no actor in my memory. The breadth of his performance stands out, with this character being fleshed out and fully developed. I hope that in his later years at the nursing home he did not read some of the uncharitable reviews of his performance. A highly underrated actor who deserved better. This is his very best role which he embraced fully, sensitively and beautifully. What a guy!

Elizabeth Taylor, Donna Reed, and Walter Pidgeon turn in fine performances in this updated adaptation of F.Scott Fitzgerald's short story, BABYLON REVISITED. Two serious flaws keep this good movie from succeeding completely. One is a seriously miscast Van Johnson. His limited talent does not include the ability to portray a writer, much less one who struggles with intellectual despair. The second and more serious flaw is the movie's ending. The happy ending constructed for the movie is completely out of line with the story's point of view and makes no sense for the motivations of all the characters as written by Fitzgerald or adapted by the screenwriter. The title song is nicely sung by Dinah Shore.

What a terrible case of bad casting. Van Johnson has the emotional range of Herbie the Love Bug. There is no chemistry between him and Taylor, who is as gorgeous as ever and makes you wonder why SHE could fall so hard for HIM. Why in the HELL is HE in this movie!! The rest of the cast is near perfect by comparison. The story... er, well... it's terribly contrived and predictable. Aside from Johnson making his character a big baby, I could follow most of it with my disbelief suspended. This role calls for someone who 1) is loveable, 2) is a rake, 3) is a believeable drunk, 4) is physically at least half as attractive as Taylor, and lastly, 5) can act worth a damn. Needless to say, the person they chose fits none of these characteristics. William Holden would have been perfect in this role. I'd like to hear the back story of how Johnson got the part, because he must have been blackmailing someone.

This is a rather annoying film. After all, the first 80% of it is very good--with nice acting and a very compelling story. Then, oddly, the last portion of the movie seems to fall apart and is a bit of a confusing and saccharine-like mess. The film begins with Van Johnson meeting and falling in love with Elizabeth Taylor. Considering how incredibly beautiful and sweet she was, it was easy to see why he dumped Donna Reed to pursue Taylor. Johnson's ambition it to publish a novel, but in the meantime he has married Taylor, has a lovely little girl and a well-paying job in Paris. What more could he want? Sure, his book has been rejected by some publishers, but considering everything he is still clearly a lucky man. But Johnson is NOT happy and is a self=indulgent idiot (to put it mildly). All he can do is feel sorry for himself for not being published. To bruise his shallow ego, he begins taking Taylor for granted and spends way too much time with his new friend--sultry Eva Gabor. Gabor is NOT the 'just friends' type, as she's been married multiple times. How any sane man could chose her over the sweet wife is beyond me and you really, really hate Johnson's character--a big switch for the guy who usually played such likable guys. All of this drama was compelling and I really got into the film--and wondered why the film had a mediocre score on IMDb. But then, late in the film, I saw exactly what the problem was. The film began to make no sense at all and decided to use clichés instead of decent writing. Out of the blue, Johnson locks Taylor out of the house and it's raining. In the real world, she'd get mad but that's all. Here in this Bizarro World, instead she gets sick and dies!!!! Folks, in real life standing in the rain does NOT cause death! And how she died with him rushing to her and having her die in his arms was dreadfully schmaltzy and stupid. And, what happened next was worse. Not one minute of the last portion of the film rang true or made sense. Considering that Johnson was cheating on his wife and locked the wife out in the rain, you'd THINK Taylor's father (Walter Pidgeon) would be at least a tiny bit angry--but he wasn't!! And, when Johnson CONTINUES to feel sorry for himself and neglects his daughter (necessitating her being cared for by others), you think this guy is a total bum--and yet they have them reunite at the end of the film and there's a 100% phony Hollywood ending!!! The first portion of the film I give a 9--it's that good. The last, I'd give a 2 or a 3--at best. An overall score of 5 seems reasonable as the actors do a nice job with a bubble-headed script--but frankly, the end just ruins the film for me.