Call me cruel, call me dense but I don't get the fascination with Gigi. Hailed as one of the great movies of all time, enshrined by the National Film Preservation Board in 1991 and re-released after a much celebrated restoration effort using the advantages of '90s technology, it is one of the stunning gaps of our time that musicals in general, and this title in particular, fail to resonant with modern audiences aside from a certain historical curiosity and a relatively small, but devoted, fan base.

Not one to imply my personal taste as being more far reaching than it is (after all I can't actually speak to the entirety "of our time"), I believe musicals are a genre that have largely died due to greater integration with dramatic forms. Rather than being showcases for dance and musical sequences that disrupt stories, the integrated musical of such films as Singin' in the Rain has been redirected in the last 20 years to focus on rock 'n roll, teenagers and soundtrack albums as extended music videos. In short, the cultural tolerance for sunny optimism as represented by the MGM musicals of the 1920s, '30s, '40s and '50s are sorely out-of-synch with contemporary interests and aesthetic considerations.

Therefore I am able to say as a 21st century citizen that I can't help but feel totally distanced from the kind of worldview implied in movies like Gigi. Not only am I disconnected from the worldview, though, I'm also not impressed by the song and dance spectacle even if I have an extreme appreciation for the artistry of cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg who composed the whole thing in CinemaScope.

Set as it is in turn-of-the-century Paris, Gigi is a visual feast on par with few other films yet it unravels before the eyes and ears in much the same way as most contemporary Hollywood epics. That is to say, my reaction to the completed picture, aside from being impressed with its technical bravado, production design, costumes and location shots in the heart of Paris, is a resounding so what?

I concede that Gigi's musical numbers are fun and the performers lovely even if the supporting players outshine the lead actors. Still I can't help but feel the formula has been used with much greater success elsewhere. As just three examples Arthur Freed's unit previously produced the memorable films as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), An American in Paris (Oscar-winner in 1951) and Band Wagon (1953) not to mention other lesser-known musicals.

But let me repeat my central point with a question about the film's casting that's normally described as being "perfect." Who can honestly remember anything about Louis Jourdan's Gaston or Leslie Caron's Gigi in light of the deft and refined efforts of Maurice Chevalier, Eva Gabor and Isabel Jeans?

All this commentary is offered as an introduction yet you should know the film is a sumptuous visual feast with several songs that have entered the popular memory. Among them are the Lerner and Loewe title song "Gigi", "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" and "I Remember it Well" each of which are filled out with delightful production numbers.

Without further adieu the film is about Gaston Lachaille (Louis Jourdan), a high-living lover of women, much like his irrepressible uncle, Honore (Maurice Chevalier). Unfortunately he is also bored with society life and its many expectations about the idle rich who amuse themselves with games of propriety. The only woman he enjoys is one of his uncle's old girlfriends, Madame Alvarez (Hermione Gingold) whose granddaughter, Gigi (Leslie Caron), strikes him as particularly irreverent.

Her irreverence, coupled with her youth and innocence concerning the conduct of the ruling class, draws Gaston to her. Gradually he realizes his affection just as he discovers her Aunt Alicia's (Isabel Jeans) plans to groom her as a courtesan in the mold of her grandmother before her. Before too much circulation in the society circle spoils her, however, Gaston convinces Gigi of his affection and they marry much to the amusement and shock of their social circle, their families included.

Based on a novel by Colette that was transformed into a play by Anita Loos and eventually adapted for the screen by Alan Jay Lerner, himself no stranger to the troubles of matrimony after having survived some eight marriages, Gigi is a wonderfully produced story about not very much at all. Like sitcoms of today the troubles of the rich are forever tied to the fact of their wealth. Without more immediate "real" problems the world of etiquette, social poses, masquerades and old-fashioned gender roles seem as arbitrary and silly as they really are. All the more so in light of how bored Gaston appears with his place in the world that most of us would gladly take-over were we given the chance to be fabulously wealthy.

With over 40 years distance since its original release I can't help but feel American cinema could have been better served by awarding the top honor of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on one of the other nominated films like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or The Defiant Ones. Or it could have been given to the non-nominated and much more challenging films Touch of Evil or Vertigo that have both since been celebrated for their innovations as well as their greatness as movie entertainments.

Regardless of my sour grapes, Gigi won an unprecedented eight for eight of its Oscar nominations and is widely considered an American classic. Take a look if you want to but stand warned that panned-and-scanned video copies are a poor second to virtually any projected Scope version, even one not redressed by the restoration effort in the '90s.