Poseidon-3 Review of Made in Paris

Made in Paris (I) (1966)

Hooty fashion romp featuring two 60's icons: a teasing Ann-Marget and Ann-Margret's teased hair.

[20 July 2006]

A film also exclusively for admirers of Ms. Margret (or of mid-60's couture), this fluffy romance starts off interestingly, but eventually wears out its welcome. Margret plays a model-turned-fashion buyer for a major New York department store. After a hit-or-miss courtship with the owner's son (Everett), she finds herself assigned to a Paris buying trip, thanks to the impromptu marriage of the normal buyer (Adams.) Upon arrival in Paris, Margret soon discovers that Adams had typically done some extra unzipping with one of the primary designers (Jourdan) and believes he wants her to provide the same type of service. This leads to some misunderstanding between Margret and Jourdan which is further complicated by the arrival of Everett and the presence of his pal Crenna, who he'd assigned to look out for her during her stint in The City of Love. A near wordless opening sequence between Everett and Margret demonstrates the dynamic between them, with him expecting to go to bed with her after a night on the town and with her batting her eyes, but refusing to go further than a kiss on the cheek. Most of the film involves her flip-flopping madly between behaving like a turned-on, panting, lovestruck feline or a chaste, buttoned-down virgin. Before too long, the audience becomes as frustrated as the men in her life trying to decipher exactly what she's after. Margret looks amazing throughout most of the film in a dazzling array of costume concoctions and with crazy hairstyles by Guilaroff (who did love to get his hands on her scalp.) Her baby doll voice is a matter of taste (including her left-field, dewy duet with Jourdan more than halfway in), but one can't deny that she had an interesting look and moved well. At this stage in her career, practically every A-M film had a gyrating dance number and this one is no exception with a quartet of male bar patrons somehow falling into full-on stage show choreography in support of her! Jourdan, ever the class act, does a nice job, but isn't required to do anything out of his usual comfort zone. Crenna seems to be enjoying his man-about-town role, though there isn't really anything special about it either. Adams isn't given very much to do, but looks lovely in her own set of sexy Helen Rose creations, especially a tight black gown in which Adams can almost walk! Everett is a Ken doll come to life, but manages to establish a little chemistry with Margret. Dalio and Calnan nicely portray the confused and concerned servants at Margret's Parisian apartment. Made at a time when audiences were supposed to be shocked (or at least MGM thought perhaps they might be shocked) that a man in pajamas has entered a woman's bedroom, the film is dated, to be sure, but does provide a colorful and sometimes lively diversion. Marked "for adults only", one would be hard-pressed to find anything objectionable about it, if one could even stay with it until the bitter end. It's hard to believe "Valley of the Dolls" was released merely one year later! A few critics at the time noted the double meaning of the title, but no one gets any action here! One highlight is a fashion show, replete with lanky models showing off the instantaneously-dated, to-die-for clothes, and featuring a truly ugly wedding gown which A-M describes as the most beautiful she has ever seen. (Rose had to settle that year for an Oscar nomination for "Mister Buddwing" in the black and white category, rather than for her rather eye-popping items here.) The nightclub scene with seductive Margret writhing for Jourdan's benefit is also fun (and the place is so smoky that Crenna can barely tell whose hand he's holding!) This was made during Everett's chief stab at film stardom, but within three years he would be on TV making his mark on "Medical Center", his signature role.