| Les Girls | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | George Cukor |
| Screenplay by | John Patrick |
| Story by | Vera Caspary |
| Produced by | Sol C. Siegel |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Robert Surtees |
| Edited by | Ferris Webster |
| Music by | Cole Porter |
| Color process | Metrocolor |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 114 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages |
|
| Budget | $3.4 million[1] |
| Box office | $3.9 million[1] |
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Les Girls (also known asCole Porter's Les Girls) is a 1957 AmericanCinemaScopemusicalcomedy film directed byGeorge Cukor and produced bySol C. Siegel, withSaul Chaplin as associate producer. The screenplay is byJohn Patrick and the story is byVera Caspary. The music and lyrics are byCole Porter.
It starsGene Kelly,Mitzi Gaynor,Kay Kendall, andTaina Elg, and the cast also includesJacques Bergerac,Leslie Phillips,Henry Daniell, andPatrick Macnee.
Barry, Joy, Sybil and Angele were formerly members of the cabaret dance troupe "Barry Nichols and Les Girls". Years after the group has dissolved, Sybil, now Lady Wren, publishes a tell-all memoir containing details of her days in the theatre, and makes a point of detailing Angele's alleged suicide attempt after Barry ended their affair. Angele is outraged by Sybil's claims and sues her for libel. The case goes to trial where the two women relate the history of the troupe as they recall it, however, they each remember matters very differently.
Sybil remembers Angele as an easy, deceitful woman who tried to keep her engagement to a man named Pierre from Barry to keep her affair going, but ultimately jeopardized both relationships when her lies were revealed. Angele remembers Sybil as a drunkard who was madly in love with Barry – and that Angele herself had no relationship with Barry at all. According to Angele, Sybil was promised to another man from England – Gerald – who, upon finding out the nature of her relationship to Barry, started a physical altercation with him. This led Sybil to once more abuse alcohol and then attempt suicide, feeling as though she had ruined both relationships.
Finally Barry takes the stand to reveal that neither of the girls' stories were quite right. All along, Barry had actually been pursuing Joy romantically. Pierre and Gerald had asked Barry to fire Angele and Sybil so that they may end their careers and get married, but Barry insists firing them will only make things worse. He concocts a plan that involves faking a heart condition and suggests that it will result in him having to close the theatre. The three women, distraught at the sudden news, all agree to quit for his sake. However, he reveals the truth to Joy at his apartment who at first finds him despicable, but quickly learns to forgive him when she realizes his good intentions.
As they both return to the girls' apartment, they realize a gas leak has occurred and Angele, along with Sybil, had both collapsed in their drunken stupor following their farewell party to Barry, and were exposed to the toxic gas. They were both rescued but never reunited after that... until the trial. With the case now settled that there was no suicide attempt, but rather both women had misunderstood the gas leak as a suicide attempt on behalf of the other, they reunite outside the courtroom to make amends. As Barry leaves, it is revealed that he had indeed ended up marrying Joy, though she doubts his claim that he had not fooled around with Angele and Sybil at all.
Immediately after the film was released, tentative plans were announced for a sequel calledLes Boys.[7] While the sequel did not come to pass, Les Girls did inspireHarry's Girls, a sitcom starringLarry Blyden which ran on NBC for 15 episodes in the fall of 1963.
According to MGM records the film made $2,415,000 in the US and Canada[8] and $1,450,000 elsewhere, but because of its high production cost lost $1,635,000.[1]
Les Girls was a major vehicle for choreographerJack Cole, and one of the first films to feature the role of choreographer in the opening credits.
