Ms. Caron is the warm kind of story-teller that makes you fall under her spell. She on her sofa, you on yours, a pot of tea (and by tea I mean wine) between you, and you’ve got a lovely way to spend an hour catching up with an old friend.
Leslie Caron was a 17 year old ballerina in Paris where she’d just gotten her first solo, dancing in Oedipus and The Sphinx. Gene Kelly happened to be in the audience that night, and happened to think she was great. Hollywood was not on Ms. Caron’s radar and she had no ambitions to be a star, but agreed to a screen test “to be polite.” Two weeks later she was whisked away to L.A., signed to a 7-year contract with a major movie studio, and was starring opposite Kelly in An American In Paris.
In this documentary by venerable Canadian film maker Larry Weinstein, Ms. Caron is chatty, humble, engaging, and candid. As a young starlet, she rebelled against the Hollywood machine and bucked against the male-dominated industry. All these years later, you can still see the dancer in Ms. Caron, and the rebellious streak in her as well. Her posture is straight and proud, and her eyes positively dance recounting stories of all the men with whom she’s shared the screen: Fred Astaire, Cary Grant, Warren Beatty, and even Johnny Depp. Her career has had longevity and reach well beyond a dancer’s, having proven Gene Kelly’s hunch by earning Oscar nominations and Emmy awards as an actor in her own right.
Ms. Caron notes “I have a great deal of trouble imagining myself as an old lady” and watching her, so will you. She is alive, sparkling with insight, still an artist wanting nothing more than to practice her craft. Documentarian Weinstein has kept the story lean with a running time well under an hour, but every moment is filled with vigour. You will fall in love with Ms. Caron, and her little dog too, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll suffer intense cravings for the immediate screening of some 1950s cinematic history.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
I would love to see this documentary…anything with old Hollywood makes me want to see this.
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I was surprised about how much I truly enjoyed it, but it’s all thanks to her, she’s just so engaging.
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She twinkles above the other stars – we are lucky we have her in movies!
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Sounds lovely!
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She lives in England now is on a TV show called The Durrells.
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Really?? I watched the 1st series of the Durrels and absolutely loved it! Oh yes OF COURSE!! She was the countess!! Duh. I read Gerald’s 3 books when I was a teen, under the bed covers with a torch, stuffing my pillow into my mouth so parents wouldn’t hear me laughing. And I read them all again after the series, such joy. Can’t wAit for the 2nd series.
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That’s right! I’m glad to hear it’s worth while – I hadn’t heard of it before I worked on this post and wondered if I should check it out. I got quite addicted to Downton Abbey and thought this might run a similar risk.
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It’s much lighter than Downton Abbey and truly funny, British twee at it’s best! And the lad playing Gerald Durrel is too cute.
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Well there’s always room for too cute in my life. Not to mention twee.
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get it, you won’t be disappointed I promise.
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Oh, she’s gorgeous. I have to see this film.
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I think the last movie I saw her in was Danielle Steele’s “The Ring.” LOVED that movie. She was a grand dame in that one.
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Good memory!
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Her voice is so distinctive. I remember having the TV on in the background with some contemporary show on. I was all like, that sounds just like Leslie Caron. Turns out it was. She still sounds the same!
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Haha, yes, she does! She barely spoke a word of English when cast in An American in Paris and she would just have to parrot her lines phonetically as Gene Kelly fed them to her.
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