1958 Best Picture:
Gigi

Competition:
Aunt Mame, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Defiant Ones, Separate Tables

Other Winners:
Best Actor: David Niven, Separate Tables 
Best Actress: Susan Hayward, I Want to Live
Best Supporting Actor: Burl Ives, The Big Country
Best Supporting Actress: Wendy Hiller, Separate Tables
Best Director: Vincente Minelli, Gigi

Cast: Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Hermone Gingold, Eva Gabor, Jacques Bergerac, Isabel Jeans

Storyline: Gigi, a young girl in Paris is being brought up by her grandmother to be a lady.  It's springtime and love is in the air, and when friend of the family, playboy Gaston, tosses his latest lover aside, he suddenly has eyes for her.

Did it deserve to win: Perhaps not!  Gigi is a whimsical musical about love and romance.  The Defiant Ones was a far better film, dealing with racial tensions between two escaped convicts, tackling issues that were heating up all over the United States at that time.  

The fact that the Academy ignored this picture, in favor of a light hearted musical, demonstrates that the Academy wasn't quite ready to let go of their delusions of a perfect world.

Critique: Gigi is a fun musical (and I don't like most musicals, so I don't say this lightly), with Leslie Caron at her absolute best.  

Maurice Chevalier, a French actor who had been working in Hollywood since 1929, was in top shape, playing Honore Lachaille, the role that he will probably be remembered best for.  His mannerisms, and his jovial French accent have become legendary, and this film highlights him at his best.  

The musical numbers are cute, and the plot would put a smile on anyone's face.  Overall,  I liked Gigi, but it doesn't stand out as the Best Picture of its year. 

Even worse, the story is based on the classic novel by Collette, that deals with one young girl's decision to buck the conventional role of women in her day, in favor of doing her own thing.  This film, as a musical, tends to sugar coat the intended message.

Best Scene:  The Night They Invented Champagne!  I found this number to be the most catchy, and sort of captured the true spirit of the title character.  Maurice's 'I Remember It Well' number also ranks up there. 

Gaston lets Gigi have a taste of champagne, and the fun gets started!

Behind the Scenes: This musical version of Gigi was adapted from the Broadway play by Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Loewe, the same duo who created the musical, My Fair Lady. The number, Say A Prayer for Me Tonight, was originally penned for My Fair Lady, but it was cut out.  

Gigi cleaned up at that years Oscar event.  It had nine nominations, and won all of them!  It did not receive any nominations in the acting categories, however Maurice Chevalier was given an honorary award that year for his 32 years in Hollywood.

The recently widowed, Elizabeth Taylor was nominated for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof that year, and it is suggested that she lost all chance at winning because she had recently run off with Debbie Reynolds current husband, Eddie Fisher. 

There was debate among religious over how to rate Gigi.  The Protestant group wanted to give it an Adults Only rating, while others were content with a 'Children over 12' rating.  Today it would seem ludicrous not to give the film a 'Family' rating.  Perhaps scenes with alcohol, and Eva Gabor flirting with other men, were too much for the church back then.

Jordan takes a second look.