The Last Time I Saw Paris

The Last Time I saw Paris

Reviewed by Dan Cooper

This film was made in 1954, and by virtue of its age it becomes an easy target for those who would use it as a vehicle to pump up their own egos with a verbal bashing that will likely go unchallenged. The film has indeed been bashed, here on this database among other places, as unimportant and unworthy of your time as a possible rental choice.

I disagree completely with the uncalled for bashing, and with the judgement that the movie is unworthy of your time. See it for yourself. And if you are young enough to be completely unfamiliar with all of the actors, so much the better for you to judge it fairly on its merits rather than be snowed by the reputations of Hollywood personalities.

The plot has depth and very few weaknesses, the acting is good to very good, and the story has interest value in both historical and social frames of reference.

The plot concerns the uniting of two people whose tragic flaws are not well matched, with the obligatory tragic results. The pair gets together spinning out of a near-miss love triangle. The man (Van Johnson) has no idea of the existence of the triangle, as he is completely taken with Taylor and just as completely forgets his earlier attraction to the other woman (Donna Reed). Reed, the rejected third wheel, is actually not rejected, per se, but becomes the "odd man out" none the less when her sister (Liz Taylor) successfully steers the affections of the duped Johnson in her own direction instead.

Reed adopts the persona of the rejected party to a relationship that never was, and exacts her revenge later in the film.

While the big name actors of the day are no longer influencing moviegoers today, they undoubtedly sold the film in 1954. I find some weaknesses in both acting and directing, but the film is definitely worth seeing if you have never had the pleasure. Van Johnson's role is that of a fairly shallow character with a good heart but no follow-through to carry him to victory until way too late to do much good. Johnson possibly could have done more with the role, but the weakness of the character should not be confused with some partially perceived weakness in Johnson's delivery of the part.

Taylor does a nice job as the sly and experienced older sister, the one with the better looks and the Machiavellian technique to get whatever she wants, again at the expense of little sister Reed. The film is actually carried more by the acting of the supporting cast than by the efforts of the leads. Two very strong performances are put forth by Walter Pidgeon and George Dolenz. Pidgeon plays the opportunistic pretender to wealth and father of the two women. Dolenz is the earnest lover of Reed, who inherits her full-time attentions only after Johnson is fully occupied with Taylor. Dolenz marries Reed and in the end does a very nice job of becoming the film's heroic figure.

Eva Gabor at the peak of her youthful beauty does a good job as yet another love triangle component for the easily side-tracked Johnson after his marriage to Taylor. Another triangle develops with a very young Roger Moore finding the eye of Taylor.

Do yourself a favor and see this movie.

Dan Cooper is a freelance writer/editor. He has been writing for over 30 years and has done book and movie reviews sporadically since the 1970's.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "Babylon Revisted", reworked by three screenwriters (including director Richard Brooks), becomes a well-dressed but chilly, mopey star-vehicle. Americans in Paris find themselves wealthy after striking oil, but the writer-husband's inability to sell a story--coupled with a drinking problem and an attraction to a catty socialite--puts a strain on their marriage. Elizabeth Taylor does what she can with the masochistic wifey role, even getting what actresses like to call "a good hospital scene," but Van Johnson has more of an opportunity as a performer to show range and emotion (the writing is slanted that way). The scenario becomes episodic after the couple comes into money, while the final portion of the plot continues 15 minutes longer than necessary, presumably to 'teach' angry relative Donna Reed about forgiveness...and to show Johnson begging for love, something that apparently humbles every tortured writer's soul. **1/2 from ****

Come on, IMDb-ers! Check the credits for a film before you embarrass yourselves. It was Eva Gabor, not her sister, Zsa Zsa, who had a small role in this film. Mama Jolie and her glamorous daughters are a part of the American celebrity/entertainment scene that so many of us remember rather fondly and Eva, among them, was quite a charming actress. (Check out her appearances in Minnelli's "Gigi" and the Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward clunker, "A New Kind of Love," in which Eva almost stole the show, despite the presence of Thelma Ritter who usually carried off that particular prize.)

"The Last Time I Saw Paris" was typical mid-Fifties high gloss soap opera from M-G-M, and it's a bit of a surprise that Richard Brooks was the director, since he's noted for somewhat more topical and/or hard-hitting stuff. But, as a look back at the gorgeous Elizabeth emoting most fetchingly at the peak of her camera-worthiness, this one can hardly be beat.

What a terrible case of bad casting. Van Johnson has the emotional range of Herbie the Love Bug. There is no chemistry between him and Taylor, who is as gorgeous as ever and makes you wonder why SHE could fall so hard for HIM. Why in the HELL is HE in this movie!!

The rest of the cast is near perfect by comparison. The story... er, well... it's terribly contrived and predictable. Aside from Johnson making his character a big baby, I could follow most of it with my disbelief suspended. This role calls for someone who 1) is loveable, 2) is a rake, 3) is a believeable drunk, 4) is physically at least half as attractive as Taylor, and lastly, 5) can act worth a damn. Needless to say, the person they chose fits none of these characteristics. William Holden would have been perfect in this role. I'd like to hear the back story of how Johnson got the part, because he must have been blackmailing someone.

"The Last Time I Saw Paris" was a hit in 1954-55, mostly because of the rising super star, Elizabeth Taylor. Taylor was the lead female, Helen Ellswirth, but her role and part in the story were second to the male lead, Charles Wills, played by Van Johnson. The fact that the 22-year-old Taylor was billed ahead of Johnson shows her star status and MGM's promo to cash in on the movie.

While it was a success at the box office - bringing in just under $5 million on a budget just under $2 million, the film finished 36th for the year. Considering its star content that included Walter Pidgeon, Donna Reed, Eva Gabor, and the rising Roger Moore, "The Last Time I Saw Paris" might have finished much better. There were many good movies in 1954, the year that "White Christmas" topped them all at the box office, and got just one Academy Award nomination. It was also the year of "Rear Window," "The Caine Mutiny," "The Glenn Miller Story," "On the Waterfront," "Magnificent Obsession," and a host of musicals, comedy romances, dramas, Westerns and war films that all fared better than this film.

Other reviewers have noted the characteristic of this film that sets it back. It's heavy melodrama, fodder for the daytime TV soap operas that were airing at the time. It's slow and drawn out. And, the fact that the main cast are almost all dysfunctional characters, puts a moribund pall over the film. It even starts off that way. So, the gaiety and excitement of the main period in the life of Charles Wills (Van Johnson) and Helen Ellswirth (Elizabeth Taylor) don't come off as fun at all. More pall descends on the film.

Walter Pidgeon's James Ellswirth interjects some light comedy in his hedonistic, irresponsible character. A young Roger Moore has the role of a tennis bum gigolo, Paul. And the capable Donna Reed is seen mostly as a sour, snippy woman with a huge secret that she can't hide from her husband, Claude Matine (George Dolenz), or the audience.

Van Johnson's role is strange, and one can't imagine why Helen would fall for him. Except for a little smiling and openness early, his character becomes moribund through most of the film. There are no exceptional or even very good portrayals in the film - perhaps Taylor's is the best as just okay.

I think this film had possibility, but the writers would need to put some life and spunk into Johnson's Wills. His self-pity wears very thin very fast; then his alcoholism and the very strange marital relationship of the two weighs down this film.

I strain to give the film five stars, so that's a credit as much to the decent but minor portrayal by Pidgeon. As the totally irresponsible head of the Ellswirth family, his witty philosophy at times provides the only spark for this film.

Here are the best lines of this movie, set in Paris just after the end of World War II.

James Ellswirth, "Your sister has made me very proud. We couldn't tell you the good news before, but Helen has been expelled from the university."

James Ellsworth, "Oh, now look, let her alone. After all, I was expelled from Harvard once, and why shouldn't a girl follow in her father's footsteps?"

Helen Ellswirth, "We're not rich either. We just live that way. Daddy says it the same thing, only it's much cheaper."

Helen Ellswirth, "Daddy says, it isn't what you have, it's what you owe."

James Ellswirth, "Helen getting married. Marion getting married. Father abandoned in middle age." Exhales, "Hmph. What man could ask for more?"

Charles Wills, "Is it Sunday already? What happened to Friday and Saturday?"

Charles Wills: "What'd I do?" Helen Ellswirth, "That, I'd be very interested to know."

Charles Wills: "Well, where are you going?" Helen, "To do something important - buy a new hat."