Leslie Caron: The Reluctant Star
She was a prima ballerina by the age of 16 and at age 18, she was the leading lady in the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 1951, which was the springboard for a career that produced over 20 films, an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and two Oscar nominations. This lovely and luminous star is the subject of a 2016 documentary called Leslie Caron: The Reluctant Star.
This detailed and imaginative documentary traces Caron's amazing life, starting with an extremely disturbing relationship with her severely depressed mother, who inadvertently motivated her daughter to pursue the career she did. At the age of 16, she was a member of the #1 ballet company in Paris and a year later, she was cast in a ballet called "Oedipus and the Sphinx". One night that she performed this ballet, Gene Kelly was in the audience and contacted Caron immediately regarding a screentest for An American in Paris . She didn't want anything to do with it and only agreed to test as a courtesy.
The main thing that I loved about this documentary that sets it apart from most other movie star documentaries is there is no off-screen narration. Director Larry Weinstein had the brilliant idea of letting the star tell her story. We watch Caron wonder through Paris and England, places where she grew up as well as famous movie locations, and as a camera follows her, the story of her amazing life comes from her own lips. I loved when she went to a hotel where she and her mother lived when Germany was occupying France. It's amusing when the concierge refuses to allow Caron and her camera to come in the building. It was so unsettling watching Caron stroll through various Parisian locations and no one seemed to recognize her.
Of course, the behind the scene memories that she shares during this very special journey are worth the price of admission alone. She talked in length about how hard the dance floor was where the ballet in An American in Paris was filmed and how crazy Vincente Minnelli became during the filming of Gigi. She even share about her brief romance with Warren Beatty, which, of course happened after Promise Her Anything because it's Hollywood legend that Beatty always falls in love with his leading ladies. I think my favorite thing she shared was, as probably the only living dancer who worked with both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, the difference between the way the two men danced.
We learn there was some heartache after fame as well. Her marriage to Peter Hall crumbled because he didn't want her working anymore, which separated her from her children. We do get to meet her son, Christopher, who adores his mother and has actually gotten to work with her on a British television series called The Durrells on which Christopher is a producer. A one of a kind documentary on a one of a kind movie star that is not to be missed.
She was a prima ballerina by the age of 16 and at age 18, she was the leading lady in the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 1951, which was the springboard for a career that produced over 20 films, an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and two Oscar nominations. This lovely and luminous star is the subject of a 2016 documentary called Leslie Caron: The Reluctant Star.
This detailed and imaginative documentary traces Caron's amazing life, starting with an extremely disturbing relationship with her severely depressed mother, who inadvertently motivated her daughter to pursue the career she did. At the age of 16, she was a member of the #1 ballet company in Paris and a year later, she was cast in a ballet called "Oedipus and the Sphinx". One night that she performed this ballet, Gene Kelly was in the audience and contacted Caron immediately regarding a screentest for An American in Paris . She didn't want anything to do with it and only agreed to test as a courtesy.
The main thing that I loved about this documentary that sets it apart from most other movie star documentaries is there is no off-screen narration. Director Larry Weinstein had the brilliant idea of letting the star tell her story. We watch Caron wonder through Paris and England, places where she grew up as well as famous movie locations, and as a camera follows her, the story of her amazing life comes from her own lips. I loved when she went to a hotel where she and her mother lived when Germany was occupying France. It's amusing when the concierge refuses to allow Caron and her camera to come in the building. It was so unsettling watching Caron stroll through various Parisian locations and no one seemed to recognize her.
Of course, the behind the scene memories that she shares during this very special journey are worth the price of admission alone. She talked in length about how hard the dance floor was where the ballet in An American in Paris was filmed and how crazy Vincente Minnelli became during the filming of Gigi. She even share about her brief romance with Warren Beatty, which, of course happened after Promise Her Anything because it's Hollywood legend that Beatty always falls in love with his leading ladies. I think my favorite thing she shared was, as probably the only living dancer who worked with both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, the difference between the way the two men danced.
We learn there was some heartache after fame as well. Her marriage to Peter Hall crumbled because he didn't want her working anymore, which separated her from her children. We do get to meet her son, Christopher, who adores his mother and has actually gotten to work with her on a British television series called The Durrells on which Christopher is a producer. A one of a kind documentary on a one of a kind movie star that is not to be missed.
Last edited by Gideon58; 10-22-18 at 06:33 PM.