Review of Gaby

Gaby (1956)
Simple, lightweight love story during WW-II, stars Leslie Caron as "Gaby."
5 December 2001
Warning: Spoilers
I'm a true fan of Leslie Caron, so by definition she cannot be in less than a good movie. "Gaby" is a French ballet dancer in London in 1944. Her parents are dead, she is alone, and resists but gives in to the stalking by the American G.I. from Omaha. During filming she was 24, but already in her 9th film. Her only true dancing is during the opening ballet numbers, and does esentially no singing.

Who in their right mind would meet one day, spend an evening together, not even kiss goodnight, and yet decide the next day they are in love and want to get married? Well, maybe in 1944, during the war. Fortunately for the story, they were unaware of all the military 'red tape' to guarantee a 'cooling off period', so he went off to V-Day invasion still single. He writes letters, she dances, they are both lonesome.>

In her first visit to his aunt in London, she gets word that a telegram had been received, reporting his being missing and presumably dead. She was devastated. Months later, they find out he had been wounded, taken in by the French, and was coming back and going home. Friends threw a pre-wedding party, permissions were granted, but she felt unworthy and tried to run away. In an excruciatingly slow scene in the bedroom, where she didn't want to tell him why, she finally admitted to having become a 'loose woman' during his presumed death. She had not forgiven herself for not allowing him to spend what she thought was his last night with her.

This is a good example of a 50s film, not one of Caron's best, still highly watchable.
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