Daddy Langbein

This CinemaScope musical romance from 20th Century Fox and director Jean Negulesco stars Fred Astaire as millionaire Jervis Pendleton III. On a business trip to France, he happens upon an orphanage where he hears 18-year-old Julie Andre (Leslie Caron) singing to the other kids. Impressed by her talent, he arranges to anonymously adopt her and have her sent to America to an exclusive girls' boarding school. Julie has never met Jervis, and she imagines all sorts of romantic notions about his appearance and demeanor. When Jervis later meets Julie, he falls in love with her, but doesn't reveal that he's her adoptive father, which can only spell trouble down the line. Also featuring Ray Anthony & His Orchestra.

This was another early attempt to utilize the CinemaScope widescreen format in the musical genre, and it had mixed results. Some of the numbers are visually impressive, like Caron's ballet number later in the film, but others seem to keep the action to the center of the screen, wasting the wider imagery. The story isn't as creepy as it sounds, although there's no way this would get green-lit today. Caron was quite likeable here. Reportedly this movie was a favorite of director Akira Kurosawa. It earned Oscar nominations for Best Color Art Direction, Best Score (Alfred Newman), and Best Song ("Something's Gotta Give").