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Les rois de la couture

Original title: Lovely to Look At
  • 1952
  • Tous publics
  • 1h 43m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
936
YOUR RATING
Les rois de la couture (1952)
Three Broadway producers struggling to get backing for their show, hope one's sudden inheritance of a half interest in a Parisian fashion house is the answer. They travel to Paris only to learn the salon is in debt and requires their help.
Play trailer3:16
1 Video
33 Photos
Classic MusicalRomantic ComedyComedyMusicalMysteryRomance

Three Broadway producers struggling to get backing for their show, hope one's sudden inheritance of a half interest in a Parisian fashion house is the answer. They travel to Paris only to le... Read allThree Broadway producers struggling to get backing for their show, hope one's sudden inheritance of a half interest in a Parisian fashion house is the answer. They travel to Paris only to learn the salon is in debt and requires their help.Three Broadway producers struggling to get backing for their show, hope one's sudden inheritance of a half interest in a Parisian fashion house is the answer. They travel to Paris only to learn the salon is in debt and requires their help.

  • Director
    • Mervyn LeRoy
  • Writers
    • George Wells
    • Harry Ruby
    • Andrew Solt
  • Stars
    • Kathryn Grayson
    • Red Skelton
    • Howard Keel
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.2/10
    936
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Mervyn LeRoy
    • Writers
      • George Wells
      • Harry Ruby
      • Andrew Solt
    • Stars
      • Kathryn Grayson
      • Red Skelton
      • Howard Keel
    • 33User reviews
    • 6Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win total

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 3:16
    Trailer

    Photos33

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    Top cast78

    Edit
    Kathryn Grayson
    Kathryn Grayson
    • Stephanie
    Red Skelton
    Red Skelton
    • Al Marsh
    Howard Keel
    Howard Keel
    • Tony Naylor
    Marge Champion
    Marge Champion
    • Clarisse
    Gower Champion
    Gower Champion
    • Jerry Ralby
    Ann Miller
    Ann Miller
    • Bubbles Cassidy
    Zsa Zsa Gabor
    Zsa Zsa Gabor
    • Zsa Zsa
    Kurt Kasznar
    Kurt Kasznar
    • Max Fogelsby
    Marcel Dalio
    Marcel Dalio
    • Pierre
    Diane Cassidy
    • Diane
    Marika Aba
    • Flower Girl
    • (uncredited)
    JoAnne Aehle
    • Model
    • (uncredited)
    Joyce Aehle
    • Model
    • (uncredited)
    John Alban
    John Alban
    • Nightclub Patron
    • (uncredited)
    Bette Arlen
    • Model
    • (uncredited)
    Frank Arnold
    • Porter
    • (uncredited)
    Paul Bradley
    Paul Bradley
    • Nightclub Patron
    • (uncredited)
    George Calliga
    George Calliga
    • Fashion Show Attendee
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Mervyn LeRoy
    • Writers
      • George Wells
      • Harry Ruby
      • Andrew Solt
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews33

    6.2936
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    Featured reviews

    5planktonrules

    A re-make of "Roberta" minus almost everything but a couple songs.

    "Roberta" (1935) was based on a play of the same name. Now here in 1952, MGM decided to remake it. However, they didn't really like the plot and the characters and so all they really kept were the songs and a few pieces here and there. Not exactly a re-make, huh?

    I should point out that the reason I watched this is because I really like Red Skelton films. But, I don't usually like him in musicals because then his comedy clearly takes a back seat. Can this film somehow be a good musical AND a good Skelton vehicle?

    Al (Skelton) and his two buddies (Howard Keel and Gower Champion) are trying to get backers for their Broadway show...but with no luck. Then, out of the blue, Al receives a telegram...his aunt in Paris has died and left him her fancy dress business. So, the three head to Paris...intent on selling the place and using the money for their show. But there's a problem...Al is smitten with one of the ladies running the business (Kathryn Grayson) and has a hard time telling her of his intentions. The same happens with his buddies and they decide, instead, to try to make the place even bigger and grander...and they seem to have forgotten about their play. This is odd...even odder is their idea of turning this dress shop into a combination dress shop and night club of sorts! If this sounds confusing, welcome to the club!!

    The confusion gets worse when practically everyone seems to have fallen in love with Tony (Keel)...and you wonder whether he'll end up with Stephanie (Grayson) or Bubbles (Ann Miller) or the one he really seems to be in love with...Tony! As for the third friend, Jerry (Gower Champion) says very little and is really only there to do fancy dance numbers with his real life wife, Marge Champion.

    So is this any good? Well, it depends. If you love a big, long and very splashy dance sequence at the end and don't mind that the film has many formulaic elements (pretty much all of them are embodied in Tony!), then you'll no doubt enjoy it. As for me, I wanted more comedy, more Skelton and less of everything else. Mildly entertaining and that's all.
    7movibuf1962

    'Smoke-'y.

    This was a remake of the RKO Astaire-Rogers pastiche ROBERTA (1935), but it had its own merits. MGM used its 'Jack Cummings' unit of talent- most of the alumnae from SHOW BOAT and KISS ME KATE- to perform here. Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson represent the singing couple (Irene Dunne essayed the role originally in ROBERTA, but her mate was the non-singing Randolph Scott), and do very nice renditions of the songs 'The Touch of Your Hand' and their witty first duet, 'You're Devastating.' The dancing couple was none other than Marge & Gower Champion, married in real life and presenting the dances with a bit more romance. They first dance to the call-and-response ditty 'I Won't Dance' in a fitting room with mannequins on wheels. Later, in an after-hours café, they discover they are falling in love and dance to an instrumental version of 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes-' particularly breathtaking because it is staged as a love scene instead of a performance, and it makes the most of a dreamy, starry-night set piece, of which the dance floor is put to a great deal of use in its climax when the Champions swing each other around in romantic pirouettes. Finally, there is Red Skelton assuming the role of the actual salon heir, cutting up on a piano rag and narrating the gargantuan fashion show finale. The remake includes a sexier version of 'I'll Be Hard to Handle' tapped out by Ann Miller, and 'new' songs 'Tomorrow Night' and 'Lafayette.'
    jim_brown-green

    About 30 minutes is really "Lovely To Look At".

    That 30 minutes includes the dance numbers by Ann Miller and The Champions (indeed they were). The other 15 minutes is at the end of the film, a gorgeous fashion show designed by Adrian. It's the ultimate display of fantasy 50s feminine fashion. The designers and runway models of today should view this on how it should be done rather than the current crop of strident and pouting stringbeans who posture and pose in the drab and dreary unimaginative rags that pass as au courant fashion.

    Grayson and Keel didn't really gel in this confection. Grayson always seems to be pouting, but that seems to have been her basic acting style. Keel is a bit stiff here, but his singing is right on the money. Red Skelton was quite funny back then and hugely popular; alas, his type of humor seems to have lost its appeal over time. Zsa Zsa was never the consummate actress like her sister, Eva (!!!) but her presence here added a daffy charm that soon became the Gabor sisters' trademark.

    Still, the star of this flick is Adrian with his array of fab 50s feminine fashions that are definitely "Lovely To Look At". The gowns were especially spectacular and they inspired many a prom dress back then; also, debutante balls, weddings, and beauty pageants.

    Glad to see that this film has finally become available. For many years, I believe it had problems being released because of copyrights held by the Jerome Kern estate.
    ptb-8

    a faint (worthy) remake of ROBERTA

    The original treatment of this musical is from RKO in 1935 and called ROBERTA. It is possibly one of the most sublime movies, yet alone a musical, ever created. This healthy and sumptuous remake from 1952 has several genuinely jaw-dropping sequences, such is the lavish talent and extraordinary musical treatment from MGM at their musical zenith. Imagine Hollywood trying to come even close to making this film today! That is a genuine Mission Impossible. They would have to add a few killings to get the marketing dept to even understand it. That moan aside, I am very grateful to have LOVELY TO LOOK AT as well as ROBERTA in my life to charm me and to make me and my friends very happy. The two standout sequences in particular are "I won't dance" with Marge and Gower at their snazzy stylish dancing best...and yes all in one very clever take...and the astonishing fashion show finale, which should be mandatory for study in every part of every film school. The only misgivings are the lame and out of date comedy from Red Skelton hamming it up for the American Mid West audiences, and Howard Keel bellowing as usual. But for great women and eye popping clothes..the title says it all.
    6bkoganbing

    Overall Creative Vision Lacking

    Neither the RKO 1935 version of Roberta or MGM's 1952 Lovely To Look At are anything like the original show on Broadway. RKO eschewed a male lead singer opposite Irene Dunne and went with Randolph Scott. In and of itself that necessitated change as the vocal chores got divided up between Irene Dunne and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers who were the secondary leads. In that version it was Scott who inherited the Parisian dress shop and romanced a woman who managed the place named Stephanie played by Dunne.

    Stephanie played by Kathryn Grayson is still running the dress shop known as Madame Roberta's. But here it's Red Skelton who inherits half the place from his late aunt. He's partners in an act with Howard Keel and Gower Champion and they want him to sell his half so that they can get the money for a Broadway show. The three of them have to cut Ann Miller in on the deal just to get passage over to Paris.

    Of course it's Keel who Grayson pairs off with and in doing so the film comes into balance vocally as the stage show did. Getting the dance numbers are Marge and Gower Champion, Marge playing Grayson's younger sister.

    I think I can see the way the minds worked at MGM. In 1950 they copped the Best Picture Oscar for An American In Paris with a nice Parisian setting. Then the following year, Keel, Grayson, and the Champions were in a remake of another Jerome Kern classic Showboat which did very well. What to do, but combine all that in a Jerome Kern show that's Parisian based in Roberta. Besides why let all those expensive sets recreating Paris go to waste.

    Also the fashion show finale was absolutely inspired by the fantasy ballet from An American In Paris. But the fantasy of Kelly in that film is replaced by a surreal reenactment of Jimmy Durante's famous line of 'everybody's getting into the act'.

    Sometimes these things work and sometimes they don't. In this case the sum was definitely not greater than its parts. Howard Keel in his memoirs said that he felt that Mervyn LeRoy did not do right by him in this film that he had to make up his own interpretation of his character. Maybe LeRoy had too loose a hand and the film needed an overall creative genius like Gene Kelly.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The lavish fashion-show sequence, directed by the uncredited Vincente Minnelli, showcased the gowns of Adrian, the influential designer associated with MGM's golden age of Garbo, Shearer, Harlow and Crawford. Adrian's work on the entire feature concluded his 28-year film career.
    • Goofs
      In one scene Stephanie and Tony ride through the park in a carriage. About once per minute the background jerks and then repeats showing that it is back projected on a loop.
    • Quotes

      Tony Naylor: We're trying to finance our show. I'd like to take you folks in as partners. Now, please don't rush but who'd like to be the first to write a check?

      Jerry Ralby: Of course, we've just given you the highlights.

      Al Marsh: And we got some terrific lowlights. Like the part when I play a 36 inch man dropped from a flying saucer, I zoom through the...

      Tony Naylor: It's dynamite!

    • Connections
      Featured in Hollywood... Hollywood ! (1976)
    • Soundtracks
      Opening Night
      (uncredited)

      Music by Jerome Kern

      Lyrics by Dorothy Fields

      Sung by Howard Keel, Red Skelton and Gower Champion

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    FAQ17

    • How long is Lovely to Look At?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 17, 1953 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • El amor nació en París
    • Filming locations
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Loew's
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $2,813,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 43m(103 min)
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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