MGM 3641
Producer: Jesse Kaye
Track listing: Overture / Thank Heaven for Little Girls / It’s a Bore / The Parisians / Waltz at Maxim’s (She is Not Thinking of Me) / The Night They Invented Champagne / I Remember It Well / Say a Prayer for Me Tonight / I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore / Gigi (Gaston’s Soliloquy) / Finale: Thank Heaven for Little Girls
July 21, 1958
10 weeks; 4 weeks mono (nonconsecutive)
Lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe became stars with My Fair Lady. With Gigi, the pair achieved legendary status.
The story of Gigi dates back to 1942, when it was published in the form of a 60-page novella by the 70-year-old French writer Colette. The book inspired a 1950 French film that did not feature music, but four years later Anita Loos adapted the story for the stage with Audrey Hepburn cast in the lead role.
When the play opened in London in 1956, Leslie Caron was in the title role,which she would also hold in the big-screen version. It was producer Arthur Freed who bought the film rights to Gigi, which was shot on location in Paris.
Aside from Caron, the film starred Maurice Chevalier and Louis Jourdan. Andre Previn conducted the MGM Studio Orchestra for the soundtrack recording.
In his autobiography, The Street Where I Live, Lerner admitted that “Waltz at Maxim’s (She’s Not Thinking of Me)” was one of the most difficult lyrics for him to complete in his entire career. In fact, Freed was so intrigued by Lerner’s agonizing over the song, he asked Previn to sneak into Lerner’s room and steal his work in progress. Previn refused. After nine days, Lerner finally finished the lyric.
The film’s most important song, the title song, was the last to be penned for the movie. In The Street Where I Live, Lerner wrote that the pair had attempted to write the song several times without any luck. When Loewe finally came up with the right tune, Lerner happened to be seated in the bathroom. “Fritz was at the piano in the living room, dressed in the Bryon-esque costume in which he always works — his baggy underwear,” Lerner wrote. “Suddenly an exquisite melody came wafting down the hall, causing me to drop my newspaper. ‘My God!’ I yelled. ‘That’s beautiful.’ Leaping from my perch with my trousers still clinging to my ankles, I made my way to the living room like a man on tiny stilts.”
While Caron starred in the film, her voice is not heard on the soundtrack. Lerner, Loewe, and Freed all agreed that her voice had to be dubbed by another singer for the soundtrack. Marni Nixon was the vocalist hired by Previn for the job. An awkward situation arose when Caron, unaware that her voice was inadequate, showed up at the sessions only to find Nixon singing her parts.
In the end, it all worked out for the best. Gigi was a huge hit at the box office and the music struck a chord with the public. “Gigi (Gaston’s Soliloquy),” performed by Jourdan, won an Oscar for best song and the album won the first-ever Grammy for best original cast motion picture soundtrack.
In its fifth week on the chart, Gigi hit the top of the chart, making a big jump from number 14 to the summit.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of July 21, 1958
1. Gigi, Soundtrack
2. South Pacific, Soundtrack
3. The Music Man, Original Cast
4. Sing Along with Mitch, Mitch Miller
5. Johnny’s Greatest Hits, Johnny Mathis