This mini-documentary is part of AOL Time Warner Company's "Classic Musicals Collection" DVD, issued in 2003, of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's CinemaScope/Metrocolor confection, "Les Girls".
It features one of the original cast, Taina Elg, flatteringly photographed and still looking quite lovely for a lady who might prefer we forget how many years have passed since her days as a talented young contractee at Hollywood's most prestigious studio, reminiscing about her work with costars Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor and Kay Kendall, under the direction of George Cukor. Miss Elg, her Finnish origins a little more apparent than in her witty attempts at French-accented English in "Les Girls," relates, with charm and considerable warmth, a fascinating amount of behind-the-scenes anecdotes about the production of "Les Girls," including the fact that she replaced Leslie Caron, who had been originally cast in the role she eventually played. Taina talks about what a thrill it was to record the best of the only five songs included in the finished film (of the dozen that Cole Porter composed for this project), "Ca c'est l'amour," accompanied by the full complement of Metro's studio orchestra; and she reveals that Gene Kelly took over for Jack Cole (who received sole credit as choreographer), when Cole fell ill, thus accounting for the athleticism, typical of Kelly's dance style, in the motorcycle gang number he performs with Mitzi Gaynor. It's a nice addition, indeed, to this widescreen DVD edition, the ONLY way to appreciate Cukor's visual embellishment of one of the last and most stylish of MGM's movie musicals.
It features one of the original cast, Taina Elg, flatteringly photographed and still looking quite lovely for a lady who might prefer we forget how many years have passed since her days as a talented young contractee at Hollywood's most prestigious studio, reminiscing about her work with costars Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor and Kay Kendall, under the direction of George Cukor. Miss Elg, her Finnish origins a little more apparent than in her witty attempts at French-accented English in "Les Girls," relates, with charm and considerable warmth, a fascinating amount of behind-the-scenes anecdotes about the production of "Les Girls," including the fact that she replaced Leslie Caron, who had been originally cast in the role she eventually played. Taina talks about what a thrill it was to record the best of the only five songs included in the finished film (of the dozen that Cole Porter composed for this project), "Ca c'est l'amour," accompanied by the full complement of Metro's studio orchestra; and she reveals that Gene Kelly took over for Jack Cole (who received sole credit as choreographer), when Cole fell ill, thus accounting for the athleticism, typical of Kelly's dance style, in the motorcycle gang number he performs with Mitzi Gaynor. It's a nice addition, indeed, to this widescreen DVD edition, the ONLY way to appreciate Cukor's visual embellishment of one of the last and most stylish of MGM's movie musicals.
