Description

The Last Time I Saw Paris is a 1954 in film Romantic drama film made by MGM. It is loosely based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story “Babylon Revisited.” It was directed by Richard Brooks, produced by Jack Cummings (director), and filmed on locations in Paris and the MGM backlot. The screenplay was by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Richard Brooks.

The film starred Elizabeth Taylor and Van Johnson in his last role for MGM, with Walter Pidgeon, Donna Reed, Eva Gabor, Kurt Kasznar, George Dolenz, Sandy Descher, Odette Myrtil, and Roger Moore in his Hollywood debut. The Last Time I Saw Paris (song), by composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, was already a classic when the movie was made and inspired the movie’s title. Though the song had already won an Oscar after its film debut in 1941’s Lady Be Good (1941 film), it is featured much more prominently in The Last Time I Saw Paris. It can be heard in many scenes, either being sung by Odette Myrtil or being played as an instrumental.

The film was released in 1954; however, there was an error with the Roman numerals in the copyright notice showing “MCMXLIV” (1944), meaning the term copyright started 10 years before the film was released. Thus, the normal 28-year copyright term ended just 18 years after the film was released, and MGM neglected to renew it presumably because they believed there were still 10 years left in the term. List of films in the public domain in the United States in 1972.

Cast

• Elizabeth Taylor as Helen Ellsworth
• Van Johnson as Charles Wills
• Walter Pidgeon as James Ellswirth
• Donna Reed as Marion Ellsworth
• Eva Gabor as Lorraine Quarl
• Kurt Kasznar as Maurice
• George Dolenz as Claude Matine
• Roger Moore as Paul
• Sandy Descher as Vicki
• Celia Lovsky as Mama
• Peter Leeds as Barney
• John Doucette as Campbell
• Odette Myrtil as Singer