by Nathan Southern
synopsis
The Gay Parisian constitutes one of two colorful musical shorts (alongside Spanish Fiesta) helmed by the legendary Jean Negulesco during the early '40s, as part of the Warners "Technicolor Special" series. This film, like its sister work, centers around a performance of one of Offenbach's works by Léonide Massine's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. As such, Parisian represents one of the first Hollywood studio films to exclusively concern itself with a ballet performance.
