Les Girls on AllMovie

Les Girls is the Rashomon of MGM musicals. The film is told in flashback, as Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg, two-thirds of a popular cabaret trio, attempt to legally block the third, Kay Kendall, from writing her memoirs. Each of "Les Girls" has her own interpretation of the group's previous professional and amorous escapades. To make sense of these wildly diverse recollections, the court must rely upon a fourth party to straighten things out. Enter Gene Kelly, the dancing star who organized "Les Girls" in the first place. But can Kelly be believed? The "truth" of the many reminiscences in Les Girls is secondary to the dazzling beauty of its female stars, and to the delightful musical numbers, the best of which is an extended Marlon Brando parody titled "Why Am I So Gone About That Gal?" This was Gene Kelly's last musical effort for MGM, the studio he joined way back in 1943; the film was the inspiration for the short-lived 1963 TV series Harry's Girls, which starred Larry Blyden, Susan Silo, Dawn Nickerson and Diahn Williams.