"GIGI" is the shortest title of any movie to have won the Academy Award for best picture. The day after the film won nine Oscars at the 1959 Academy Awards, telephone operators at the studio answered the phones with a cheery "M-Gigi-M!" The original story was written by Colette and was adapted for the stage by Anita Loos. The Broadway production starred Audrey Hepburn in the title role and ran for 219 performances between November 1950 and May 1952. Unfortunately, Hepburn was not available to do the film due to other commitments, so the role went to French native Leslie Caron. Her two co-stars, Maurice Chevalier and Louis Jourdan were also French.
"Caron leads the cast in a contest to see who can be the most French." (TV Guide)
"No doubt inspired by the finicky claustrophobic sets and bric-a-brac, the cast tries (with unfortunate success) to be more French than the French." (Time Out New York)
