Way way back in 1958 (When my mum was 10!) [Ed. I'm dobb'n on you now Cass!! :) this picture won 9 academy awards, now that sound impressive and for it’s time this was an extraordinary achievement.

The story line is very basic but still sweet. GiGi is a beautiful young French girl who has a passion for life. She seems a little stifled by her mother and Aunt trying to teach her to be a pretentious lady.

Enter stage right the wealthiest man in France Gaston Lachaille and evidently the most eligible bachelor as well.

Gaston is trying to find himself a life partner and after a breakup with his girlfriend he reluctantly starts to throw parties and go in search of a new girl.

Right under his nose is his good friend GiGi whom he has always thought of as just a little girl. GiGi however has matured into a funloving young woman.

Needless to say it’s all self-explanatory from here.

So How Does This Transfer Hold Up?

VIDEO
Now given the age of this film, the transfer is really excellent quality. Surprisingly presented at 2.35:1 and is Anamorphic Widescreen

Generally the film is reasonably sharp throughout and shadow detail is good. There are some slightly grainy scenes.

I mean hey I could pick this transfer to pieces but it’s not significant. It’s a very old movie and the quality we are getting here really is fantastic.

The colour palette was also impressive given that this is a Technicolor film. I generally find Technicolor to be unnatural and flat, but this held it’s ground very well.

Film artefacts are of course everywhere but I’m not concerned about that either.

There are also some obvious flaws in the original filming of the movie that can only be attributed to the lack of quality in the equipment that would have been used back then.

AUDIO
Well what a treat! Even as a Dolby 3.0 track this was still good. I nearly fell off my seat when I heard the opening song "Thank Heavens for Little Girls". My goodness, can you imagine someone releasing a song with that title in this day and age. It was cute though but also funny considering the lyrics.

Being a 3.0 track there is of course no use of the surrounds or base channels.

Dialogue was clear and crisp and there were no audio sync problems.

The original songs for the film are from Lerner and Loewe, and it’s certainly characteristic of a good 50’s musical. Other musical contributions from Andre Previn are also impressive and vibrant given the nature of this movie you can see how it won so many Oscars.

EXTRAS
Theatrical Trailer. Ice to see a different style of trailer.

OVERALL
Well I’m sure most of you would cringe at the thought of a 1950’s Technicolor film but I have to say I was impressed. For it’s age this is a great DVD.