Cinemax Arthouse Cinema will show the fourth movie in their series of classic musicals this week and it’s one that is particularly close to the heart of Cinemax manager Stephen Buge. Most people remember the 1951 classic An American in Paris for Gene Kelly’s amazing dance numbers and the beautiful Lesley Caron. However Stephen Buge can’t watch the movie without thinking of French actor George Geutary and his famous “staircase scene”.
“In 1967 I was working as production manager for the TV station in Montreal (Canada),” Stephen said. “I worked on BA Musical Showcase – a very successful show at the time. The compere wanted to leave and they wanted George Geutary to come on the show. He was famous for his role in An American in Paris and he said he’d only do our show if he got to recreate his big production number from the movie.
“Guess who got the job of doing that?” Stephen laughed. “We had to copy the set and the staircase, luckily we already had the staircase. We didn’t have as many girls in our version though. He came on and loved it so much he decided to stay on and compere the show for two seasons. He was a lovely man. It’s going to be fun to see it again.”
WHAT: An American in Paris
WHEN: Friday and Saturday at 10am
WHERE: Cinemax Arthouse Cinema, Kingscliff
