“Pass the Popcorn” teams up with Film Streams during the Common Senses Festival to explore inclusive and sensory-aware cinema across Omaha.
By Gabriel Escalera
An American in Paris: Oscar Surprise
June 19th, 2025
On Academy Awards night, March 20, 1952, movie fans across the country gathered around their radios, eager to hear whether George Stevens’ haunting A Place in the Sun or Elia Kazan’s fiery A Streetcar Named Desire would walk away with the night’s most significant honor. But Hollywood had a different ending in mind. In a surprise move, the Oscar for Best Picture went to Vincente Minnelli’s An American in Paris—a joyful, Technicolor celebration of music, movement, and the city of light.
Part of Film Streams’ Weekend Essentials series, this timeless MGM musical returns to the big screen, giving audiences a chance to experience Gene Kelly’s dazzling footwork and George Gershwin’s iconic score as they were meant to be seen and heard.
Gene Kelly stars as Jerry Mulligan, a lively American painter chasing creative dreams in post-war Paris. Alongside him is Adam, a struggling concert pianist, and Henri Baurel, a well-known French singer with a complex romantic past. The plot thickens when Jerry meets Milo Roberts, a wealthy and lonely patron of the arts, whose interest in Jerry’s work quickly blurs with her desire for something more.
Though light in tone, An American in Paris is grounded by emotional nuance and artistic ambition, most notably in its stunning 17-minute ballet sequence, a visual and musical masterpiece that helped secure its place in cinema history.
Catch this Oscar-winning classic as part of Pass the Popcorn, KVNO’s bi-weekly spotlight on must-see films—and discover why An American in Paris remains a cornerstone of Hollywood’s golden age.
By Marie Schuett
