The Last Time I Saw Paris won't be everybody's cup of tea, but while it could have been much better I do not consider it a bad film. If anything it was an uneven but decent one. The ending did feel very forced and at odds with the mood of the rest of the film, there could have been more of a focus on the relationship between Helen and Charles, Van Johnson does start off a tad uncomfortable and his drunken argument with himself is pretty embarrassing and some of the film feels skimming the surface quality and lacking in depth with a dose of over-sentimentality. The film is also in serious need of a restoration, the faded, grainy print doesn't do it justice. But for all its flaws, The Last Time I Saw Paris has much to like and the good stuff is beautiful and charming indeed. The sets have a painterly charm and the Parisian location is irresistible(Paris has always been one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world, and couldn't have been a more perfect choice of location for this film) while the cinematography from Joseph Ruttenberg has a real intricacy, matching the mood and nostalgic atmosphere most fittingly, and Helen Rose's dresses are sumptuous in every sense of the word, especially Elizabeth Taylor's lavender dress which goes perfectly with her violet eyes. Conrad Salinger haunting and lush music score, a script despite the lack of depth that is intelligently, poignantly and wittily written- the car race is hilarious- and a story that has a fair amount of nostalgic charm and emotional resonance especially in the first half are also things to like. The direction is leisurely but not overly so, letting the film speak for itself, the characters are sympathetically drawn and likable although Charles is the only one who's really developed. And The Last Time I Saw Paris is also beautifully cast and beautifully played, especially by a luminous Elizabeth Taylor who brings sublime subtlety and nuances to her role an amusingly eccentric and endearingly roguish Walter Pidgeon. George Dolenz and Eva Gabor are also solid, Donna Reed is excellent in an atypical role and Sandy Descher proves herself to be an adorable child actress. Johnson may not start off well but the more interesting Charles gets the more comfortable and emotionally involved Johnson becomes, with his increasingly brooding, intense and affecting performance being one of the saving graces of the second half. Stylistically and tonally the film is true to F. Scott Fitzgerald's story Babylon Revisited despite the updating, but the story despite like the film having a weaker latter half had much more depth to the story and the characters more compelling in development and motivations. In conclusion, very flawed but also has a lot of charms, worth the watch. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox

A successful writer ( Van Johnson) remembers about his love story with a gorgeous American girl ( Elizabeth Taylor ) in post WWII Paris . As we watch bright scenarios from Paris as the Arc of Triumph , river Sena , Cathedral of Notre Dame , promenade of Eliseos ; furthermore a horsemen race and Montecarlo car race , among others . Based on a semi-autobiographic novel titled ¨ Babylon revisited ¨ by F. Scott Fitzgerald who is well incarnated by Van Johnson and in which Helen played by Elizabeth Taylor represents Zelda , Scott's wife .This interesting movie reminisces the love affair between a wealthy war reporter and a feisty young woman ; it packs romance , drama , and colorful scenarios . Good support cast as Donna Reed , Eva Gabor , Kurt Kasznar , John Ducette and Walter Pidgeon who steals the show as joyful and sponger father . Glamorous cinematography in glimmer Technicolor by Joseph Ruttemberg and adequate musical score . The motion picture is professionally written and directed by Richard Brooks . He's an American filmmaker and screenwriter who won an Oscar for ¨ Elmer Gantry ¨ writings ; Brooks so consistently blended the good with average which it became quite impossible to know what to expect from him next . In the 50s , the harder his movies impacted , the more successful they were ; and the gentler they were , the less effective as ¨The last time saw Paris ¨ . Thus , the Brooks pictures that have the biggest hit in the 50 are the following : ¨Blackboard jungle ¨, ¨Something of value ¨ ¨The Brothers Karamazov ¨ , and in the 60s are ¨ Sweet bird of youth¨, Cat on a hot tin roof ¨, ¨In cold blood ¨ and ¨ The professionals ¨ ; in addition during the 70s a special mention to ¨ Bite the bullet ¨. Rating : : Good film that appeal to Elizabeth Taylor fans .

This is a rather annoying film. After all, the first 80% of it is very good--with nice acting and a very compelling story. Then, oddly, the last portion of the movie seems to fall apart and is a bit of a confusing and saccharine-like mess.The film begins with Van Johnson meeting and falling in love with Elizabeth Taylor. Considering how incredibly beautiful and sweet she was, it was easy to see why he dumped Donna Reed to pursue Taylor. Johnson's ambition it to publish a novel, but in the meantime he has married Taylor, has a lovely little girl and a well-paying job in Paris. What more could he want? Sure, his book has been rejected by some publishers, but considering everything he is still clearly a lucky man. But Johnson is NOT happy and is a self=indulgent idiot (to put it mildly). All he can do is feel sorry for himself for not being published. To bruise his shallow ego, he begins taking Taylor for granted and spends way too much time with his new friend--sultry Eva Gabor. Gabor is NOT the 'just friends' type, as she's been married multiple times. How any sane man could chose her over the sweet wife is beyond me and you really, really hate Johnson's character--a big switch for the guy who usually played such likable guys.All of this drama was compelling and I really got into the film--and wondered why the film had a mediocre score on IMDb. But then, late in the film, I saw exactly what the problem was. The film began to make no sense at all and decided to use clichés instead of decent writing. Out of the blue, Johnson locks Taylor out of the house and it's raining. In the real world, she'd get mad but that's all. Here in this Bizarro World, instead she gets sick and dies!!!! Folks, in real life standing in the rain does NOT cause death! And how she died with him rushing to her and having her die in his arms was dreadfully schmaltzy and stupid. And, what happened next was worse. Not one minute of the last portion of the film rang true or made sense. Considering that Johnson was cheating on his wife and locked the wife out in the rain, you'd THINK Taylor's father (Walter Pidgeon) would be at least a tiny bit angry--but he wasn't!! And, when Johnson CONTINUES to feel sorry for himself and neglects his daughter (necessitating her being cared for by others), you think this guy is a total bum--and yet they have them reunite at the end of the film and there's a 100% phony Hollywood ending!!! The first portion of the film I give a 9--it's that good. The last, I'd give a 2 or a 3--at best. An overall score of 5 seems reasonable as the actors do a nice job with a bubble-headed script--but frankly, the end just ruins the film for me.

It's an update of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited" for writer Van Johnson (as Charles Wills), recalling his whirlwind post-World War II encounter with beautiful and curvaceous sisters Elizabeth Taylor and Donna Reed (as Helen and Marion Ellswirth), in Paris. When beautiful Ms. Taylor secures Mr. Johnson's hand in marriage, beautiful Ms. Reed weds George Dolenz (as Claude Matine). This is one of Mr. Dolenz' higher profile roles; he was the father of "The Monkees" drummer Micky Dolenz.Veteran Walter Pidgeon (as James Ellswirth) gives some worthless Texas oil wells to Johnson, as a wedding gift; then, when the oil unexpectedly starts to flow, life changes for everyone. Multi-married Hungarian beauty Eva Gabor (later of "Green Acres") distracts Johnson from Taylor, and handsome young Roger Moore (later "James Bond") distracts Taylor from Johnson. Everyone is easily distracted. Alcohol dully plays a role in the story, especially, but unconvincingly, affecting star Johnson.**** The Last Time I Saw Paris (11/18/54) Richard Brooks ~ Van Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor, Donna Reed, Walter Pidgeon