M-G-M has last reached its millenium. It has managed to concoct two hours of first-rate musical comedy entertainment merely by tossing together a standard love plot, a romantic background, and three or four song hits of 20 years ago. It has stood pat on the stock Hollywood formula; but by perfect taste in filling the mold with Gershwin, Paris, and a captivating French ingenue by the name of Leslie Caron, it has turned out one of the most enjoyable musicals in years.

"An American in Paris" is a highly imaginative film. The camera wanders selectively through an illusory Paris, from the noisy streets of the Left Bank to the somber steps by the banks of the Seine. It captures the spirit of a Parisian fairyland, making it a fit background for the dream sequences which form the best part of the film. These sequences are a necessary mechanism in a film which must make use of the varied talents of Gene Kelly, George's Guitar, and Oscar Levant, and still keep the plot from being too contrived. At one point Levant dozes off, dreams that he is solo pianist in a performance of Gershwin's Concerto in F and gives a stirring recital; a recital, however which has no relevance to the plot.

Gene Kelly and Miss Carrion appear together near the end of the picture in a prolonged ballet which certainly equals any of the old Rogers-Aster numbers. In this second dream sequence, Kelly, who also did the film's choreography, dances through the streets of Paris into a Toulouse-Latter painting which slowly comes to life; an extraordinarily effective piece of photography. Kelly and Miss Caron are joined by the debonair Georges Guetary, who fits somewhere into the love quadrangle, and helps add an authentic Parisian touch to the proceedings.

Director Vincent Menial, it must be admitted, had a natural to work with. But he has combined excellent dancing, sharp comedy, imaginative photography, and some technically perfect serious music to make it one of the best musicals of the year.