Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

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

Van Johnson was fantastic in his role as a World War II veteran who returns to Paris, France where he seeks to be a writer in the post-World War era. He meets and falls in love with Helen (played by Dame Elizabeth Taylor). Donna Reed has a supporting role as Marion, Helen's sister. This film was shot in the early days of using color instead of black and white. The Parisian shots could have been better. The storyline is quite typical. Helen and Jimmy fall in love and get married and have a child, a beautiful daughter, Victoria. They remain in Paris, France where the living is good and the partying is non-stop. Well, Jimmy's writing career consists of constant rejection. Helen's unhappy as well in their marriage. The story is a bit outdated and melodramatic to involve acting but it's Van Johnson's film and not his co-star Elizabeth Taylor. Eva Gabor has a supporting role in it as does Walter Pidgeon playing Helen's father. It's decent, old film to watch at least once.

What is the use of speaking of a romantic drama when there is hardly any romance and the drama is not detectable in the script but in the character of the ever worst casted actor in a romantic role: i.e. Van Johnson. Enjoy the repeating entree of Elisabeth Taylor. She suffers from playing in a worn-out movie (Richard Brooks, eat your hat) and has to deal with an actor who is depressed all along with an up-tight hair-do. Hopefully this movie is the last of its kind. Scene after scene put in front of a camera without any expressions of feeling. You never will be dragged into it. Within a few years (after release) the french cinema (Truffaut, Malle etc) will lead the way to a new kind of filmmaking. And in that wake Brooks resurrected as director and writer with movies like Key Largo, Elmer Gantry etc. Luckely Scott Fitzgerald did not live long enough to see "his" film.

This film is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited," and it follows much the same formula as the Hemingway-inspired "Snows of Kilimanjaro" a couple of years earlier. The filmmakers took an acclaimed, fairly grim short story by an almost legendary American writer. They made it bigger and smoother and more romantic. Then they threw in several incidents (and purported incidents) from the famous author's own life. And voilà! This one has a couple of advantage over "Snows": The title and the related title song. The original song "The Last Time I Saw Paris" was written for an earlier movie and was about the city's tragedy in World War II, not about the travails of a single couple in peacetime. But the tune is appropriately melancholy and Gallic-sounding, and it works beautifully here.Hemingway was alive when "Snows" was filmed, and he angrily objected to what Hollywood had done to his work. Fitzgerald had been dead for years when "Paris" was made, but I think he would have been more sad than angry. He was that kind of guy.If you've never read the short story, you'll enjoy this. If you have read the story, you'll still like the movie, even if you feel a bit guilty about it. Van Johnson is just so likable, and Elizabeth Taylor is just so lovely.