When an American painter in Paris is discovered by an influential heiress, he has to deal with her and his rival friend if he is to date his true love.

American in Paris (1951).

This is not a film that readily conforms to the conventional logline formula.? Because the central conflict is not about the protagonist’s struggle to become a painter, but about the love triangle he gets caught up in.? First and foremost it’s a love story — a musical no less — not a career story.

And the inciting incident that kicks off the love triangle is when the Jerry? sees Lise in a bar and , of course,? is instantly smitten.? Little does he know that he’s fallen in love with a woman already engaged to another man, Henri.

Complications ensue as a result of?the “Bellamy” character,? a standard issue foil character in romances.? The Bellamy is a competitor for either the affections of the protagonist or the protagonist’s love interest — but he/she is plainly unsuited, doomed to fail. (The role was named after the actor Ralph Bellamy who got typecast playing the role of the doomed romantic foil/fool in romantic movies of the 30’s and 40’s.)

Both the heiress, Milo, and Henri are Bellamy characters.

Anyway, here’s my take:

In post World War II Paris, a struggling American painter falls in love with a French shop girl unaware she is already betrothed to another man.

Yeah, lame. It doesn’t have a strong plot, a great hook.

But it didn’t need those elements.? Because the script had other advantages going for it, two factors that none of our scripts have:

1] The story was scripted by an insider not an outsider.

The screenwriter (Alan Jay Lerner) was already well-established in the Biz.

If you’re not established in The Biz then your script needs a logline with a compelling plot, a great hook.? But if you’re an established writer then what matters more is the gross of your last film and who you know — the network of contacts and power players you’ve built in the industry.

2] The selling feature of the project was the music — not the story line.

The hook is not in? the plot, nor in the characters, but in the spectacle, the song and dance pieces.? The plot line, such as it is, is merely a set up, a launching pad for showing off the music of George Gershwin.? Particularly for Gershwin’s classic “An American in Paris” which pretty well tells you what the real inspiration was for the film.

>>>why did you left out what the protagonist has to do, to end up with the french girl?

I saw the film many years ago and my recall of the details of the plot are fragmentary.? Perhaps I should have consulted the IMDB summary.? Frankly, I fast forwarded through scenes to get to the good stuff, Gershwin’s music.? The plot was too contrived for my taste.? It was so obvious that the? inspiration for the movie was Gershwin’s music, a reverse of the usual m.o. where the script is the inspiration for the musical score.

And the organizing principle for the plot (per my earlier comment on “The Sting”) is the love triangle.? That’s the story spine around which all the other characters, complications and subplots are arrayed.? After all, it’s a musical romance.? He obviously woos her,? but if that wooing is framed within a particular game plan, I don’t recall.? Any particulars you may wish to point out on that point would be of interest.

Finally, I have come to the conclusion that romance genre stories may present exceptions to the standard logline paradigm.? Because the organizing principle — the spine — is as much or more the relationship as it is the action.? In some stories, the objective goal is to win the heart of the love interest, to consummate the relationship with a happy ending. That’s the only goal that matters.? (How else can you logline adaptations of Jane Autsen novels?)?