The Last Time I Saw Paris – Free

Starring Elizabeth Taylor and featuring George Dolenz (father of Monkee Mickey Dolenz), Eva Gabor and Roger Moore, this is great escapism with a free ticket courtesy of MGM.

Based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald story Babylon Revisited this 1954 classic goes something like this: An American writer recalls his turbulent marriage to an expatriate heiress. When he returns to Paris – a city that gave him true love and deep grief – it also gives designer Helen Rose an excuse to drape Elizabeth Taylor in beautiful outfits.

The Story of a Great Love

‘The story of a great love…This is where their story began’ ran the 1954 trailer. It’s a wonderful, generously free film for a rainy afternoon. Paris looks gorgeous “filmed in authentic locales” with Van Johnson lighting up the screen from the first scene.

The Seine looks misty and romantic, the berets are real on the extras, the French flags are on the bar and the writers (the Epstein twins) picked up an Oscar for Casablanca.

This post-war pedigree film about life after the Americans liberated Paris, has had over 1.5 million views. If you love Paris, don’t miss this free take on France and the American post-war fascination with their role in bringing freedom back to the capital.

For total escapism it’s hard to look past the young Elizabeth Taylor and the MGM costume department of the Fifties. In fact, The Last Time I Saw Paris has a fashion fan commentary all of its own on Twitter.

This is a nostalgic take on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classically bittersweet romances and if you are a fan of The Great Gatsby too, you may want to curl up on a velvet chaise, rather like Taylor, in this scene from the film, and time-travel back to a different age, along with stunning footage of well-known Paris destinations.