Hollywood's preeminent director of movie musicals during the 1940s and 1950s, Vincente Minnelli was a master stylist. Characterized by a bold use of color and movement, an elegant sense of visual design, and imaginative development of surreal, fantasy sequences, Minnelli's directorial style is epitomized in his masterworks Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), An American in Paris (1951), The Band Wagon (1953), and Gigi (1958), the film for which he won the Best Director Academy Award. While critics suggested Minnelli's work was more "decorative" than "substantive," they praised his non-musical films The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Lust for Life (1956) and agreed that the tasteful modernism he brought to his celluloid canvases lent sophistication to the art of film entertainment. Minnelli figures prominently in celebrity gossip, due to his marriage to screen star Judy Garland in 1945 and the fame of their daughter, entertainer Liza Minnelli.

Further Reading:

Casper, Joseph Andrew. Vincente Minnelli and the Film Musical. New York, A. S. Barnes, 1977.

Harvey, Stephen. Directed by Vincente Minnelli. New York, Harper& Row, 1989.

Minnelli, Vincente, with Hector Arce. I Remember it Well. London, Angus & Robertson, 1974.