Gigi

Gigi (pronounced: [ʒi.ʒi]) is a 1944 novella by French writer Colette. The plot focuses on a young Parisian girl being groomed for a career as a courtesan and her relationship with the wealthy cultured man named Gaston who falls in love with her and eventually marries her.

The novella was the basis for a 1949 French film starring Danièle Delorme and Gaby Morlay.

In 1951, it was adapted for the stage by Anita Loos. Colette had personally picked the yet unknown Audrey Hepburn on first sight to play the title role. Her Aunt Alicia was played by stage legend Cathleen Nesbitt, who was to become Hepburn's acting mentor from that time on. Opening on 24 November 1951 on Broadway at the Fulton Theatre, the play ran for 219 performances (finishing on 31 May 1952) and Hepburn's debut on Broadway earned her a Theatre World Award.

The novella was translated into English by Roger Senhouse and published (with "The Cat" translated by Antonia White) in 1953.

Seven years later, a musical film version with a screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner and a score by Lerner and Frederick Loewe won the Academy Award for Best Picture. This film version starred Leslie Caron and Louis Jourdan. The story of a girl being groomed to be a courtesan by her grandmother made producer Arthur Freed doubt making it as a straight drama would be acceptable to the American censors, so they "cleaned it up" and turned it into a musical.

Gigi (1949 film)

Gigi is a 1949 French comedy film directed by Jacqueline Audry and starring Gaby Morlay, Jean Tissier and Yvonne de Bray. A young lady (Daniélle Delorme) who is coming of age and realises she not only adores the debonair, close family fiend Gaston, who has spoiled her with attention and care for most of her life (played beautifully by Franck Villard), but that she is in love with him. Gaston realises the same thing, and despite efforts of Gigi´s down-to-earth, doting Grandmother and charming, socialite Aunt to bring the couple together by the then socially accepted practice, it is the undeniable and compelling love between Gigi and Gaston that triumphs above all. Beautifully directed by Jacqueline Audry, who accentuates the brilliant humor of this piece without losing the utterly remarkable sensitivity of the young love that takes center stage. The film was based on the novella Gigi written by Colette.

A better-known version of the Gigi story, starring Leslie Caron, was filmed in 1958. The 1949 film is included as an extra on the 2008 2-disc DVD and 2009 Blu-ray Disc versions of the 1958 film.

Red Earth (video game)

Red Earth, released in Japan as War-Zard (ウォーザード), is a fantasy-themed 2D competitive fighting game released by Capcom as a coin-operated video game in 1996. It was the first game for Capcom's CP System III hardware, the same hardware which Street Fighter III and its derivatives ran on. Red Earth is the only CPS III video game which has never been officially ported to home platforms, although its characters have appeared in later Capcom games.

Gameplay

Red Earth features two different game modes: a single-player Quest Mode and a two-player Versus Mode. In Quest Mode, the player chooses from one of the four main characters, and progresses through their character's storyline while fighting against a series of eight computer-controlled adversaries in one-on-one battles (like in the first Street Fighter, gaining experience points during each battle. In Versus Mode, two players fight against each other, each using any of the four main characters (including the same character as the other player). Red Earth uses a password feature that allows the player to play the game later on the same skill level their character reached when it ended the last time. The character is able to acquire new abilities depending on the skill level that has been reached.