Gaston (Louis Jourdan)’s Timeline and Summary

Gaston (Louis Jourdan)’s Timeline and Summary

  • Gaston, on his way to a luncheon with his uncle, is bored by all the social hub-bub, and decides instead to visit his old friend Madame Alvarez.
  • On the way home, he runs into Madame Alvarez's granddaughter Gigi, and offers to take her to the Ice Palace.
  • As Gigi gawks at the crowd, Gaston watches his girlfriend Liane skate cozily against her skating instructor and later suspects she's cheating on him. He hires a private detective and confirms it.
  • After consulting with his Uncle Honoré, Gaston decides to confront Liane at a resort out of town. He sees her there, gets rid of the skating instructor with a bribe, and leaves in a disgusted huff.
  • At his uncle's urging to save face, Gaston conducts several weeks of extravagant social engagements.
  • At last exhausted with this silly show, Gaston again visits Madame Alvarez and Gigi. He eats dinner, drinks champagne, and plays cards with Gigi. He promises that if she wins, they can to the beach at Trouville. She does, and they do.
  • The two have a wonderful, silly time at Trouville. People talk.
  • After Trouville, Gaston heads to Monte Carlo, but finds it (surprise) totally boring: Gigi isn't there!
  • When Gaston returns to Paris, he visits Gigi and finds her all grown-up. He's enraged at her weird, overly-formal mannerisms and silly get-up, and leaves in a huff.
  • During a long walking-and-singing sequence, Gaston's anger turns to tenderness, and he returns to Madame Alvarez's to have an important discussion about the terms of his offer: he will take beautiful care of Gigi and she'll become his mistress.
  • Later, when Gigi discovers this, she rejects Gaston but later relents, and the two go out to dinner at Maxim's, just as he once did with Liane. There, he's uncomfortable when Gigi acts like Liane, too.
  • He's appalled at how everyone's watching them, and he sees how unnatural it's making Gigi act.
  • After a lecherous comment by Honoré, he's had enough, grabs Gigi's hand, and leads her out of the restaurant. In a huff. He leaves her at home.
  • During one more posing-and-walking-and-thinking-in-the-dark sequence, set to the same music as the last time, Gaston realizes that he's ready for commitment beyond a courtesan-and-playboy relationship.
  • Gaston returns to the apartment and asks Gigi to marry him. She accepts.