An American in Paris Scene 8 Summary

  • Milo takes Jerry to a large artist's studio. Surprise! It's his studio. He says he can't afford it.
  • Milo tells Jerry he can pay her back in three months, and Jerry's like, "What's in three months?"
  • Turns out Milo's lined up an exhibition for him. Jerry's not happy about that, either. He needs to crank out masterpieces on his own schedule.
  • Milo tells Jerry that he's got talent and she's got drive. It's a solid combo. Plus, he has to face the critics some time. Jerry agrees to do it.
  • Montage time. Jerry paints. A lot. Kids. Buildings. Lise.
  • We see Milo visit him in his studio, and he covers up the painting of Lise that he's working on. By the end of the montage, he's created a boatload of artwork.
  • Jerry and Lise meet on the street and hop in a cab. He wants to know why Lise was late. She starts to tell him, but stops, and he begrudgingly agrees that they don't have to tell each other what they do when they're not together.
  • They make a pit-stop at Jerry's apartment so he can drop off the stuff he's carrying. Adam's in the café and Jerry says hello. Lise and the cab take off. Jerry's confused and joins Adam for a coffee.
  • A kid runs in and hands Jerry a note from Lise. It says she's sorry and she'll meet him tonight at their usual place. Lise spends so much time running away without warning that we're pretty sure she keeps a pad of stationery in her purse for just such an occasion.
  • Jerry tells Adam that he's head-over-heels for Lise, but he still doesn't really know anything about her. Sometimes they have a rad time together; other times, it's no fun at all. Still, he has to be with her.
  • Adam confirms that Jerry's got it bad for this girl. Then he asks what her name is. When Jerry tells him it's Lise Bouvier, Adam spills his coffee on himself. He knows that's Henri's girl.
  • Then Henri shows up. He's got wonderful news for Adam: he's getting married and they're going to America on their honeymoon.
  • Jerry congratulates Henri, and Adam nervously tries to change the subject.
  • Jerry tells Henri about his problem: he's crazy about a girl, but she's always running off and seems like she's hiding something. Adam's about to lose it: he lights cigarette after cigarette and drinks both his and Henri's brandy.
  • Henri tells Jerry that he needs to tell this mystery girl that he loves her and ask her to marry him. Then all of these problems won't seem like problems at all. Solving problems by getting married? Henri's the Ross Geller of 1950s Paris.
  • Jerry thanks Henri for his great advice and they launch into an ebullient duet of "S'Wonderful," a song about how awesome it is to be in love.
  • Adam, knowing that these two dudes are singing about being in love with the same woman, looks like he wants to crawl into a hole. The rest of the café patrons love it, though.
  • Henri and Jerry take their song and dance routine to the streets, stopping traffic. These guys are seriously stoked about being in love. We like to call this "dramatic irony."