A famous thespian ,who has just died ,wants his nephew and his adoptive daughter to collect at least six autographs of the famous singers of the era.After a good introduction (a posthumous film is shown where the dead speaks to the living ,as if he is still with them) ,and before an "unexpected " end (so to speak) ,the plot does not matter:it's just an excuse for showing the popular singers to the fans.
The nephew and the girl begin their treasure hunt;of course,they cannot stand each other,but as such is often the case,if we are to believe the screenwriters,they are slowly falling in love.Which does not matter anyway,for the 1951 audience wanted to see the artists.With two exceptions,they are unimaginatively filmed ,in the Streets of Paris ,singing about Paris (check the title:Paris is still singing) Luis Mariano performs under the Eiffel tower,Line Renaud in a shop Rue De La Paix ,Tino Rossi near the Sacré-Coeur,Georges Ulmer,Place Pigalle ...Yves Montand sings his famous "A Paris" on the banks of the river Seine.
Two sequences are particularly successful:that of the Compagnons De La Chanson singing "Si Le Roi Savait Ca ,Isabelle" and Piaf's"Hymne A l'Amour;her protégés croon around statues,which gives an eerie atmosphere to their tune;Piaf ,injecting more emotion in her song you might think possible ,effortlessly outclasses her peers ,the greatest moment of an uneven movie;she is surrounded by couples with Notre Dame De Paris in the misty background.These two segments are ,in their way,black and white forerunners of the video clips which thrived in the eighties and afterward.
In the sixties,they did a similar movie to show the yeah yeah boys and girls called "Cherchez L'Idole";youngsters were looking for a diamond ,but,like in "Paris Chante Toujours",the plot was much less important than Johnny Hallyday,Sylvie Vartan ,Eddy Mitchell and co.
