An American in Paris

An American in Paris is currently streaming in the US on Hoopla, and in the UK on HBO Max Amazon Channel, and it delivers exactly the kind of comedy that earns a loyal following. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. A 7/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Gene Kelly sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Hoopla.

An American in Paris arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. An American in Paris gets the fundamentals right first, then finds room to get weird with it. Jerry Mulligan is an exuberant American expatriate in Paris trying to make a reputation as a painter. His friend Adam is a struggling concert pianist who's a long time associate of a famous French singer, Henri Baurel. A lonely society woman, Milo Roberts, takes Jerry under her wing and supports him, but is interested in more than his art. The chemistry Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron bring to it does a lot of the heavy lifting. It was released in 1951. The real test of any comedy is whether it is still funny once you know all the jokes, and An American in Paris holds up on rewatch in a way that separates it from one-off curiosities. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

If you need a comedy that actually makes you laugh, An American in Paris is a strong candidate. If you have run out of similar titles to watch, this is a strong next pick. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Gene Kelly anchors an ensemble with real chemistry. Genuinely funny, consistently, across the whole run.

An American in Paris was released in 1951, directed by Vincente Minnelli. The full 113-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.