Film

An American in Paris

MGM at its most lavish: Gershwin standards, Technicolor Paris built entirely on a soundstage, and a G.I.-turned-painter caught between a rich patroness and a shopgirl. It's pure studio-system escapism, unbothered by realism, existing mainly to let Gene Kelly dance and sing his way through a candy-colored fantasy. The famous 17-minute ballet finale is the whole film's ambition distilled into one audacious swing.

TMDb rating3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love musicals built around dance as storytelling, where a Gershwin-scored romance unfolds through Parisian streets and a lavish closing ballet sequence is painted in bold colour.

Skip it if you find romance too frothy without much grit, since the comedy stays gentle and the story leans on charm more than conflict.

What it asks of you: It asks you to settle into a leisurely, chatty opening at 113 minutes, with song and dance arriving in bursts rather than steadily.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Singin' in the Rain1952

If Kelly's dancing is what got you, this is the fuller, funnier showcase — same studio, same star, arguably the better film, with jokes that still land and a title number that's pure unfiltered joy.

But It's even more famous than An American in Paris, so you may have already seen it several times over.

Singin' in the Rain poster

Gigi1958

Same director, same leading lady (Leslie Caron), same appetite for Parisian fantasy and glorious tunes — a warmer, more knowing companion piece about growing into a role someone else has written for you.

But The central courtship, built on a considerable age gap, has aged awkwardly and may sit uneasily with modern viewers.

Gigi poster

The Band Wagon1953

Another MGM Technicolor marvel, this time with a backstage-showbiz plot and a genuine sense of humor about the whole enterprise — probably the smartest, most self-aware musical of the era.

But Astaire's cooler, drier style is a different animal from Kelly's athleticism, so the energy lands quite differently.

The Band Wagon poster

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The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Red Shoes1948

Kelly is said to have studied this film closely before staging his own finale — both trust a long, wordless dance sequence to reveal a character's inner life more honestly than any line of dialogue could.

A dazzling, unsettling Powell and Pressburger classic about a ballerina torn between art and love, whose own extended ballet sequence practically invented the modern movie dance number — gorgeous, strange, and unforgettable.

But It's tragic where An American in Paris is buoyant; if you want the evening to end on a high, this won't oblige.

The Red Shoes poster

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Singin' in the Rain, The Band Wagon, Silk Stockings, Top Hat, Gigi, The Red Shoes, La La Land, Meet Me in St. Louis, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, My Fair Lady, Funny Face, Moulin Rouge!, Mahogany, White Christmas, The Pirate, On the Town, Shall We Dance, Brigadoon, Flower Drum Song, The Judy Garland Show, The Wiz, Easter Parade, Show Boat, Midnight in Paris, The Young Girls of Rochefort, In the Good Old Summertime, High Society, Anything Goes, Show Boat, Paris Blues, That's Entertainment!, Two Weeks in Another Town, Behind the Burly Q, For Me and My Gal, Lili, Ziegfeld Follies, The Prince and the Showgirl, Staying Alive, It's Always Fair Weather, Royal Wedding, Follow the Fleet, Born to Dance, You Were Never Lovelier, Anchors Aweigh, Two Sisters from Boston, The Actress, Roustabout, The Hollywood Revue of 1929, Torch Song, Rhapsody in Blue, The Best Things in Life Are Free, Moulin Rouge, Night and Day, Les Girls, Le Bal, Young Man with a Horn, Can-Can, Rose Marie, Lovely to Look At, Summer Stock, The Barkleys of Broadway, Invitation to the Dance, Bye Bye Baby, Hans Christian Andersen, Strike Up the Band, The Merry Widow, That's Dancing!, Three Little Words, Pagan Love Song, Deep in My Heart, Copacabana, Cover Girl, The Glenn Miller Story, The Toast of New Orleans, Carnegie Hall, Lullaby of Broadway, Billy Elliot: The Musical Live, Pajama Party, Glorifying the American Girl, Presenting Lily Mars, Good News, The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli, The Tender Trap, Ziegfeld Girl, Neptune's Daughter, Rich, Young and Pretty, Broadway Melody of 1940, Earl Carroll Sketchbook, Broadway Melody of 1936, Murder at the Vanities, Nancy Goes to Rio, Million Dollar Mermaid, There's No Business Like Show Business, Newsies, Lord of the Dance, Till the Clouds Roll By, Broadway Melody of 1938, Merton of the Movies, Thousands Cheer, Copacabana, Nau Do Gyarah, La Bohème, Heartbeat, Words and Music, Athena, Two Tickets to Broadway, The Belle of New York, Three for the Show, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle