Why do Americans find some foreign accents charming while others do not?

I was listening to a song on YouTube when a question occurred to me. I was listening to a 1929 recording of "Louise" by Maurice Chevalier. It had lost none of its charm over the years. And I wondered: Why does Maurice Chevalier sound so good as he thoroughly mispronounces English while French people managed to look so disdainfully at me in Paris as I struggled to ask directions in my bad (high school) French? Why does their accent sound cool to us while our French irritates them? One couple in Paris gave me some basic directions while giving me that disdainful gallic look. The woman was carrying a baby that was about 3-4 months old AND THE BABY GAVE ME THE SAME EXACT LOOK! I guess they learn it early. I kept looking at the baby and thinking, "Look, kid, you don't speak good French either so why be snotty about it?!"