mark.waltz Movies and Broadway in 1974 were in a state of emergency with the lack of family entertainment (exclusing Disney, of course) and the state of society. "Boy Do We Need It Now!", the adds for this compilation of clips from MGM musicals made between 1929 and 1958 exclaimed. From "Broadway Melody" to "Gigi", from "Wedding of the Painted Doll" to "Thank Heavens For Little Girls", from Bessie Love to Leslie Caron. The docu-musical covers the height of the movie musical era, even though musicals continued to be made on a regular basis through the mid 1970's, most of them unmemorable even with the few classics thrown in.MGM continued to make the occasional musical, with film versions of "Bells Are Ringing" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" being highlights, and such later newer classics as "Fame" and "Victor/Victoria". But when you've got Jeanette and Nelson, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, Jane Powell and Esther Williams, to name a few, you focus on that era, and that is what the first of four entries into the "That's Entertainment!" franchise focuses on, with many of the stars providing insight into the behind the scenes of what it was like to work at MGM.Long before Turner Classic Movies, the former stars of MGM ("More Great Movies!" one pre-TCM promo exclaimed) got together to reminisce and show off the highlights of the past. "That's Entertainment!" focuses on the musicals made at MGM (three of which were Oscar Winners) and with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra and Liza Minnelli (representing her parents) narrating, it is certainly nostalgic indeed. This was prior to home video and cable T.V. as well, so unless you had a local channel which broadcast them, you had very little chance to see them. No wonder why this was one of the top box office films of the year. Today's younger fans of this genre are too accustomed to DVD and TCM to appreciate what it was like to have this if you didn't have immediate access to these classics.So in retrospect, getting to see "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody" and "Rosalie" on the big screen again with their many extras and Mickey and Judy putting on a show in a barn, Gene stompin' around in the rain as he is approached by a suspicious cop, Fred sailing across the sky while dancing with Joan Crawford, the joy of the arrival of the "Show Boat", Esther descending above a giant pool with smoke all around her and delightful shots of the city of lights with "An American in Paris" and "Gigi", is still a bit of heaven on earth. The delight of the stars to present this years after making these films is never self-gratifying egotism; A lot of hard work was put into making these gems, and now in its 40th Anniversary, "That's Entertainment!" remains one of the top salutes to a golden age that has never been surpassed.

Lechuguilla Clips of MGM's musical films from the 1920s through the 1960s, together with commentary by Hollywood stars, provide a reasonably good overview of that studio's contribution to the genre. Stars include Fed Astaire, Gene Kelly, Liza Minnelli, Mickey Rooney, and others. The film begins with a written statement: "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced a series of musical films whose success and artistic merit remain unsurpassed in motion picture history." That is thoroughly debatable. But the film is not about debate or objectivity but praise for the studio's efforts; viewers are expected to agree."Musicals were fantasy trips for the audiences of their day", intones Frank Sinatra, the first commentator, clearly reading from cue cards. What he really thought is unknown. Most of the musicals from that era were gaudy, extravagant, flamboyant, garish, and escapist. But they did have talent. Jeanette MacDonald's singing, Fred Astaire's dancing, Esther William's swimming, Ann Miller's tap dancing are examples of terrific skill and showmanship, so much so that, by comparison, today's "stars" seem hardly more than opportunistic talking heads.It's not all self-promotion. Viewers get a taste for some notable flops, like when Joan Crawford "tries" to dance; she was wise to stick to dramatic acting. Then there are all those silent film stars whose later efforts didn't work out too well, as technology transitioned to talkies.Probably my favorite segment is a big dinner at which actors sit at rows of tables. As the camera pans down the long rows, some familiar faces include: Ava Gardner, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Young, Angela Lansbury, Red Skelton, Walter Pidgeon. But other faces were not at all familiar to me; wish the director had inserted everyone's name as the camera passed by.My main complaint is the studio's canned script, gushing over its accomplishments. Still, the film offers a good historical perspective of the musical film genre. And to see all those talented people, very few of whom are still with us, is great fun.

moonspinner55 America was so high on nostalgia in the early 1970s that Roaring Twenties dances were being taught at Arthur Murray and even a remake of "The Great Gatsby" was pulling in viewers. MGM, on the verge of financial ruin (and about to liquidate its assets), finally found a way to turn a profit very cheaply: edit together sequences from their library of hit musicals into one splashy package. Lesser-known clips are dropped in to keep things curious, but most of the footage here includes musical centerpieces from classic films that many viewers in 1974 had only seen on the late show. Despite an editing job that is so smoothly-efficient it's practically lethargic, "That's Entertainment!" quickly became a movie-encyclopedia for film buffs interested in plumbing the past, although it isn't very useful today (what with cable channels like Turner Classic Movies showing these pictures in their entirety). Star-narrators turn up to put their own histories into perspective, but most of them look dazed or tired--especially Elizabeth Taylor (filmed through layers of gauze), Frank Sinatra (squinting in the sunlight), and Fred Astaire (who was actually on the verge of a career comeback at this time). Some enjoyment and razzle-dazzle, especially in the Esther Williams montage, but pointless to anyone who craves the satisfaction of creative output. Followed by two wan sequels in 1976 and 1994, and a second-cousin, "That's Dancing!", in 1985. ** from ****

MarkJGarcia This is a great documentary that takes viewers back to a time when the musical was popular in cinema. With different hosts in the film you get a chance to go back in time and look at Hollywood's Gold Age and the stars that made some of the most highly regarded films ever. They don't make them like this anymore thats for sure. There is one part in the film where Frank Sinatra is talking about the dance performances of yester-year and he says you can wait forever but you will never see performances ever again like these, and with that the film cuts to a dance routine by Fred Astaire that has to be one of the greatest dance routines I've ever seen. When you think of all the planning that went into these routines it is just mind-boggling. The steps we see in this film seem to be so perfectly choreographed. An amazing film about an amazing time in Hollywood history.