That's Entertainment! The Complete Collection
by Gene Kelly, Bud Friedgen, David Engel, Jack Haley Jr., Michael J. Shapiro
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DVD details
Actor: Ann Miller, Debbie Reynolds, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Mickey RooneyDirector: Bud Friedgen, David Engel, Gene Kelly, Jack Haley Jr., Michael J. Shapiro
Brand: KELLY,GENE
Writer: Al Ramrus
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Box set, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 374 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-10-12
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:
- Includes That's Entertainment, That's Entertainment Part 2, and That's Entertainment III, with special footage offered exclusively in the giftset for a total of more than five hours of exciting extra footage including three great documentaries, premiere night coverage and salutes to the great behind-the-camera talents, TV specials, making-of featurettes, plus an extensive video jukebox of rare, st
DVD Reviews of That's Entertainment! The Complete Collection
DVD Review: Mesmorizing!
Summary: 5 Stars
At barely 30, I remember when this came on TV. I was in a foreign city, suppose to be site-seeing, and I couldn't stop watching it. Of course this is well out of my generation, but I do have an interest in nostalgia, and it's such a great glimpse into the past when entertainment was pure, simple, and honest. I highly recommend this, young or old. In fact, I sent it to my grandma to have her watch it first. DVD Review: To see Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire dancing together one more time...
Summary: 4 Stars
I am glad I was able to purchase this set.
Each of the three original feature movies is on a two sided DVD, with standard and widescreen sides, an option I really appreciate. The quality was excellent. Yes, I see that someone commented on sudden color changes, but either that copy was somehow damaged in manufacture or the reviewer's DVD player wasn't "happy" with the DVD. I've seen DVDs play better on one machine than on another... I've heard records do the same. Anytime something is being read by spinning it past the object that reads it (needle; laser; whatever), there can be differences in how the disc is read. I find this happens with DVDs that have subtitles and/or language choices more than with those that read the same every time, and these do have 3 language choices for subtitles. The only "color changes" are the switching from B&W movies to color ones when I view them.
Perhaps the most special moment is when Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire dance together while "hosting" Part 2. Both had mentioned how special it was to dance together briefly that one time before. It was so very special to see them dance together one more time, to see those great dancers side by side, and seeing the enjoyment and mutual respect.
Dances/scenes are rarely shown in their entirety due to time constraints, but most are excellent montage types or are edited so well that it takes a moment to realize that verse 2 or the bridge was cut. Thankfully, the entire "Singin' in the Rain" by Gene Kelly is in the 1st one. Part 2 also has come comedians, and another scene shown in its entirety is the Groucho Marx and his steamer trunk in the tiny ship cabin.
DVD Review: Even Part III is Excellent!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was very impressed by all of the films. Usually the first is wonderful, the second ok to horrible and the third not very good at all. This is not true of the That's Entertainment collection. Every film is very good and enjoyable to the fullest. The world of MGM is fascinating and the movies highlight what was so special about the studio. The studio developed their talent and trained them to perform. Dance lessons, voice coaches, acting lessons, fashion advice and make-up sessions were offered. The first movie highlights nostalgia, the second includes non-musical films and the third uses the perspective of film restorers and researchers (still fun). All films include people who were involved in the business and resisted the suggestion of using younger performers to say how great the older performers were and use the performers who actually worked at MGM. DVD Review: True Entertainment!
Summary: 5 Stars
Wonderful anthology and documentary on MGM films. This movie was a originally intended as a documentary for television and after it was finished, it was so good, MGM decided to chance it as a feature film. What a wonder! The film is thrilling and exciting and tempted me to seek out any older films I could find. MGM was indeed the best and greatest of the old studios and I think the musicals have suffered in the transition of musical styles. Now I can appreciate the music and dancing better than when I was a child and enjoy them more. This movie is a great way to remember those films and a classic in itself. DVD Review: Enjoy the most memorable moments from the classic M-G-M musicals.
Summary: 5 Stars
The roster of performers who appear in M-G-M's spectacular 1974 retrospective "That's Entertainment" reads like a "who's who" of the motion picture business up to that point in time. Originally conceived as a television special, M-G-M executives decided to create a full-length motion picture when they discovered a veritable treasure trove of footage in their vaults. M-G-M was in dire financial straits at the time and "That's Entertainment" was definitely a huge roll of the dice by the studio. Since it had never been tried before no one had any idea how movie buffs would react to a compilation film. As it turned out it was an overnight sensation and audiences flocked to theaters to relive the best moments of the most beloved M-G-M musicals. It is easy to see why.
Although the overwhelming majority of these films were made before I was born I must tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed "That's Entertainment" . Interspersed with some of the most memorable scenes from the great M-G-M musicals are recollections and commentary from some of M-G-M's biggest and brightest stars including Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, Donald O'Connor, Elizabeth Taylor, Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. There are so many captivating scenes in this movie that you could not possibly list them all. Among my favorites routines are Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell dancing up a storm from the film "Broadway Melody of 1940". Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly teamed up for a series of films for M-G-M in the 1940's. There is a terrific scene from "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" included here. Two of the most incredible bits you will ever see on film are from a motion picture called "Royal Wedding". In the first scene Fred Astaire dances with a hat rack! Fred pulls it off with all of the grace you might expect from one of the great dancers of all-time. In the second scene, Fred appears to be dancing on the walls and ceiling of a room. Films buffs continue to debate how in the world this was filmed. Then there is Donald O'Connor doing "Make 'Em Laugh" and Gene Kelly's unforgettable performance of "Singin' In The Rain". And the list goes on and on and on..........
"That's Entertainment" offers more than two hours of classic entertainment from Hollywood's Golden Age. You will see clips featuring 125 stars culled from nearly 100 films. Younger people will come to understand why M-G-M musicals were so wildly popular back in the day. M-G-M found that it had so much great material in its vaults that a very fine sequel was made a couple of years later and a third and final film was released shortly after that. Much to my surprise I have discovered that "That's Entertainment" is a film tha I can enjoy again and again. It is that good! Very highly recommended!
Description of That's Entertainment! The Complete Collection
Includes That's Entertainment, That's Entertainment Part 2, That's Entertainment III, and a bonus fourth disc entitled That's Entertainment: Treasures from the Vault, available exclusively with the Giftset featuring more than five hours of exciting extras including three great documentaries, premiere night coverage and salutes to the great behind-the-camera talents, TV specials, making-of featurettes, plus an extensive video jukebox of rare, star-packed musical outtakes from classic films, and more!In an era when we have an unprecedented number of movies and other diversions at our fingertips, is there still a need for a clip show like That's Entertainment? Certainly, because the film series, beginning in 1974, was an unabashed peddler of glorious nostalgia, not only collecting many of the most memorable moments in the magical history of the MGM musical--and therefore in the history of film--but bringing in many of the original stars to introduce them decades later. And another few decades after the series was released, the nostalgia is that much greater since many of those stars are now gone. In addition, the sheer number and variety of clips (though they're often too short) would be hard to match in any collection or in the span of an evening's viewing. Where else could you enjoy Gene Kelly singin' in the rain and also James Stewart crooning "Easy to Love"? Or follow fun trends like the Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland "let's put on a show" pictures, of which Rooney says "only our names seemed to change"? Following the surprising box-office success of the initial film, Part 2 was released in 1976 and it still had plenty of famous and obscure clips (remember Bobby Van?), and even a nod to the nonmusical films of the era such as the Hepburn-Tracy pictures. It topped everything off with the irresistible pairing of hosts Kelly and Fred Astaire, who share a dance--for only the second time in their careers--at the ages of 64 and 77, respectively (and a more graceful 77-year-old you never will see!). The third film wasn't made until in 1994 (host Kelly is strikingly older), but it offered more of the usual fare plus a variety of cut numbers by such stars as Judy Garland, Lena Horne, and Debbie Reynolds. A half-century later, Hollywood's valentine to the movie musical was still shining strong.
The DVD trilogy set offers all three films with the choice of widescreen anamorphic or full-screen formats (don't worry, the clips are in their original aspect ratio). There's also a two-sided fourth disc with supplemental material, most interestingly the "musical outtakes jukebox," a 16-song, 49-minute collection of numbers that were cut from musicals of the era. None of the selections are Great Songs, but it's hard to discount any musical number from the MGM vaults, for example, three selections by Garland and two by Horne (only one of which, Garland's "Mr. Monotony," appears in TE3, and there in a slightly shorter form). The rest of the content is behind-the-scenes documentaries, the most significant being "That's Entertainment: The Masters Behind the Musical" (37 minutes, profiling the talent behind the films such as Arthur Freed and Michael Kidd), "That's Entertainment III: Behind the Screen" (1994, 53 minutes), and vintage black-and-white footage of MGM's 25th anniversary celebration (10 minutes). Not included in the set: the 1985 compilation That's Dancing, which was released separately in 2007. --David Horiuchi
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