That's Entertainment!
1974 Directed by Jack Haley Jr.
Synopsis
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favourite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.
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64/100
How exactly does one rate a compilation film? Can a movie be great merely by showcasing great moments from previous movies? Question deferred for now, as this particular one suffers from major structural issues, its clips scattered among various hosts' "packages" with little rhyme or reason. Some pay tribute to specific performers (Astaire to Kelly and vice versa; Minnelli to her mom, even though Garland had already been given a lengthy showcase with Mickey Rooney); some are organized around a theme (e.g. non-singing stars who were forced into musicals); some seem entirely random. Chronology gets the heave-ho, so there's no sense of the genre's evolution. To a large extent it plays like a feature-length Oscar-telecast tribute. But I'd never…
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What could have otherwise been a run-of-the-mill clip show about the glory days of the MGM musical, becomes an engaging documentary through the appearances of some of its greatest stars. It's somewhat sobering to see the likes of Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney, and Gene Kelly wandering the now derelict backlot of MGM, a place that was once Hollywood's crown jewel. As Frank Sinatra muses, "you can wait around and hope, but you'll never see the likes of this again".
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64/100
How exactly does one rate a compilation film? Can a movie be great merely by showcasing great moments from previous movies? Question deferred for now, as this particular one suffers from major structural issues, its clips scattered among various hosts' "packages" with little rhyme or reason. Some pay tribute to specific performers (Astaire to Kelly and vice versa; Minnelli to her mom, even though Garland had already been given a lengthy showcase with Mickey Rooney); some are organized around a theme (e.g. non-singing stars who were forced into musicals); some seem entirely random. Chronology gets the heave-ho, so there's no sense of the genre's evolution. To a large extent it plays like a feature-length Oscar-telecast tribute. But I'd never…