That's Entertainment, Part II
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| That's Entertainment, Part II | |
|---|---|
 2004 DVD release |
|
| Directed by | Gene Kelly |
| Produced by | Saul Chaplin Daniel Melnick |
| Written by | Leonard Gershe |
| Starring | Fred Astaire Gene Kelly |
| Music by | Nelson Riddle |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | May 16, 1976 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 126 min. |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | That's Entertainment! |
| Followed by | That's Dancing! |
| IMDb profile | |
That's Entertainment, Part II was a 1976 motion picture by MGM, and a sequel to the 1974 documentary, That's Entertainment!. Like the previous film, That's Entertainment, Part II was a retrospective of famous films released by MGM from the 1930s to the 1950s. (Some posters for the film use Part 2 rather than Part II in the title.)
For this second documentary, archivists featured more obscure musical numbers from MGM's vaults, and also featured tributes to some of the studio's best known comedy teams such as the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy, romantic teams such as Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, and a montage of iconic stars such as Clark Gable, Mickey Rooney, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, James Stewart, Lana Turner, and Greta Garbo.
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire hosted the film and Kelly directed the introductory segments featuring him and Astaire, which included Kelly returning to the city of Paris which was featured in two of MGM's most famous productions, An American in Paris and Gigi. This was the last film he directed.
The film was highlighted by several newly-filmed musical numbers featuring Astaire and Kelly, including a couple of routines in which they danced together for the first time since the 1946 film Ziegfeld Follies, and for only the second time in their careers. (It was the last time 76-year-old Astaire danced on film.) According to film historian Robert Osborne, in specially-filmed introductions produced for Turner Classic Movies, it was Astaire who suggested to Kelly that the two take advantage of this potentially last-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform together, something Kelly had actually wished for out loud during his narration of the first That's Entertainment! film.
The sequel received more critical acclaim, but was not as successful at the box-office as the first film. Some 18 years later it was followed by That's Entertainment! III
[edit] Appearances
- Bud Abbott
- Eddie Anderson
- Louis Armstrong
- Lew Ayres
- John Barrymore
- Lionel Barrymore
- Wallace Beery
- Robert Benchley
- Constance Bennett
- Jack Benny
- Jack Buchanan
- James Cagney
- Sammy Cahn
- Louis Calhern
- Leslie Caron
- Gower Champion
- Marge Champion
- Cyd Charisse
- Maurice Chevalier
- Ronald Colman
- Lou Costello
- Jeanne Coyne
- Joan Crawford
- Bing Crosby
- Dan Dailey
- Doris Day
- Fifi D'Orsay
- Melvyn Douglas
- Tom Drake
- Marie Dressler
- Margaret Dumont
- Jimmy Durante
- Nelson Eddy
- Nanette Fabray
- W.C. Fields
- Bob Fosse
- Clark Gable
- Greta Garbo
- Judy Garland
- Betty Garrett
- Greer Garson
- Hermione Gingold
- Cary Grant
- Fernand Gravey
- Kathryn Grayson
- Georges Guétary
- Carol Haney
- Oliver Hardy
- Jean Harlow
- Katharine Hepburn
- Judy Holliday
- Lena Horne
- Betty Hutton
- Allan Jones
- Howard Keel
- Grace Kelly
- June Knight
- Miliza Korjus
- Stan Laurel
- Vivien Leigh
- Oscar Levant
- Myrna Loy
- Jeanette MacDonald
- Chico Marx
- Groucho Marx
- Harpo Marx
- Zeppo Marx
- Roddy McDowall
- Ann Miller
- Robert Montgomery
- Donald O'Connor
- Maureen O'Sullivan
- Walter Pidgeon
- Eleanor Powell
- William Powell
- Tommy Rall
- Debbie Reynolds
- Ginger Rogers
- Mickey Rooney
- Al Shean
- Dinah Shore
- Frank Sinatra
- Red Skelton
- Ann Sothern
- Jimmy Stewart
- Lewis Stone
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Robert Taylor
- Franchot Tone
- Spencer Tracy
- Lana Turner
- Bobby Van
- Gwen Verdon
- Ethel Waters
- David Wayne
- Johnny Weissmuller
- Esther Williams
- Keenan Wynn
- Robert Young
[edit] Films Shown
- The Broadway Melody (1929)
- The Songwriters' Revue (1930)
- Grand Hotel (1932)
- Red Dust (1932)
- Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
- Dancing Lady (1933)
- Going Hollywood (1933)
- Hollywood Party (1934)
- The Merry Widow (1934)
- David Copperfield (1935)
- Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)
- A Night at the Opera (1935)
- A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
- Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
- Born to Dance (1936)
- San Francisco (1936)
- A Day at the Races (1937)
- The Good Earth (1937)
- Boys Town (1938)
- Listen, Darling (1938)
- The Great Waltz (1938)
- Broadway Serenade (1939)
- Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
- Ninotchka (1939)
- Gone with the Wind (1939)
- New Moon (1940)
- Boom Town (1940)
- The Philadelphia Story (1940)
- Lady Be Good (1941)
- Two-Faced Woman (1941)
- Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
- White Cargo (1942)
- For Me and My Gal (1942)
- Woman of the Year (1942)
- Keeper of the Flame (1942)
- Cabin in the Sky (1943)
- Girl Crazy (1943)
- Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
- Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
- Without Love (1945)
- Anchors Aweigh (1945)
- Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
- Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
- It Happened in Brooklyn (1947)
- The Sea of Grass (1947)
- The Pirate (1948)
- Easter Parade (1948)
- Words and Music (1948)
- Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
- The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
- Adam's Rib (1949)
- Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
- Three Little Words (1950)
- An American in Paris (1951)
- The Belle of New York (1952)
- Singin' in the Rain (1952)
- Lovely to Look At (1952)
- Pat and Mike (1952)
- The Merry Widow (1952)
- Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)
- Lili (1953)
- Small Town Girl (1953)
- The Band Wagon (1953)
- Easy to Love (1953)
- Kiss Me, Kate (1953)
- Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
- Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
- It's Always Fair Weather (1955)
- The Tender Trap (1955)
- Invitation to the Dance (1956)
- High Society (1956)
- Silk Stockings (1957)
- Gigi (1958)
