That's Entertainment, Part II
That's Entertainment, Part II
G | 17 May 1976 (USA)
That's Entertainment, Part II Trailers

Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.

Reviews
Palaest recommended
Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
Gideon24 After the surprising success of the first film, MGM studios decided to mine for more gold with That's Entertainment Part II, the 1976 compilation package that offers more of the best of MGM studios when they had "more stars that the heavens" and this time, they chose to include non-musical clips The film is hosted by Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, who are seen in the opening scene dancing together for the first time since the 1946 film Ziegfeld Follies as they introduce some more classic moments from the MGM library.The musical sequences feature Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Kathryn Grayson, Eleanor Powell, Frank Sinatra, Jeanette McDonald, Leslie Caron, Louis Armstrong and Ann Miller in films like Girl Crazy, An American in Paris, Words and Music and Kiss Me Kate. Even Doris Day, who was not an MGM contract player, is featured performing "Ten Cents a Dance" from Love Me or Love Me, an MGM musical for which Day was loaned to MGM.Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Greer Garson, Jean Harlow, William Powell, the Marx Brothers and John Barrymore are featured in non-musical sequences. Some stars like Joan Crawford, and Robert Taylor are seen in musical and non-musical sequences. The film doesn't sustain interest the way the first one did, but it is still a respectful and entertaining valentine in an era gone by in Hollywood that we will never see again.
Lee Eisenberg If you've read my reviews of musicals, then you know that I watch them only so that I can heckle them like Mike and the 'bots do to the crummy movies that Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank send them. I spent all of "That's Entertainment!" doing that, although I liked the clip where Judy Garland mentioned marijuana in one of the lines from "La cucaracha".In "That's Entertainment, Part II", I liked the comedy scenes and the Tracy-Hepburn scenes. I heckled everything else. Musicals are one of my least favorite genres. My favorite movies from Hollywood's golden age are comedies, horror flicks and gangster pics. A good compilation documentary was "Bugs Bunny Superstar". My main conclusion from "That's Entertainment" 1 & 2 is the following: *"South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone should remake all these musicals. Maybe they could cast the "South Park" characters, or maybe they could cast the "Team America: World Police" characters. It would be neat either way.*There should be a compilation documentary paying tribute to the different kinds of cult movies. If "That's Entertainment" features Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, etc, then a cult documentary would feature Bruce Campbell, Raquel Welch, etc. Elvira would probably host it. So that's my take on this.One more thing. If the Mississippi is Old Man River, then shouldn't it be the Mister Sippi?
mountainkath This compilation isn't as good as the original, but it's still fantastic.One of my favorite things about this movie is the hosts: Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. I'm a fan of both of them and seeing them together is so rare that I had a huge smile on my face every time they shared the screen. Throw in some short dances by them together and that alone makes this worth watching.This movie corrected two oversights from the first movie: we get to see Cyd Charisse's Singin' In The Rain dance (in the green dress) and Kelly's dance on roller skates from It's Always Fair Weather.I did enjoy the non-musical clips in this movie, although I thought there were some omissions. The most glaring was the absence of a clip from Woman of the Year (the movie that brought Tracy and Hepburn together both on screen and off).I was also disappointed that when musical clips were shown, the movie they were from was not always identified. I knew most of them, but there are one or two that I didn't know and wish that I did.Bobby Van's bunny hop dance was odd and at first I didn't like it. But, as it went on, I was amazed at how long and intricate that dance was. Yes, it looked simple, but I suspect it was actually very difficult.This movie stands on its own, but I think it's best watched along with the original.
strawberman My wife and I rented this movie tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it. A smile was frozen on my face for its duration. With that said, I couldn't help but feel a certain melancholy over the lack of minorities in it. Yes, there was Lena Horne, Ethel Waters, and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson; but Lena's light color and Ethel Waters's smiling and mammy look were safe enough to get them into a token few frames of the film. We look back at Major League Baseball in those days and reluctantly agree, if we're honest, that every record on the books- and not just Roger Maris's- honestly deserves an asterisk. Some of the greatest players of the day were never allowed onto the field because of their color. And, when I see That's Entertainment II, I can't but help feel that MGM, which billed itself as having the greatest stars in the world, should have had that statement followed with an asterisk, too. Fred Astaire, Gene Kelley, O'Connor, Fosse, etc. were great dancers, yes. But what if some of the great black dancers had that equal opportunity to shine on the silver screen? And, if other Asian, hispanic, native American artists were given a chance for their big break? I'm sure we would have all been much richer for it. You know, we think of the South in those days with its segregation and we justifiably get an angry feeling. How could that happen? But, movie studios outside of the South had a system that was just as segregated, if not more. But, in this case we don't get angry thinking about it; we sigh, and say, yes, that was just how things were in those days. The difference was that MGM, RKO, Warner Bros, Goldwyn, and the other studios didn't need to put WHITE ONLY signs up- it was understood. Anyway, go rent the movie today. It's fun and you'll have a nice time.