That's Entertainment, Part II

That's Entertainment, Part II

Theatrical poster
Directed by Gene Kelly
Produced by Saul Chaplin
Daniel Melnick
Written by Leonard Gershe
Starring Fred Astaire
Gene Kelly
Music by Nelson Riddle
Edited by David Bretherton
Production
company
Distributed by United Artists
Release dates
  • May 16, 1976 (1976-05-16)
Running time
 126 minutes
Country United States
Language English

That's Entertainment, Part II is a 1976 motion picture by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and a sequel to the 1974 documentary That's Entertainment!.[1] 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 location footage of Kelly returning to Paris, the city featured in two of MGM's most famous productions, An American in Paris and Gigi. This was the last film Kelly directed.

Several new musical numbers featured 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, though the veteran actor continued to make film and TV appearances into the 1980s; Kelly would go on to appear in the 1980 musical Xanadu.) 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 actually wishes for out loud during his narration of the first That's Entertainment! film.

The opening title sequence was designed by Saul Bass, and pays homage to the range and style of title sequences produced between the 1930s and early 1950s.

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, with Kelly once again appearing.

Appearances

Films shown

Musical numbers

References

  1. ↑ Variety film review; May 5, 1976, page 18.
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