Musicals are a relatively weak area for me. I've seen a bunch of the big ones, but certainly not all of them. Furthermore, my track record is very hit or miss, with a few that blew me away but a number I didn't like nearly as much as most people seem to. So I thought this tribute to MGM (the reigning studio of the genre) musicals would be a good way to sample some titles for possible future consumption. There were many that didn't appeal to me, but I did manage to put together a decent watchlist... made more difficult because many of the films, annoyingly, weren't identified. So now I look forward to checking out: Broadway Melody of 1940, Thousands Cheer, Good News, Two Weeks With Love, Zeigfeld Follies, The Barkleys of Broadway, Royal Wedding, Million Dollar Mermaid, and Summer Stock.I don't know if I can comment much on the merits of the film itself, since I was using it mainly as research. The idea of experiencing a slew of highlights sounds good in theory, but doesn't entirely work in practice. Of course it's fun when you're enjoying the numbers, but although it has the benefit of whetting your appetite for those films, it also makes you wish you were watching them instead. There's a cringe-worthy Twiggy-era comment about "slightly overweight chorus girls" and Liz Taylor looks stoned out of her gourd. But it's an enjoyable overview and there's a candid willingness to discuss their failures.

This is a great documentary that takes viewers back to a time when the musical was popular in cinema. With different hosts in the film you get a chance to go back in time and look at Hollywood's Gold Age and the stars that made some of the most highly regarded films ever. They don't make them like this anymore thats for sure. There is one part in the film where Frank Sinatra is talking about the dance performances of yester-year and he says you can wait forever but you will never see performances ever again like these, and with that the film cuts to a dance routine by Fred Astaire that has to be one of the greatest dance routines I've ever seen. When you think of all the planning that went into these routines it is just mind-boggling. The steps we see in this film seem to be so perfectly choreographed. An amazing film about an amazing time in Hollywood history.

It's all there on the lid; buy it for what it says there and you got no kicks coming. It's difficult to see how this could miss; on the one hand it appealed to nostalgics who'd seen most of the clips as full films the first time round whilst on another level it stood a fair chance of reaching a younger audience who had heard of, say, Astaire, Garland, and was eager to see if it was hype or not (DEFINITELY NOT). Inevitably someone is going to beef about the omission of a favourite clip(s) but like the man said you can't please everybody and really there is enough vintage dynamite here to blow the Rapper, House, Garage, whatever brigade out of the water. Easily eight stars.

In 1974, to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayor released That's Entertainment, a collection of clips from what are considered to be their greatest achievement in their long and illustrious history, the movie musical.As co-presenter and M-G-M alumni Frank Sinatra mentions in the first segment of the picture, "When it came to musicals, M-G-M, they were the champions" This is far from just a hollow boast when you consider the wealth of unquestionable evidence which is then provided to substantiate his claim.Sinatra shares the limelight with fellow M-G-M greats such as Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Lawford, James Stewart, Mickey Rooney, Gene Kelly, Donald O'Conner, Debbie Reynolds, Fred Astaire, Liza Minelli and a visiting dignitary from Paramount, Bing Crosby as they all present mini segments of the picture explaining just how and why M-G-M musicals had qualities their rivals could only ever dream of emulating.James Stewart's segment is fascinating to watch as he presents some long forgotten clips of well known dramatic actors (including himself) who were press-ganged into musicals, some with surprisingly good results. Robert Taylor, Robert Montgomery, Cary Grant and Clark Gable are all put through their musical paces for our viewing pleasure, and what a pleasure to watch it is.Mickey Rooney, follows up with a tribute to his close friend and frequent co-star Judy Garland and his tenure of the movie is crammed with clips from their many movies together including one or two Andy Hardy gems. This tribute to Garland is later fortified by her daughter Liza Minnelli as she offers her own personal and moving tribute.In my opinion however the highlight of the movies has to be Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, who in effect, do a mutual 'back scratch' as each fill their own segments with statements and clips which modestly declare the other dancer the 'best in the business' Whether or not this was a reflection of their own true feeling's or just Hollywood cheesing it up is immaterial. It does nothing to detract from the pure genius both dancers poured onto the screen throughout their careers only a sample of which are presented to us here.Bing Crosby who spent most of M-G-M's golden age across the street at Paramount, all but rounds off the movie with various clips including a couple from his only two movies in the M-G-M's musical back catalogue before he hands the reins back to Sinatra for the final epilogue.These clips represent an era long since passed and it is indeed touching to see these screen giants of yesteryear gather together for the last time in what amounts to their final roar. This is made even more touching by the fact that so many of them have since passed on.We are indeed lucky to have their testament left behind on film, so that future generations like my own children who were born long after these gifted and talented performers had either died or retired, can look upon and aspire to their genius.Whether it is in black and white or colour, whether you're 8 or 80 you will find these clips as entertaining and as fresh today as they must have seemed at the time.Never has the title to a film been more appropriate and what's more you would be hard pushed to find anyone who would dispute it.