July 1994 By Philip Berk
That’s Entertainment III, not quite.
Remember the first, That’s Entertainment, 20 years ago.That one was magic. Even if you were familiar with the old MGM musicals (they used to be a staple on Channel 11 before Fox bought the station; I even remember seeing Annie Get Your Gun! on that channel before Irving Berlin put a stop to that) you were still dazzled by the clips which, not surprisingly, were the best of the bunch.
Part II seemed more like a bargain basement effort. Still another attempt to tap the mother lode, called That’s Dancing, never quite got off the floor.
Now we have Part III, produced, written, and directed by the two energetic editors responsible for the wonderful clips of Part 1.
As a compilation piece, Part III is infinitely better than Part II mainly because it doesn’t give the appearance of being a TV special. The linkage between featured star and clips is far less self serving and condescending.
But there’s a new problem this time: there just aren’t enough good numbers left in the vault.
What there are, are excerpted rather than run in their entirety. Was this a stipulation of Turner Broadcasting, which owns the film library (it purchased it a couple of years ago) so as not to jeopardize its multi million dollar investment! (At the time most experts thought Ted Turner had overpaid for it, but the success of TNT has proven them wrong.)
Not that the film isn’t great fun, but unless you come prepared to see a documentary rather than a musical (the most interesting clips show us what happened behind the scenes) you will be disappointed.
The number of musical moments that knock you dead are few and far between; there are some, however, that will take your breath away.
Such as, Fred Astaire’s unmatched artistry in his number with Eleanor Powell (from Broadway Melody of 1940), Gene Kelly’s balletic grace in his “American in Paris” solo (drastically truncated), and Cyd Charice’s knock-out number from It’s Always Fair Weather.
You will also be surprised by Lorenz Hart’s witty lyrics for the Hollywood Party clip, Nancy Walker’s vitality in Best Foot Forward (why didn’t she rather than June Allyson become the star?) Irving Berlin’s “Shakin’ the Blues Away” (as sung by both Ann Miller and Doris Day, it’s among the best standards of all time), and the amazing Dolores Grey (what a voice!) and Lena Horne (what a talent!)
The “Who?” number from Till the Clouds Roll By is also eye popping. I couldn’t make up my mind what dazzled me more, Judy Garland’s electricity or the brilliant choreography.
Donald O’Connor and Gene Kelly’s “Fit as a Fiddle” from Singin’ in the Rain. confirms its reputation as the greatest musical ever made.
Unfortunately, too many of the “awful” numbers are allowed to run far longer than necessary, and most of the ones that make your heart skip a beat are brutally cut.
The Irving Berlin estate (or was it the Rodgers and Hammerstein Estate that controls the show) has finally allowed us to see clips from Annie Get Your Gun. The much anticipated “I’m an Indian, Too” (featuring Judy Garland) is somewhat of a let down, and for that matter so is the “Anything You Can Do” number with Betty Hutton and Howard keel. Couldn’t they have chosen a different number?.
Judy, however, is sensational singing “How About You?” Her “Mr. Monotony” isn’t as good because, let’s face it, it’s not a great song. I can understand why it was cut from Easter Parade.
If you love musicals as I do, you won’t be able to resist its compilation of leftovers, but don’t expect too much.