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That's Entertainment!: The Complete Collection | 12107__thats_l
LORDS OF THE DANCE Astaire and Kelly
That's Entertainment: Everett Collection

Credits

Rated: G; DVD Release Date: Oct 12, 2004; Genres: Documentary, Musical
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By Steve Daly
Steve Daly
Steve Daly
Steve Daly is a senior writer at EW, and also author of EW.com's Money Shot column

It's labeled The Complete Collection and for sheer bulk, this roundup of all three original That's Entertainment! feature films is a testament to the staggering storage capacity of DVDs. As a one-stop-shopping avalanche of snippets from vintage MGM musicals (plus some comedy and drama in Part 2 and neat behind-the-scenes footage in No. 3), it may not deliver the intensely nostalgic jolt the original theatrical releases did. But the hosting segments built around the clips are more poignant than ever, forming a sort of de facto Michael Apted documentary. As at any glittery class reunion, it's all about which familiar faces — Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Cyd Charisse, June Allyson — are aging more or less gracefully than the others. (Pardon our claws, but you will not believe Ann Miller's hair and nose metamorphoses through the years.)

EXTRAS A hoot of a Mike Douglas Show with Debbie Reynolds and Nanette Fabray wryly debunking old-Hollywood myths; smart tributes to MGM's filmmakers, including tyrannical Busby Berkeley (''He lacked compassion,'' says Miller bluntly); plus oodles of cut production numbers, including Allyson's hilarious proto-feminist lament, ''An Easier Way.''


Posted Oct 15, 2004
 

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