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วันจันทร์ที่ 10 กุมภาพันธ์ พ.ศ. 2563

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT and DANCING

If you read my blog yesterday (scroll down to the next post), you will by now have noted that the betting rooms missed getting the Best Film, with South Korean film Parasite upsetting 1917.  Otherwise, all the top acting performances went as predicted.

I recently completed my first binge-watching sequence (Rotten Tomatoes reviewers and audiences ratings):
I did not view them back to back to back to back, but took two days.  The series was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to initially celebrate the studio's 50th anniversary.

The title derives from That's Entertainment, by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz, introduced in the 1953 musical The Band Wagon (Rotten Tomatoes:  80/91).

The first one was loved by reviewers for its novelty and nostalgia.  Songs included:


  • "Singin' in the Rain" Prologue -



  • "The Broadway Melody" - Charles King and Chorus Girls[5]; from The Broadway Melody (1929)
  • "Rosalie" - sung by Chorus with dancing by Eleanor Powell; from Rosalie (1937)
  • "Indian Love Call" - sung by Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald; from Rose-Marie (1936)
  • "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" - from The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
  • "Begin the Beguine" - dancing by Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell; from Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
  • "The Song's Gotta Come from the Heart" - danced and sung by Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Durante; from It Happened in Brooklyn (1947)



  • "The Melody of Spring" - sung by Elizabeth Taylor; from Cynthia (1947)
  • "Honeysuckle Rose" - Lena Horne; from Thousands Cheer (1943)
  • "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" - Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra; from Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
  • "Thou Swell" - June Allyson with Pete Roberts and Eugene Cox (Lip-synced by Ramon Blackburn and Royce Blackburn)[7]; from Words and Music(1948)

  • "The Varsity Drag" - dancing by June Allyson, Peter Lawford, and Chorus Line
  • "The French Lesson" sung by June Allyson, Peter Lawford & Chorus; from Good News (1947)
  • "Aba Daba Honeymoon" - (sung by) Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter; from Two Weeks with Love (1950)
  • "It's a Most Unusual Day" - from A Date with Judy (1948)




  • "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" - dancing by Ray Bolger; sung by Ray Bolger, Judy Garland, Marjorie Main, Ben Carter[10], Virginia O'Brien, Cyd Charisse[7], and Ensemble; from The Harvey Girls (1946)



  • "It Must Be You" - dancing by a dance chorus; sung by Robert Montgomery and Lottice Howell[11]; from Free and Easy (1930)
  • "Got a Feelin' for You" - dancing by Joan Crawford; sung by Joan Crawford and Chorus[12] (introduced by Conrad Nagel)[13]; from The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)



  • "Reckless" - dancing by Jean Harlow, Rafael Alcayde, and Chorus; sung by Virginia Verrill (lip-synced by Jean Harlow) from Reckless (1935)
  • "Did I Remember" - sung by Virginia Verrill (lip-synced by Jean Harlow) and Cary Grant from Suzy (1936)
  • "Easy to Love" - sung by Marjorie Lane (lip-synced by Eleanor Powell) and James Stewart; from Born to Dance (1936)



  • "Puttin' on the Ritz" - Clark Gable and Ensemble; from Idiot's Delight (1939)
  • "Dear Mr. Gable (You Made Me Love You)" - Judy Garland from Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937




  • "Babes in Arms" - Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Douglas McPhail, Betty Jaynes[7], and Chorus; from Babes in Arms (1939)



  • "Hoe Down" - dancing by Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, and Ensemble; sung by Judy Garland[14]; from Babes on Broadway (1941)
  • "Do the La Conga" - Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland with Sidney Miller, William Tracy[15], and Chorus; from Strike Up the Band (1940)
  • "Waitin' for the Robert E. Lee" - dancing by Chorus; sung by Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland[14]
  • "Babes On Broadway" - dancing by Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland; sung by[14] Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Virginia Weidler, and Richard Quine; from Babes on Broadway (1941)
  • "Strike Up the Band" - sung by[15] Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland from Strike Up the Band (1940)

  • "The Babbitt and the Bromide" - dancing by Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire; from Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
  • "They Can't Take That Away from Me" - dancing by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers; sung by Fred Astaire; from The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)



  • "Heigh Ho the Gang's All Here" and "Let’s Go Bavarian" - danced and sung by Fred Astaire, Joan Crawford, and Chorus; from Dancing Lady (1933)[16]



  • "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" - danced and sung by Fred Astaire and Jack Buchanan; from The Band Wagon (1953)
  • "Sunday Jumps" - dancing by Fred Astaire; from Royal Wedding (1951)
  • "Shoes with Wings On" - dancing by Fred Astaire; from The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
  • "You're All the World to Me" - danced and sung by Fred Astaire; from Royal Wedding (1951)
  • "Dancing in the Dark" - dancing by Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse; from The Band Wagon (1953)

  • Esther Williams Montage:

  • "I Wanna Be Loved by You" - sung by Helen Kane (lip-synced by Debbie Reynolds) and Carleton Carpenter; from Three Little Words (1950)
  • "I Gotta Hear That Beat" - danced and sung by[18] Ann Miller; from Small Town Girl (1953)
  • "Be My Love" - sung by Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanza; from The Toast of New Orleans (1950)
  • "Make 'Em Laugh" - sung by[19] Donald O'Connor; from Singin' in the Rain (1952)
  • "Cotton Blossom" - sung by Chorus



  • "Make Believe" - sung by Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel
  • "Ol' Man River" - sung by William Warfield and Chorus; from Show Boat (1951)
  • "By Myself" - Fred Astaire from The Band Wagon (1953)
  • "Be a Clown" - dancing by Gene Kelly & The Nicholas Brothers; sung by Gene Kelly[20]; from The Pirate (1948)
  • "The Children's Dance" - Gene Kelly; from Living in a Big Way (1947)
  • "The Pirate Ballet" and "Mack the Black Dream Ballet" - Gene Kelly; from The Pirate (1948)
  • "La Cumparsita" - Gene Kelly; in Anchors Aweigh (1945)


  • "New York, New York" - danced and sung by[21] Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin; from On the Town (1949)
  • "The Worry Song" - dancing by Gene Kelly and Jerry Mouse; sung by Gene Kelly & Sara Berner[22]; from Anchors Aweigh (1945)
  • "Broadway Melody Ballet" - Gene Kelly and Ensemble; from Singin' in the Rain (1952)
  • "In the Good Old Summertime" - sung by Chorus; from In the Good Old Summertime (1949)
  • "La Cucaracha" - The Garland Sisters; from La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935)



  • "Waltz with a Swing" - Judy Garland
  • "Americana" - Judy Garland and Deanna Durbin; from Every Sunday (1936)
  • "Your Broadway and My Broadway" - dancing Judy Garland, Buddy Ebsen, Eleanor Powell, and George Murphy[23]; from Broadway Melody of 1938(1937)

  • We're Off to See the Wizard" - Judy Garland, Bert Lahr, Ray Bolger and Jack Haley and Buddy Ebsen[24]
  • "You're Off to See the Wizard" - The Munchkins
  • "If I Only Had the Nerve" - Judy Garland, Bert Lahr, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley and Buddy Ebsen[24]
  • "Over the Rainbow" - Judy Garland; from The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  • "But Not for Me" - Judy Garland from Girl Crazy (1943)
  • "The Trolley Song" - sung by[25] Judy Garland and Chorus
  • "Under the Bamboo Tree" - danced and sung by[25] Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien



  • "The Boy Next Door" - sung by[25] Judy Garland; from Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
  • "Get Happy" - Judy Garland & Chorus; from Summer Stock (1950)
  • "Going Hollywood" - Bing Crosby and Ensemble; from Going Hollywood (1933)
  • "Well, Did You Evah" - Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra
  • "True Love" - Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly; from High Society (1956)



  • "Hallelujah" - sung by Kay Armen, Ann Miller, Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Vic Damone, Russ Tamblyn, Tony Martin[26], and Chorus; from Hit the Deck (1955)
  • "Barnraising Dance (Bless Your Beautiful Hide)" - dancing by various characters; from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
  • "Gigi" - sung by Louis Jourdan
  • "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" - sung by Maurice Chevalier and Chorus; from Gigi (1958)
  • "An American in Paris Ballet" - dancing by Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, and Ensemble; from An American in Paris (1951)


    • The two middle TEs were not as well appreciated.  That's Dancing reached outside MGM.  TE3 featured previously unreleased or rarely seen archival footage, which the reviewers enjoyed.

    I wonder why Warner Brothers did not release something similar, for they produced:
    Then, of course, what about THAT'S BROADWAY!?  Then, too, I'd love to see THAT'S THE WORLD OF ENTERTAINMENT!  The best internationally becoming world-wide hits.  But there would need to be some system developed to include music going back a century or more.

    Here is a You Tube list of the 100 Most Iconic Songs of All Time.  Less than 17 minutes to watch them all.  But it is dominated by very recent singers, almost all American, and many performances were totally unrecognizable, to me. Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline is #63, Chuck Berry's 1961 Johnny B. Goode is #50.  The top ten:
    • 10  My Heart Will Go On, Celine Dion, 1997
    •   9  Lose Yourself, Eminem, 2002
    •   8  Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen, 1975
    •   7  Hey Ya!, Oukast, 2003
    •   6  Don't Stop Believin', Journey, 1981
    •   5  Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana, 1991
    •   4  Stayin' Alive, Bee Gees, 1977
    •   3  Baby One More Time, Britney Spears, 1998
    •   2  Billy Jean, Michael Jackson, 1983
    •   1  Hey Jude, The Beatles, 1968
    I spent nearly 17 minutes of my life watching that clip and seriously wonder where I had been all these recent years.  Britney Spears at #3? Nirvana at #5?  Hey Ya! at #7?  Of all time, mind you.  Where was Over the Rainbow or White Christmas or Vivaldi's Four Seasons or Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik or Amazing Grace (around 1800) or Stephen Foster's Camptown Races (1850) or Mendelssohn's Wedding March (1844) or John Philip Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever (1897) or...  Here are 100 great songs from the 1800's.  Or Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstances (1901).

    It would be difficult, indeed, to pick the top 100 songs of Humanity on Planet Earth going back to when music was first created. There must be some truly memorable ones from France (Les Marseillaise, for example), Africa, China... Harps and flutes entertained Egyptians 6000 years ago, while banging sticks and rocks might have been around since the beginning of hominids.  Of course whales have been singing for maybe 50 million years.

    All that aside, I could not find a significant list rating the absolute best music of truly international meaningfulness going back a century, or even a year.  If I succeed, maybe I'll produce a film on the subject.  Then again, maybe THESE ARE THE WORST MUSIC EFFORTS OF ALL TIME! might find some campy relevance.  Wikipedia has a list of them...but they're mostly from the USA, so not quite universal or covering much of time.

    -
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