That's Dancing!

I can't add a whole lot of critical commentary to what's already written here, so let me say why I enjoyed this film. Would have gotten 10 stars if there hadn't been a lot of stupid narration. After you hear Liza Minelli's monologue, you'll know how she got her career; born to the right people.

Anyhoo . . . FANTASTIC dancing, and great clips, even if as others have said they are not necessarily the best of the performers. I was born in 48 so a lot of this was news to me. Shirley Temple dancing with her black partner (Bo Jangles somebody) alone was worth the price of admission. An interview with Busby Berkeley on set. Anne Miller doing her thing (remember her from Mulholland Drive?) A clip from the Wizard of Oz, which was edited out, of Ray Bolger dancing up a storm. On and on.

These people don't dance . . . they float, they fly, they defy gravity and all of Newton's laws. It's a sight to behold. Fred Astaire didn't have legs, he had springs. Some people did walk out of the theatre after a few minutes, but I'll tell you, I sat there with my mouth hanging open most of this flick.

Jack Haley, Jr. was a driving force behind this film and That's Entertainment, which was released a decade earlier. As the title states, That's Dancing focuses on just that. Compared to That's Entertainment, it takes itself a bit more seriously as a documentary but is highly entertaining. It explores the early history of dance on film including brief footage of Isadora Duncan, and, like TE, showcases great numbers from the 1930's-50's with performances by Fred Astaire, Elanor Powell, Bill "Bojangles' Robinson, Gene Kelly, and the great Nicholas Brothers. TD also devotes a segment to Busby Burkley's signature work of the 1930's and a section on ballet in the movies. None of the footage overlaps with TE which make this a nice companion piece. TD takes things a step further with dance sequences from the 60-80's, including break dancing. The newer eras show dancing that is grittier, earthier, and in some cases, uglier. In a sense, the attempt to be more contemporary makes That's Dancing less likeable than That's Entertainment. However, it's not the movie's fault that newer dances are uglier; it's the civilization's.

Being a dancer, well, former dancer, I loved seeing this film when it originally came out. Felt it was a little short and still concentrated heavily on MGM. Not wanting to take out the fact that MGM WAS the greatest producer of musicals in Hollywood, but there were some others just as good and memorable from other studios. Glad it is now on DVD, and watching the extras (very poorly put together BTW)I can see that in it's original form, this film would have rated a 10 from me. Kelly says that the film originally ran well over 2 hours and is now down to just over 90 minutes. There must have also been problems in securing rights from different studios, as a lot seem to be poorly represented (20th) or not at all (Columbia). My only other complaint, and would have given more time for others, is that they almost show the entire number to represent a dancer or film. Some of the clips in That's Entertainment we a little too short, but there could have been a happy medium. I would have given up looking at the Jets for that length of time if I could have seen other BDWY to HWYD transfers as Hello, Dolly! / Mame / Grease / Guys and Dolls and especially a rarely seen film like Where's Charlie? But all in all, when the music stops and the dance is over, the fiddler has been paid and the memories linger.

this film is a must see for lovers of musicals. It's amazing how far film has come in such a short time. Great scenes from the best of the MGM musicals with narration from some of the greatest stars of those movies. Very informative and gives you a good overview of how the times affected the types of movies that were made. Wonderful music! Incredible dancing! Great fun!

This Hollywood documentary celebrates dancing in the movies. This starts with an older bundled Gene Kelly presenting a troupe of New York City break dancers. It's cheesy but endearing cheese. He points out the obvious point (which I never considered) that the movement of dance wasn't never captured in the art of the whole human history until the invention of the moving pictures. The start is mostly dancing girls doing bad dances and showing a bit of leg. Then the movie goes through various big sign posts starting with Busby Berkeley and his extravaganza of beautiful babes. There is a very young cute Sammy Davis Jr. Transitioning into his modern self. That's probably my favorite cut. Mikhail Baryshnikov has a section with ballet. It's a lot of movie clips. It becomes a highlight reel but that's fine.