That's Dancing!

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.

A wonderful documentary about dance and some of the greatest dance film stars ever. Ive recently seen it and enjoyed it!But must say that I thought the dancing from the 70's and 80's wasn't a 'spectacular' as the dance numbers from the 30's and 40's. I rate it a 8/10 stars. ********

Those who love dance of any kind and classic film will be thrilled with That's Dancing! Some segments are too short and some of the narration I agree is obtrusive(especially for the 42nd Street number)- there could have been much less of the talking over scenes- and not always necessary(the opinion on break-dancing, went on for a little too long and it did ramble a bit). The hosting is mixed, Gene Kelly is very engaging and informative and while he's not always easy to understand Mikhail Baryshnikov also says things of good value but didn't get a huge amount out of Liza Minelli. That's Dancing! is still splendid stuff though, it's skilfully filmed and the editing of the footage is done slickly and not awkwardly. The music of course is outstanding and of good variety, good that it showed more than one style or genre rather than just one without skimming the surface, and the dancing even better, especially in the Busby Berkeley, Nicholas Brothers, Flashdance, West Side Story and Fred and Ginger numbers. The scenes featured feature some deserved classics like Pick Yourself Up, Night and Day, Forty-Second Street(pretty much anything with Busby Berkeley's involvement in fact), Broadway Rhythm and If Only I Had a Brain/We're Off to See the Wizard(in an extended scene cut from the film), as well as the ballet sequence from The Red Shoes and the scene from Yankee Doodle Dandy. And of all the stars featured the ones that stood out were Fred and Ginger(obviously, it would be a crime really to miss them out), Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, Shirley Temple and Bojangles Robinson, Eleanor Powell, Ann Miller and the Nicholas Brothers tap-dance(the Wizard of Oz extended cut scene was charming though if too long, you can understand why it was cut). In conclusion, a very good documentary with the best stuff splendid. 8/10 Bethany Cox

'That's Dancing' followed the first two instalments of 'That's Entertainment', but this time opens the net a bit wider to include material recorded elsewhere than MGM. Using the definition of dance at its widest, we get some really early stuff, a section on ballet (fascinating, but Baryshnikov was not the greatest communicator in the world as a presenter and it is a shame he fronts this segment), and finish up to date with the disco fever of John Travolta and moon-walking of Michael Jackson.

Along the way you'll see most of the usual suspects - 42nd Street, Fred and Ginger, Gene, and many more. But they are cobbled together with no rhyme or reason, and, as in the second 'That's Entertainment' in particular, the presenters talk over many of the clips. Better to let us see and admire without commentary. Recommended for musical fans and curious dance aficionados (but those looking for modern dance need really to look elsewhere).