That's Entertainment III: Behind the Screen

In the mid-1970s, MGM released "That's Entertainment!" as well as "That's Entertainment! Part II". These were lovely tributes to the song and dance films of MGM during their glory days of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Suddenly, two decades later, "That's Entertainment III!" debuted and it included a lot of outtakes from the MGM vaults at Turner Entertainment in addition to the standard film clips. In addition, they created this little featurette in which nine MGM stars narrate (two of which survive today). For fans of classic Hollywood like me, this behind the scenes film is a MUST! Hearing these great dancers talk about their experiences at the studio was priceless and offered some nice behind the scenes information. It was nice seeing folks like Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and the rest---sort of like seeing old friends.

Having rewatched the first two That's Entertainment! compilation films on HD DVD and then the extras associated with them on the respective discs, I have just watched the extras on the That's Entertainment! III disc which-as on the first two-contain an intro by Robert Osborne, a theatrical trailer of the film on the disc, and a behind the scenes look of the making of said film. So for TE3, we observe the way Gene Kelly, Mickey Rooney, Ann Miller, Cyd Charisse, Debbie Reynolds, June Allyson, Esther Williams, Howard Keel, and Lena Horne prepare and shoot their linking segments. We also see them talk frankly about their former boss Louis B. Mayer (vitually everyone of whom I mentioned loved him with the exception of Kelly), how things were then, and how they could be now concerning the making of movie musicals. There's also plenty of discussion between the latest TE directors about how they came to make this one and what it entailed and how pleasurable the whole thing was especially when it came to the outtakes that was unearthed for this enterprise. Watching this, with all those stars looking back, it was just such a thrill hearing their views especially Kelly's as this would be one of the last times he'd go before the cameras before passing away a couple of years later. Since then we've also lost Ms. Miller, Ms. Charisse, Ms. Allyson, Mr. Keel, and, just a few months ago, Ms. Horne. May they all rest in eternal peace and may Mr. Rooney, Ms. Williams, and Ms. Reynolds have continued good health for the remainder of their lives. Now with all that said, I'm once again looking forward to rewatching That's Entertainment! III...

As a fan of many of MGM musicals (and such), of a number of the stars here and as someone who enjoyed the 'That's Entertainment' films greatly (the second one disappointed a little though but still had a lot to enjoy), 'That's Entertainment III: Behind the Screen' was a true gem of a documentary.

'That's Entertainment III: Behind the Screen' is everything a documentary should be, informative, illuminating, affectionate, heart-warming, charming and moving. Anybody who loves MGM or any of the stars featured here will be enthralled, it is as good a documentary as one will find anywhere and avoids all the potential problems that documentaries fall into.

It's shot beautifully and, in terms of how scenes flow and are ordered, structured in a way that's logical and never disjointed or random.

What was immediately a pleasure was seeing the whos who of talent assembled here, and just as entertaining was spotting them. It is impossible which one was my favourite, because everybody was so informative and entertaining, actually looking like they were delighted to be there, a lot of them you are able to listen to them for hours and still can't get enough. Misfires were none with no generalisations, subjective statements made to sound objective or things incorrect.

Scenes never feel too short or abrupt, nor do they feel overlong or dragged out. The information presented by these stars was so illuminating, with lovely anecdotes and such told in good humour by some and beautifully articulated always, some of which was news to me which was nice actually. Even the scenes detailing the behind the scenes for this very documentary was a joy. 'That's Entertainment III: Behind the Screen' is a perfect length and with no pacing issues at all.

Overall, fascinating and brilliantly done. Should be seen more often. 10/10 Bethany Cox