Il était une fois Hollywood

In the mid-seventies, when MGM as a producing force in studio history was pretty much dead, a couple of researchers started to put together a compilation of the greatest moments from the birth of the talkie to Gigi's glut of Academy Awards at the end of the 1950s. The idea of this first 'That's Entertainment!' was to showcase the cream of the musicals, using a number of MGM's former contact stars (Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney et al) to link segments together.

The result was so breathtaking and brilliant that two further sequels followed; one almost immediately, and the third after a gap of twenty years, in time for MGM's seventieth birthday. This first compilation shows us sequences from 'An American In Paris', 'Singin' In The Rain', 'The Harvey Girls', 'Hollywood Revue', and on, and on. It has special segments devoted to Astaire, Kelly, Garland, Garland with Rooney, and, er, Esther Williams. It should give any viewer the appetite to seek out full movies they haven't seen, and to reflect with affection on those they have.

... instead it's a celebration of MGM's golden age of the musical with introductions by the big stars of that golden age, roughly 1930-1960. Frank Sinatra, Mickey Rooney, James Stewart (seriously, his earliest film roles included warbling in a MGM musical), Elizabeth Taylor, Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and many others share a few of their memories and introduce various famous musical numbers from MGM musicals. One of the biggest stars of MGM's 30s and 40s musicals, Judy Garland, had died in 1969, but Mickey Rooney had a great deal to say about her contributions and about their friendship.

If you've seen "Singin In the Rain" then the primitive nature of the very oldest musical numbers from "Broadway Melody" and "Hollywood Revue" in 1929 might be shocking in contrast to the production values of the ones from the 1940s.

What does this film not do? It doesn't go into detail as to why the movie musical went out of vogue by 1960 and why they specifically stopped being made at MGM. Tougher labor laws and the end of the studio system made large casts of extras and large stables of contract talent impossible to continue by 1960 due to expense. That MGM struggled with understanding post war movie tastes was the reason that studio had trouble specifically. In fact the studio was still struggling in 1974 when this was made and was a big hit that year for MGM.

So if you love the old musicals from Hollywood's golden age, I'd really recommend this one. If you actually want to watch a documentary on the MGM musicals, might I suggest an Episode of Great Performances entitled "Musicals Great Musicals: The Arthur Freed Unit at MGM", made in 1996.

This is a sentimental and enjoyable look back at the time when M-G-M was the premiere studio in Hollywood and had more stars than there are in the heaven. Famous musical numbers are presented by some of those legends including Fred Astaire, Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra. I just don't like the way they brag and flatter each other. Is it really necessary to tell the viewer how good they were? The audience should be able to judge for themselves. And the numbers are great, no doubt about it. Fred Astaire's tap dance with Eleanor Powell is awesome, Donald O'Connor's "Make'em laugh" is funny, Gene Kelly sings in the rain and Judy Garland sings over the rainbow. It's also fun to see dramatic actors like James Stewart, Clark Gable and Cary Grant sing and dance. That's entertainment! Rating: 4/5

This is it! This is the Holy grail of musical documentaries, the very definition of the term "They don't make 'em like this anymore.." everyone is here and in the subsequent 2 sequels. Oh, to see this in a movie theatre! 20 foot tall Gene Kelly performing "Singing In The Rain"! Busby Berkeley as his extravanganzas were meant to be seen! Definately worth watching even of you see it on video! A time capsule, a treasure. (sigh... Hollywood...)

Extremely entertaining compilation film that looks back at classic MGM musicals. If I had any real complaint it would be the clips are mostly very short and it leaves you wanting to see more. Must have been even more frustrating in 1974 when that wasn't an option. It was nice seeing some of the (literally) old stars introduce the clips. It was especially nice to see the great MGM backlot one last time before it was torn down. But man, the sight of it in such disrepair made me kind of sad. The same sadness could be seen on the faces of some of the old stars as they walk around the lot, talking about how the old place doesn't look quite the same as when they made movies there. There's a wistful feeling throughout the film. Yes, it's a celebration of these great musicals but there's also this feeling of mourning for a bygone era.