At first I thought this was going to be a poor country cousin to "That's Entertainment!" but I found that it grew in power as it progressed.
Lovely elements:
1) An older Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold recalling their romance differently in a charming duet on a park bench from "Gigi" (1949) -- "I remember it well..."
2) Gene Kelly tap dancing in roller skates in "It's Always Fair Weather" (1955), experiencing a self-esteem moment ("She likes me, so so do I").
3) Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing together for the last time on film in "The Barclays of Broadway" (1949). Astaire in particular is such a joy to behold -- not only in film clips, but in his narration of this film along with the less-interesting (in my view) Kelly.
4) The amazing water-ski spectacle starring Esther Williams from "Easy in Love" (1953).
TCM announcer Ben Mankiewicz notes that great dancers not included in this installment include Eleanor Powell and the Robinson Brothers. I had never heard of the latter. If you crave some truly shockingly amazing dancing, look up the latter on youtube.
This installment quite unnecessarily includes snippets of non-musical comedy (i.e., Laurel and Hardy), which I found detracted.
But I was happy enough with this film that I'm definitely looking forward to "That's Entertainment III." These films remind us of treasures all too easily forgotten and overlooked.
Lovely elements:
1) An older Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold recalling their romance differently in a charming duet on a park bench from "Gigi" (1949) -- "I remember it well..."
2) Gene Kelly tap dancing in roller skates in "It's Always Fair Weather" (1955), experiencing a self-esteem moment ("She likes me, so so do I").
3) Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing together for the last time on film in "The Barclays of Broadway" (1949). Astaire in particular is such a joy to behold -- not only in film clips, but in his narration of this film along with the less-interesting (in my view) Kelly.
4) The amazing water-ski spectacle starring Esther Williams from "Easy in Love" (1953).
TCM announcer Ben Mankiewicz notes that great dancers not included in this installment include Eleanor Powell and the Robinson Brothers. I had never heard of the latter. If you crave some truly shockingly amazing dancing, look up the latter on youtube.
This installment quite unnecessarily includes snippets of non-musical comedy (i.e., Laurel and Hardy), which I found detracted.
But I was happy enough with this film that I'm definitely looking forward to "That's Entertainment III." These films remind us of treasures all too easily forgotten and overlooked.