9/10
That's Entertainment, Part II was a very entertaining compliment to its predecessor
16 June 2010
After a little more than 30 years, I watched That's Entertainment, Part II again on HD DVD. This time, Gene Kelly directed himself and Fred Astaire in new dance sequences with new lyrics to the title number that originally was in Astaire's The Band Wagon. They help introduce many segments that prove these numbers-despite some corniness of some lyrics-a little more entertaining than the written-if partially stilted-intros of the previous TE. Also appearing in a new segment was songwriter Sammy Cahn who segues to many scenes of characters in the process of writing a song of which one of the most entertaining was one depicting composing "Tales from the Vienna Woods". Oh, and it was interesting seeing Jack Benny just before they mention a couple of songwriters a few feet from him: Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, later producer of many of the great musicals showcased in both these compilations. Oh, and while there was still some overwhelmingness on the part of many musical clips coming one after another, they were at least partly broken by some comedy clips-represented by Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, and The Marx Brothers-and some dramatic ones, whether by a series of Tracy and Hepburn scenes or by many famous lines from either Clark Gable or Greta Garbo. Oh, and unlike many reviewers here, I highly enjoyed the Bobby Van jumping number. If there was one sequence I could have done without, it was all those "goodbye" scenes from the James Fitzpatrick travelogue shorts series which I would have been confused about had I not already known about them. Also have to compliment former M-G-M animators Hanna-Barbera for providing some new animation during one of the new linking segments. So on that note, That's Entertainment, Part II comes highly recommended.
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