Warner Bros. has cobbled together six more M-G-M musicals from Hollywood's heyday of the genre for a follow-up to their well-received first volume: Classic Musicals from The Dream Factory. Included in this seven-disc, second volume set are: 1948's The Pirate; 1948's Words and Music; 1949's That Midnight Kiss; 1950's The Toast of New Orleans; 1951's Royal Wedding; 1952's The Belle of New York; and the 1985 documentary That's Dancing!, along with a slew of extras including original trailers, vintage shorts, cartoons, and newly produced commentaries and behind-the-scenes featurettes. Filling in some blanks for DVD fans of Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, as well as the first two starring efforts of singing sensation Mario Lanza, Classic Musicals from The Dream Factory: Volume 2 is a nicely assembled package of some lesser musicals from M-G-M's golden days that no doubt will please completists and fans of the musical genre - as well as offering a cheaper way of obtaining all of these titles, which are much more expensive in their stand alone releases. Let's look at the individual films by release date (and if you don't want to read spoilers, you can skip down to the very bottom of the review, and read my final thoughts on the entire box set).

THE PIRATE

Lush beauty Manuela (Judy Garland) dreams of visiting the Caribbean just once before she's ensnared into an arranged marriage with the town mayor, Don Pedro Vargas (Walter Slezak). Why does Manuela dream of visiting the Caribbean? Because she's suffused with the daydream-exploits of the infamous pirate Macoco (or "Mack the Black"), exploits embellished with romantic derring-do. At Port Sebastian, meanwhile, Serafin the Great (Gene Kelly), a traveling magician and actor, spies the lovely Manuela and offers his love (or at least his temporary affection), which she spurns.

Attending Serafin's performance that night, Manuela is hypnotized by Serafin and reveals her secret lust for Macoco. When, by fate, Serafin discovers that Don Pedro Vargas is the real Macoco, he uses the information to blackmail not only Vargas, but also the town, demanding, as Macoco, that Manuela be brought to him as booty (that's what I said). While the town pleads with Manuela to give herself to the pirate, she wastes no time in running to her romantic idol - only to find out he's an imposter. Sentenced to death by Vargas (which will seal his newly assumed identity forever), Serafin requests a final performance as his last request. Will he reveal the identity of the real Macoco?

The Pirate has always been one of those films that a film historians and critics endlessly debate as to whether or not it's successful, with the drama of those arguments somehow carried over into whether or not ticket buyers and fans enjoyed the film as well. Popular but not a smash with moviegoers when it first appeared in 1948, its excessive costs (due to endless production delays associated mainly with failing star Garland) precluded a profit for M-G-M, and that "failure" now becomes part of the discussion on the merits of the film.

I've always found The Pirate to be a light, fun musical (as I suspect most viewers as thought back in 1948), with occasional flashes of brilliance here and there, which only falls apart during the ill-advised conclusion. Deliberately overblown, with a comic opera sound and look to the proceedings, The Pirate often times substitutes manic noise and a flurry of activity for real wit or even low-down comedy, but with these two stars involved, one doesn't mind the sometimes erratic tone of the piece. Kelly's spoofy take on Douglas Fairbank's, Jr. (with some John Barrymore blarney thrown in as well) has been roundly criticized, but I enjoyed it; it's nice to see Kelly, who can at times come off too stiff and distracted in his non-dancing sequences, let loose a little bit here and camp it up. As for his dancing, it's on par with his better film numbers (I particularly enjoyed the Nina dance sequence with the poles), and the Pirate Ballet is justifiably famous.

Garland, too, has been singled out for a harried, tone-shifting performance here, but so much of these later observations are often colored by the constant references back to Garland's personal life. It's almost impossible now to watch a Garland performance in any film and not try to weigh it against her sensationalistic personal troubles. In The Pirate, she's alternately demure and vixenish (I love it when she lets down that mane of red hair during the Mack the Black number), and as always, she's compelling regardless of what mood may be striking her during a take. And she's quite funny, too, which she never seemed to get across as often as she should have in her other roles (when she does a full-on pratfall faint, complete with rolling her eyes back in her head, it's one of the few really laugh-out-loud moments in the film). As for the voice, who couldn't listen to that instrument and marvel at its utterly unique qualities?

As for the Cole Porter score, it may not be one of his best - or even one of his average ones - but even sub-par Porter is better than most other composer's high notes. The show-stopper Nina, with its purposefully ridiculous rhymes ("neurasthenia" and "schizophrenia" and "gardenia"), as well as the legendary Be A Clown stand up well today. As for director Vincent Minnelli, he brings a ripe, overwrought comic opera tone to the whole film that is a success at least at the art direction level (who else but Minnelli, after all, can tastefully pull off lurid garishness?), but frequently, the picture's messy construction defeats his efforts at spoofy lightness. In particular, the final denouement is disastrously conceived, with the audience set up to see Slezak get his comeuppance, only to switch abruptly to Kelly and Garland singing Be a Clown. Fun in most spots, with some good songs and better dancing, The Pirate doesn't need to be a tortured classic to find interest with fans of the musical genre.

The DVD:

The Video:
The Technicolor registration for The Pirate looks quite good, with colors saturated and only occasional minor color washes and fades apparent.

The Audio:
I found the Dolby Digital English mono soundtrack to be consistent and strong, with occasional flutter here and there that wasn't too distracting. English and French subtitles are available.

The Extras:
Fans of The Pirate will no doubt welcome the slew of extras included here. First up, there's an informative, entertaining commentary track by John Fricke. Next, The Pirate: A Magical Treasure Chest, running almost nineteen minutes, gives a good low-down on the troubled production as well as a fair assessment of the film. To complete your full 1948 theater experience, a short subject is included (a Pete Smith Specialty entitled You Can't Win, with Dave O'Brien), along with a 1948 Tom and Jerry cartoon, Cat Fishin'. There's also a stereo remix available for the Mack the Black number (which is pretty cool), as well as radio interviews with Kelly (for On the Town) and Garland (for The Pirate). Audio outtakes are included for Mack the Black, Love of My Life, and Voodoo. Roger Edens guide track versions are included, and finally, an original theatrical trailer. That's a lot of extras for this film.

Final Thoughts:
Kelly struts and preens and leaps around like Fairbanks, and Garland laughs, and mugs, and pratfalls. And of course sings like an angel, too. The Pirate may not have the best Cole Porter score, or the finest of the famed "Minnelli touch," but taken on its own without paying attention to its tortuous backstory, it can prove to be fun despite its fall-short artistic reach. I recommend The Pirate.

WORDS AND MUSIC

An almost totally fabricated biopic about the songwriting team of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Words and Music is structured as a flashback, with Richard Rodgers (Tom Drake) directly addressing the audience, detailing how he met Hart (Mickey Rooney), and their careers together before Hart's early death. Rodgers, a struggling composer, is brought by stage author Herbert Fields (Marshall Thompson) to meet Lorenz Hart, a rapid-fire ball of energy lyricist who's looking for a partner. Initially taken aback by Hart's demeanor, Rodgers is soon won over by Hart's musicality, and agrees to work with him.

After years of beating down doors with no success, the team almost splits up, until they're offered a chance to score a Broadway charity event, the Garrick Gaities. Wowing the critics and the public, the team is launched into the forefront of Broadway success. But dark demons prey on Hart, who suffers terribly from unrequited love for actress Peggy McNeil (Betty Garrett). Disappearing for weeks and even months at a time, Hart always returns just in time to hastily scribble down lyrics for some of the most memorable titles in the American songbook. Meanwhile, Rodgers finds love and happiness with Dorothy (Janet Leigh), and eventually winds up in Hollywood, where he invites a struggling Hart. But a return trip to New York to do a show is marred by the disappearance again of Hart, who has suffered a final rejection by McNeil. Hart's eventual return to Rodgers is a short one; he's seriously ill, and dies at the age of 48.

Words and Music, a big-scale M-G-M production that was sizeable hit when first released, is correctly viewed today in light of the whitewashing that typically went on in Hollywood biopics. The fact that the unattractive Hart in real life was gay, piques the interest of current historians looking for examples of gay suppression in Hollywood productions from this time period. Often not mentioned, though, is the fact that old-time Hollywood almost always changed around the facts and realities of historical figures for their biopics, regardless of their sexuality or other aspects of their private lives. Everybody received a clean coat of whitewash back then, from Davey Crockett to Juarez to Woodrow Wilson to Lorenz Hart. That's why so many biopics from that time period have a palpable sameness to their construction and feel.

And Words and Music is no different. A complicated, rich life lead by Hart is distilled down to one or two dramatic signposts to create a framework for the numerous musical numbers that are trotted out. Hart's complex suffering is reduced to a totally erroneous heterosexual longing for an actress, with his troubles beginning and ending there. Rodgers comes off even worse; as portrayed by Tom Drake, he's merely a stooge for the more flamboyant Hart's suffering, coming off as almost a complete cipher as a character (it doesn't help that good-guy Drake plays him so blandly, either). So it shouldn't come as such a shock to new viewers that Hart's gayness was eliminated from the film; had he some other orientation or a different set of life facts, chances are they'd be altered or eliminated (or created out of wholecloth), too.

So throwing out any sense of actually getting to know these real-life men for who they really were, we're left with the music of Words and Music, and fortunately, M-G-M apparently spared no expense to present those immortal classics such as Mountain Greenery, Blue Moon, Thou Swell, With a Song in My Heart, The Lady is a Tramp, I Wish I Were in Love Again, and Blue Moon, in the best possible manner. Big time M-G-M stars like Lena Horne, June Allyson, Perry Como, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, and Ann Southern drop in and knock out some fairly elaborate production numbers, while ball-of-fire Mickey Rooney peripatetically runs back and forth, showing why he may have been the most versatile star M-G-M ever had. Old-hand director Norman Taurog, never exactly known for a scintillating directorial style, nevertheless keeps the paper-thin script moving along, even though after the 30 minute mark (with another 90 minutes to go), all points have been made. Largely absent from lists of prominent musicals from that period, Words and Music survives today as a pleasant catalogue of Rodgers and Hart's playbook, but sinks as anything else but clichéd, fabricated Hollywood biography.

The DVD:

The Video:
There's occasional grain and a couple of times were the Technicolor register went off slightly, but overall, it's a solid video image presented for Words and Music, with nice detail.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono is clear and sharp; English and French subtitles are available.

The Extras:
There are some great extras included for Words and Music. First, there's an excellent commentary track from historian Richard Barrios (who was great on a recent month-long look at homosexuality in the movies on TCM). Next, there's a new featurette, A Life in Words and Music, which runs twenty minutes and which does an excellent job at looking at the differences between the screen and real-life Rodgers and Hart. Next, there's a vintage short subject, Theatre of Life: Going to Blazes, which runs for twenty-one minutes and which examines life at a firehouse (I have no idea why it's included here). Next, there's a classic cartoon from Tex Avery (and one of my personal favorites), The Cat Who Hated People. Two outtakes for Lover and You're Nearer are included, along with the original theatrical trailer.

Final Thoughts:
Worthless as biography, and fairly routine as an example of a typical Hollywood biopic, Words and Music does have those lovely, haunting 22 songs by Rodgers and Hart, and those 14 big M-G-M stars to recommend it.

THAT MIDNIGHT KISS

Evidently, wealthy dowager Abigail Trent Budell (Ethyl Barrymore) controls a large slice of Philadelphia. In her efforts to bring culture to the city, she's financed her own symphony, conducted by the one and only Jose Iturbi (himself). And now she plans on creating her own opera company to showcase her granddaughter Prudence's (Kathryn Grayson) trained coloratura soprano voice. Unfortunately, Prudence can't sing directly to famous tenor Guido Betelli (Thomas Gomez) - nor to anyone else, for that matter - because she keeps breaking up (Betelli is rather portly). Told by an irritated Jose to find a handsome tenor to sing with, Prudence happens upon handsome Johnny Donnetti (Mario Lanza), a regular working stiff who just happens to be playing Prudence's piano one day (he made a delivery to her house; he's a truck driver). And wouldn't you know it? He's a superb tenor, too. Problem solved for Prudence and Jose.

But not so fast. Prudence, working with the charismatic Johnny and rapidly falling in love with him, soon discovers that Mary (Marjorie Reynolds) is in love with Johnny and that they're a couple. Feeling betrayed, Prudence refuses to see Johnny anymore, and he quits the opera company. Will star-crossed lovers Prudence and Johnny get back together again, and put on a show for Philadelphia opera lovers?

To call That Midnight Kiss thin-going is to be kind. Innocuous, certainly, but there's not a whole lot there except standard "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl" plotting that stretches your patience at 98 minutes. Fortunately, there's a lot of singing to keep you occupied, and if you enjoy popularized opera (it's okay), you'll like That Midnight Kiss. This was singing sensation Mario Lanza's feature film debut. Now, I can't see it today, but evidently, Lanza was something of a superstar in his day, right down to having thousands of young groupies screaming for him at appearances. Watching him in That Midnight Kiss, it's apparent that he has the potential to become a competent, if relatively unexciting, leading man. His inexperience shows up occasionally, but overall, he handles his first leading role (without any prior acting experience, I believe), quite well. And that voice. I never knew Lanza wasn't actually a legitimate opera singer (as explained in a featurette included on this disc), but to this admittedly untrained ear, he sounds like the real deal. Grayson, who reportedly didn't get along with Lanza, seems perturbed by his beefy presence. There's not a lot of natural chemistry between them, but her angelic voice more than compensates for the awkward romantic scenes with Mario.

The DVD:

The Video:
That Midnight Kiss doesn't look half bad, but there are definitely times when the Technicolor registration goes awry. The picture goes soft at certain points, too, but overall, a decent presentation for a little-seen film.

The Audio:
Too bad there isn't an optional stereo remix for those duets between Lanza and Grayson, but the Dolby Digital English mono does the trick well enough. English and French subtitles are available.

The Extras:
As thin as That Midnight Kiss's story is, the extras are as well, in comparison to the other releases in this box set. There's a Pete Smith Specialty comedy sports short subject entitled Sports Oddities (doesn't have much connection with the main feature), along with a great Tex Avery Droopy cartoon, Senor Droopy. There's an outtake for One Love of Mine, as well as the original theatrical trailer.

Final Thoughts:
With a plot that shouldn't fill out more than a short subject, That Midnight Kiss at least introduces us to new movie star Mario Lanza. He may need work on his thesping, but he brings a sincere energy to his awkwardness that's endearing. And that powerful tenor voice is something to hear. Recommended for Lanza completists.

THE TOAST OF NEW ORLEANS

In turn of the century Bayou Minou, fisherman Pepe Abellard Duvalle (Mario Lanza) laughs and loves his life away among the earthy peasants who populate that happy bayou (hey, that's how M-G-M presents it). Into this world comes New Orleans opera star, Suzette Micheline (Kathryn Grayson), who is wary of the boisterous, admiring fisherman. Accompanying Suzette to Bayou Minou is Jacques Riboudeaux (David Niven), the opera company managing director. Hearing Pepe sing, he encourages him to come to New Orleans, but Pepe is happy staying a fisherman.

A vicious storm, however, ruins Uncle Nicky Duvalle's (J. Carrol Naish) boat, and he and Pepe travel to New Orleans to take Jacques up on his offer. Jacques, entreating Suzette to help smooth off Pepe's rough edges, sets out to remake Pepe as a cultured opera star. Soon, with Suzette's help, Pepe is reborn as a star of the opera stage, but he's also changed - something his friends notice when they come to visit him in New Orleans. Will Pepe regain his earthy charm and take Suzette as his own?

Frequently ridiculous, at least The Toast of New Orleans has the good sense to not try and be anything else than what it is: a B-movie romance with some excellent singing included. Lanza, in his second outing, already appears about ready to burst out of his too-tight jacket, and with his wild, curly hair (looking not unlike Cornel Wilde), he frequently looks like he's scaring poor Kathryn Grayson to death, as if he's going to stomp on her or squeeze the life out of her. You have to give Lanza credit; not trained professionally as an actor, he comes off quite likeable, displaying a knack for comedy that surprised me (his scene with Niven and Grayson, where he's overly polite when visiting her, is adeptly executed by Lanza). Certainly he's no match for the expertise of bored, utterly wasted David Niven (what he's doing in this film I have no idea), but had he taken care of himself better, and controlled the temper and weight that sabotaged his career, he might have stayed on as a dependable light leading man.

However, no one could salvage the painfully thin premise of The Toast of New Orleans. There just isn't any substance to the story, and what little plot there is, is familiar from a hundred other better films. Fortunately, as with That Midnight Kiss, the singing saves the experience (as does director Norman Taurog's uninspired yet speedy direction), with Lanza and Grayson trilling magnificently. Again, I'm an untrained ear, but Lanza's powerful, expressive singing is the equal of anything I've ever heard from another opera tenor; his signature tune, Be My Love, may start you out giggling (it's way over the top), but eventually you hear the craft and expertise in Lanza's phrasing, and you wind up seriously impressed.

The DVD:

The Video:
The full screen video image for The Toast of New Orleans looks fine, with the Technicolor in register most of the time, with a clear, clean print.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono soundtrack may be a tad drab, but remember; that was how the film was intended to be heard. English and French subtitles are available.

The Extras:
There's a 56-minute documentary from 2005, Mario Lanza - Singing to the Gods, that looks at the tragic life of the great singer. Big holes are left out of the examination, though, such as his drug use and how he kept getting those film deals when the documentary keeps telling us his movie career was over. Next, there are two vintage Fitzpatrick Traveltalk short subjects - Modern New Orleans and Old New Orleans - that are interesting. There's also an original theatrical trailer for The Toast of New Orleans.

Final Thoughts:
An improvement over his first starring role, Mario Lanza's follow-up, The Toast of New Orleans wastes the talents of David Niven, and doesn't give much breathing room for poor Kathryn Grayson, but Mario Lanza sings Be My Love, and that's hard to argue with right there. Silly, overplayed, but at least energetic, The Toast of New Orleans is recommended for Lanza fans.

ROYAL WEDDING

A chipper little favorite of mine, Royal Wedding stars Fred Astaire and Jane Powell as brother and sister dance act, Tom and Ellen Bowen. Managed by Irving Klinger, as well as his British twin brother Edgar (Keenan Wynn in a dual role), the Bowens are booked for an appearance during the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth of England. After Ellen says goodbye to her two sparring beaus, they leave for England by ship, where Ellen encounters Lord John Brindale (Peter Lawford), a noble on his way to attend the royal wedding. Once in England, Ellen and John pursue romance, while Tom pursues dancer Anne Ashmond (Sarah Churchill), a tall, leggy beauty who's unfortunately engaged to an absentee fiancé. Romantic complications ensue, of course, with the team almost breaking up. Will the two couples celebrate their own royal weddings?

Royal Wedding was celebrated director Stanley Donen's first solo outing behind the camera, and his spirited direction is evident right from the start. Shooting with an air of spontaneity (even though of course we know everything was choreographed down the last step), Donen's infectious energy permeates Royal Wedding, and moves the admittedly slight story by Alan Jay Lerner along at a rapid clip. Of course, Royal Wedding contains two of the most famous dance sequences ever committed to film: Fred's duet with a coat rack and his iconic dance upon the walls and ceiling of his stateroom. Watching the coat rack scene, Fred's ability to get that thing spinning perfectly in synch with his movements almost steals the scene; we're so busy marveling at his acrobatics, we forget sometimes to watch Fred. And the "dancing on the ceiling" sequence still astounds you with its perfectly choreographed artistry. Today, they'd CGI it, and it would look totally phoney. Here, caveman technology (they literally spun the set around Fred) creates seamless illusion.

I also love how Donen treats Powell. Royal Wedding was the first chance Powell had to act sexy and adult, and Donen brings that out of her very well, with her tough-girl How Could You Believe Me...? number with Fred. Moving it around real nice, Powell really surprised me when I first saw her do this broad vaudeville number (she had previously only played sweet, innocent little girls), matched by Astaire's enthusiastic mugging. Naturally, Astaire is grace personified here, but it's obvious he's responding to a fresh face behind the camera, and comes up with another charming performance. Only Churchill and Lawford, in minor, throwaway roles, fail to ignite any sparks here. The clumsy staging of the finale, as the couples sort out their marriages, takes the shine off the spectacular I Left My Hat in Haiti number, but overall, Royal Wedding certainly clocks in as one of the best of M-G-M's "golden days" musicals.

The DVD:

The Video:
Royal Wedding's full-frame video image is sparkly clear, with little or no compression issues, and a Technicolor register that stays true. Colors are saturated.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono soundtrack is acceptable if bland. English and French subtitles are included.

The Extras:
Some fun extras are included on the Royal Wedding disc. First, there's a TCM Private Screenings with Stanley Donen, hosted by Robert Osborne. It's terrific and informative. Next, there's a new featurette on the making of Royal Wedding: Royal Wedding: June, Judy and Jane, that runs 16 minutes and details the harried production. Next, there's a fun Droopy cartoon, Droopy's Double Trouble, along with a classic Tex Avery cartoon, The Car of Tomorrow. There's an outtake of Lawford's Every Night at Seven, along with radio interviews with Powell and Astaire. The original trailer is included, too.

Final Thoughts:
Frothy, perky, with a delightful sense of fun and excitement, Royal Wedding may not sport the most dense script, but the dance sequences are spectacular, and Powell and Astaire are a dynamite team. I highly recommend Royal Wedding.

THE BELLE OF NEW YORK

In turn of the century New York, playboy Charlie Hill (Fred Astaire) keeps his many female admirers at bay, while his mother, Mrs. Phineas Hill (Marjorie Main), despairs that he'll never meet Mrs. Right. At a welfare/revival house run by Angela Bonfils (Vera-Ellen), it seems that all the males of New York City gather outside her office to sing her praises (that's the film's opening scene). Sponsored by Mrs. Hill, Angela also despairs that she'll never meet Mr. Right. Naturally, Charlie and Angela are destined to meet, and when they do, he immediately makes a negative impression.

However, she feels sorry for the "uptown swell," and he pledges to track her down and impress her with his sincerity and love. Accepting her challenge to work a regular job, the rich, lazy Charlie soon tries street sweeping, being a messenger, and street car conducting, which finally convinces Angela that he's sincere. They fall in love, and plan to marry, but Charlie stands her up on her wedding day. At the insistence of her friend, Elsie Wilkins (Alice Pearce), Angela decides to play the "bad girl," which, for reasons never explained adequately in the movie, both feel will convince Charlie to marry her. Well, it works. When Angela is hit on by a nasty customer at the casino where Charlie works as a waiter, he defends Angela's honor, and she forgives him. They both leave the casino, and literally walk up and away into the night sky.

It's easy to see the gilt and paste that went into patching up the creaky, threadbare script of The Belle of New York, chief among them the two blue screen sequences where Fred appears to walk and dance in the air. Technically suspect, even back then, the sequences play badly today, not only because they're ineptly executed, but because they smack of desperation in trying to recreate a moment like the ceiling dance in Royal Wedding. Designed more for special effects than for integrity to the plot, these sequences just show up the paltriness of The Belle of New York's script. Fred has a few good sequences, including the sandman I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man number and the nicely designed Currier and Ives tableaus, and Vera-Ellen, trapped in floor length skirts for the entire run time, finally gets to show off the best legs in Hollywood during the devastatingly sexy tease number, Naughty But Nice. But really, that's about all there is to The Belle of New York. The terrific Main is not used at all, and Keenan Wynn shows up for about a second or two. Finally, there just isn't anything underneath the various dance sequences in The Belle of New York to hold our attention; good stars are left with nothing but special effects and dance numbers we don't care about. The Belle of New York is at best, minor M-G-M.

The DVD:

The Video:
The full screen video image for The Belle of New York looks quite good, with a squeaky clean print and good, solid Technicolor registration.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English mono soundtrack is serviceable, but nothing special. English and French subtitles are available.

The Extras:
There's not much in the way of extras for The Belle of New York (just like there's not much to the film itself). There's a Pete Smith Specialties entitled Musiquiz #16: What's Your I.Q.?, along with a hilarious Tex Avery Butch cartoon, Magical Maestro. There's an alternate (inferior) take of I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man, along with the original theatrical trailer.

Final Thoughts:
Too sparse to be anything more than mildly pleasant, the planned special effect sequences of Fred dancing in the air come off as contrived and technically deficient. Vera-Ellen is a doll, and sexy as hell, but she only gets to be that way for about five minutes in the film. The Belle of New York is a minor, ultimately forgettable M-G-M musical.

THAT'S DANCING!

The odd man out here in the Classic Musicals from The Dream Factory: Volume 2 box set, 1985's follow up to 1974's surprise hit That's Entertainment! and 1976's That's Entertainment Part II, That's Dancing! sets out to trace, no less, the history of dance, but quickly degenerates into a clip show of famous M-G-M musical/dance films. While most of the clips are fine, there's not much to be said for the tentative, badly paced new introductions starring Gene Kelly, Liza Minnelli, Sammy Davis, Jr., Ray Bolger and Mikhail Baryshnikov. A decidedly tepid tone to the entire production, with haphazard editing and little linear thought put into the selections creates not excitement for what we're watching, but eventually apathy. And to seal That's Dancing!'s fate, clips from 80s movies like Fame and Flashdance (!) are served up as some sort of evolution from the cinema classics we just spent an hour and a half watching, and which come off as disjointed flailings in comparison to the precision and fluid grace of Astaire and Kelly in their prime.

The DVD:

The Video:
The widescreen/full screen combination of That's Dancing! looks sharp, although it's apparent that many of the prints used for the clips featured in this 1985 documentary look quite dull in comparison with the cleaned up digital versions we're increasingly getting used to today.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English Surround 5.1 soundtrack is sweet; too bad they couldn't lay some remixes on the other films in this box set. English and French subtitles are included.

The Extras:
Extras include introductions by Gene Kelly and director Jack Haley, Jr. for the film, as well as four vintage behind-the-scenes featurettes (taken obviously from a single doc) about That's Dancing!. The theatrical trailer is also included.

Final Thoughts:
Going back to the well one too many times (and twelve years too late, when video had already made these kinds of theatrical compilations obsolete), That's Dancing! fails to reach the heights of the first That's Entertainment!. Skip That's Dancing!, and rent or buy the real films.

Final Thoughts on the Box Set:
The Classic Musicals from The Dream Factory: Volume 2 is a pleasant compilation of six M-G-M musicals from their golden age. Not all of them are winners by any means, but even the worst ones have moments that are worthwhile for the musical fan. And the ton of extras included give you many, many hours of additional background on this important section of film history. I highly recommend Classic Musicals from The Dream Factory: Volume 2.