The greatest entertainment since That's Entertainment.


This represents MGM's 1976 sequel to its enormously successful compilation film That's Entertainment (1974). In lieu of the multi-narrator device of the first film, director Gene Kelly chooses to limit the hosting chores to two people: himself, and his friendly rival Fred Astaire. Another departure from the first film was the decision to include comedy and dramatic highlights from MGM's past, with such stars as Greta Garbo (seen in a montage of "I want to be alone"s), Greer Garson, Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Marie Dressler, Red Skelton, the Marx Brothers, and Laurel and Hardy (though the last-named team's vignettes are culled from Hal Roach productions which were merely released by MGM). Be sure and catch That's Entertainment from the beginning for Saul Bass' opening credits, incorporating a variety of title-sequence styles: waves crashing on the shore, pages turning in a book, and a J. Arthur Rank-style gong


That's Entertainment, Part II is a 1976 motion picture by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and a sequel to the 1974 documentary That's Entertainment!.[1] Like the previous film, That's Entertainment, Part II was a retrospective of famous films released by MGM from the 1930s to the 1950s. (Some posters for the film use Part 2 rather than Part II in the title.)
For this second documentary, archivists featured more obscure musical numbers from MGM's vaults, and also featured tributes to some of the studio's best known comedy teams such as the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy, romantic teams such as Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, and a montage of iconic stars such as Clark Gable, Mickey Rooney, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, James Stewart, Lana Turner, and Greta Garbo.
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire hosted the film and Kelly directed the introductory segments featuring him and Astaire, which included location footage of Kelly returning to the city of Paris which was featured in two of MGM's most famous productions, An American in Paris and Gigi. This was the last film he directed.
The film was highlighted by several newly-filmed musical numbers featuring Astaire and Kelly, including a couple of routines in which they danced together for the first time since the 1946 film Ziegfeld Follies, and for only the second time in their careers. (It was the last time 76-year-old Astaire danced on film, though the veteran actor continued to make film and TV appearances into the 1980s; Kelly would go on to appear in the 1980 musical Xanadu.) According to film historian Robert Osborne, in specially-filmed introductions produced for Turner Classic Movies, it was Astaire who suggested to Kelly that the two take advantage of this potentially last-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform together, something Kelly actually wishes for out loud during his narration of the first That's Entertainment! film.
The opening title sequence was designed by Saul Bass, and pays homage to the range and style of title sequences produced between the 1930s and early 1950s.
The sequel received more critical acclaim, but was not as successful at the box-office as the first film. Some 18 years later it was followed by That's Entertainment! III, with Kelly once again appearing.

Release Date: May 16, 1976 @ The Ziegfeld, NYC

Distrib: MGM