That's Entertainment! III

That's Entertainment! III

Original theatrical poster
Directed by Bud Friedgen
Michael J. Sheridan
Produced by Bud Friedgen
Michael J. Sheridan
Peter Fitzgerald (executive)
Written by Bud Friedgen
Michael J. Sheridan
Starring
Music by Marc Shaiman
Production
company
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
  • July 6, 1994 (1994-07-06)
Running time
113 min. (DVD version)
Language English

That's Entertainment! III is a 1994 documentary film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate the studio's 70th anniversary. It was the third in a series of retrospectives that began with the first That's Entertainment! (1974) and That's Entertainment, Part II (1976). Although posters and home video versions use the title without an exclamation mark, the actual on-screen title of the film uses it.[1]

In order to provide a "hook" for audiences who by 1994 had become accustomed to viewing classic movies on home video and cable TV (luxuries not widely available when the first two That's Entertainment! films were released), the producers decided to feature film footage cut from famous MGM musicals. Many of these numbers were shown for the first time in That's Entertainment! III.[2]

Highlights include:

Hosts for the third installment in the That's Entertainment! series were Gene Kelly (in his final film appearance), June Allyson, Cyd Charisse, Lena Horne, Howard Keel, Ann Miller, Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, and Esther Williams, making her first appearance in a theatrical film in more than 30 years. That's Entertainment! III had a limited theatrical release in 1994. According to columnist Robert Osborne, writing for The Hollywood Reporter at the time, the film did "pleasant business" at New York's Ziegfeld Theatre.

All three films were released to DVD in 2004. The box set collection of the films included a bonus DVD that included additional musical numbers that had been cut from MGM films as well as the first release of the complete performance of "Mr. Monotony" by Judy Garland (the version used in That's Entertainment! III is truncated). The home video version of That's Entertainment! III also contains several musical numbers not in the theatrical release. The film was later remastered for high-definition release on Blu-ray and HD DVD.

Appearances

Musical numbers

References

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