That's Entertainment [6cd Box Set] [Box set]

Yes, there are 6 CDs in this new set, as there were in the last one. However, there are selections missing in the new set that were included in the old one. If that weren't bad enough, there are selections from the double LP of the first "That's Entertainment" that are missing from the first boxed set. In this new set, they've taken selections from the more famous movies (or, movies whose soundtracks have been released separately, like "Show Boat" and the Garland/Rooney musicals) and trimmed those back. One might miss them--I know I do. Some rarities from the first boxed set, like selections from "The Opposite Sex" and Nancy Walker's "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet" song--among several others--are not in the new set. If this new set is being marketed as a 'complete' anthology of all three movies, that's terribly misleading--because it's not. I haven't had time to go disk by disk to discover exactly what's missing, but newly-published music on disk 6 clearly comes at the expense of other selections. (Why couldn't this have been 7 disks then?) I only listened once to all the selections of the "new" set to learn if they're worth having in place of the old selections, and it's a judgment call to decide which is more valuable to have. My anger stems from the fact that consumers of this specialty item even have to consider making that decision. Potential purchasers need to be warned that they may want to check very carefully the contents of each boxed set and decide from there. The old set is likely to be available for some time from used vendors, and for people who have an interest in music history, it may turn out to be a collector's item. This new set does not preserve the previous work of saving, remastering, publishing, and annotating; that seems rather ironic in a specialty item that centers around that very idea. This dampens my enthusiasm for the otherwise fine preservation work that everybody did for this set. I wonder whose decision it was not to make it as complete as it clearly should and could have been, because it's very disappointing to have selections disappear without any warning to the consumer.

Swingin' The Jinx Away [extended version; shortened version appears on 2006 edition]: Frances Langford, Buddy Ebsen, and the M-G-M Studio Chorus
I'm An Indian Too (outtake): Judy Garland And The MGM Studio Chorus
Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man (outtake): Ava Gardner
Ain' It The Truth: Lena Horne
Too Darn Hot: Ann Miller
Doin' What Comes Natur'lly (outtake): Judy Garland And The MGM Studio Chorus
Anything You Can Do: Betty Hutton & Howard Keel
Mr. Monotony (outtake): Judy Garland
I Got Out Of Bed On The Right Side: Esther Williams, William Demarest, Charlotte Greenwood, Barbara Whiting, and Donna Corcoran
Please Don't Monkey With Broadway: George Murphy & Fred Astaire
Buds Won't Bud: Ethel Waters
I'll Take The High Note (extended version): Red Skelton, Jean Porter, Janis Paige, Carlos Ramerez, Helen Forrest, and Buddy Moreno
How About You?: Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney
The Opposite Sex (Prologue): Dolores Gray and the M-G-M Studio Orchestra
Friendship: Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly, et al
Too Late Now: Jane Powell
Lydia, The Tattooed Lady: Groucho Marx and the M-G-M Studio Chorus
Baby, It's Cold Outside: Esther Williams - Ricardo Montalban
Did'ja Ever?: Tony Martin
There'll Be Some Changes Made: Dolores Gray
The Stanley Steamer: Mickey Rooney, Gloria DeHaven, Agnes Moorehead, Walter Huston, Denny Wilson, and Jackie "Butch" Jenkins
Mr. And Mrs.: Rosemary Clooney and Jose Ferrer
You Can't Do Wrong Doin' Right: Van Johnson, Connie Haines, Stumpy Brown, Tom Farrell, Bob Troup, and the M-G-M Studio Chorus
I'm Gonna Live Till I Die: Julie Wilson
Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet (extended version): Nancy Walker and the M-G-M Studio Chorus
I Don't Care: Judy Garland
There's Beauty Everywhere: Kathryn Grayson & The MGM Studio Chorus

Rhino Records and Turner Classic Movies Music present - "THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT - THE ULTIMATE ANTHOLOGY OF M-G-M MUSICALS", some of the long ago musicals and stars that will never be forgotten...a 6-CD-Set --- a comprehensive guide to classic performances from the great Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals and a celebration of the Motion Pictures Documentaries --- from 1929 -1957 with many of the show stoppers of that time --- some rare moments from entertainers that you haven't heard or thought of in sometime --- with 135 selections all in one neat package --- "That's Entertaiment" --- "That's Entertainment, Part 2" -- "That's Entertainment III" --- plus addtional rarities from the M-G-M Musical Dream Factory.

The lineup is fantastic and gives the listener a variety of what musicals were all about in the "Golden Age of the Hollywood Musicals"
India Adams, June Allyson, Arnet Amos, Kay Armen, Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Ann Blyth, Ray Bolger, Ralph Brewster, Fanny Brice, Jack Buchanan, Jim Burroughs, Louis Calhern, Bobbie Canvin, Leslie Caron, Carleton Carpenter, Cyd Charisse, George Chakiris, Maurice Chevalier, Ruth Clark, Jud Conlon, Joan Crawford, Eugene Cox, Bing Crosby, Dan Dailey, Vic Damone, Doris Day, Barrett Deems, Yvonne DeCarlo, Gloria DeHaven, Rex Dennis, Jimmy Durante, Nelson Eddy, Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards, Trudy Erwin, Nanette Fabray, Mel Ferrer, Connie Francis, Lee Gotch, Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Jimmie Garland, Judy Garland, Hermione Gingold, Dolores Gray, Kathyrn Grayson, Georges Guetary, Ed Hall, Hal Hopper, Lena Horne, Betty Hutton, Dorothy Jackson, Jerry the Mouse, Louis Jourdan, Howard Keel, Gene Kelly, Elva Kellogg, Grace Kelly, Billy Kyle, Betty Jaynes, Allen Jones, Johnny Jonston, Charles King, Marjorie Lane, Mario Lanza, Peter Lawford, Bill Lee, Oscar Levant, Alice Ludes, Betty Lynn, Jeanette MacDonald, Marjorie Main, Claude Martin, Tony Martin, Judy Matson, Dorothy McCarty, Joan McCracken, Douglas McPhail, Ann Miller, Mary Moder, Ricardo Montalban, Polly Moran, Jules Munshin, Loulie Jean Norman, Margaret O'Brien, Virginia O'Brien, Donald O'Connor, Page Cavanaugh Trio, Janis Paige, Charles Pavalato, Jane Powell, Elvis Presley, Debbie Reynolds, Carol Richards, Ralph Rlane, Pete Roberts ,Ginger Rogers, Mickey Rooney, Kenneth Rundquist, Connie Russell, George Sanders, Arvell Shaw, Winifred Shaw, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, Harry Dean Stanton, Jimmy Stewart, Robert Taylor, Kay Thompson, Sophie Tucker, Nancy Walker, William Warfield, Ethel Waters, Lee Wiley, Dorothy Wilkerson, Esther Williams, Dooley Williams, The Williams Brothers , Keenan Wynn and Trummy Young.

On Disc Six: 25 Outtakes from M-G-M Musicals - all tracks never before released in the order they appear on this CD:

1. Swing Trot {From the Barkleys of Broadway - 1949)
Extended Version, Partially Unused - MGM Studio Chorus

2. The Lock Step {From the March of Time - 1930}
Outtake - performed by The Dodge Twins

3. Poor Little G-String {From the March of Time - 1930)
Outtake - performed by Bing Crosby

4. Fly Away to I-Oway {From Hollywood Party - 1934}
Outtake - performed by Jimmy Durante and Polly Moran

5. Buds Won't Bud {From Andy Hardy Meets Debutante - 1940}
Outtake - performed by Judy Garland

6. Let's Pretend It's True {From Vacation from Love - 1938}
Outtake - performed by June Knight and Male Chorus

7. It's Fun to Be in Love {From Meet Me in Las Vegas - 1956}
Outtake - performed by George Chakiris, Dan Dailey and Betty Lynn

8. Weekend at the Waldorf {From Weekend at the Waldorf - 1945}
Demo - performed by Kay Thompson

9. Golly Me {From Torch Song - 1953}
Outtake - performed by Joan Crawford

10. You Won't Forget Me {From Duchess of Idaho - 1950}
Outtake - performed by Lena Horne

11. Too Beautiful to Last {From Ziegfeld Girl - 1941}
Outtake - performed by Tony Martin

12. I Have a Dream {From Jupiter's Darling - 1956}
Outtake - performed by JoAnn Greer (for Esther Williams) and
George Sanders

13. And There You Are {From I Love Melvin - 1953}
Outtake - performed by Howard Keel

14. A Message from the Man in the Moon {From a Day at the Races - 1937}
Outtake - performed by Allan Jones

15. Baby Doll {From Take Me Out to the Ballgame - 1949}
Outtake - performed by Gene Kelly

16. Some of These Days {From Broadway Melody of 1938)
Unused Complete Version - performed by Sophie Tucker

17. A Woman Without a Man {From Cairo 1942}
Outtake - performed by Ethel Waters

18. Make It Another Old Fashioned, Please {From Panama Hattie 1942}
Outtake - performed by Ann Sothern

19. You Belong to My Heart {From Sombrero 1953}
Outtake - performed by Yvonne DeCarlo and Bill Lee (for Vittorio Gassman)

20. Something's Gotta Happen Soon {From Ice Follies of 1939}
Outtake - performed by Joan Crawford

21. Deep in My Heart, Dear {From the Student Prince 1954}
Demo - performed by Jane Powell and Vic Damone

22. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man {From Show Boat 1951}
Demo - performed by Lee Wiley

23. My Man {From the Great Ziegfeld 1936}
Complete Version - performed by Fanny Brice

24. I've Told Ev'ry Little Star/The Song Is You {From Till the Clouds Roll By - 1946)
Outtake - performed by Kathryn Grayson and Johnny Johnston

25. End Credits {From That's Entertainment! III - 1994}
Finale - performed by The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
conducted by John Mauceri

It was once said by the songwriters of that era - "There are two artists you want perform your songs on the big screen, they are Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, they sing it just the way we wrote it, for which you will have a guaranteed hit on your hands" --- well, this collections certainly has some merit to that statement --- because with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire performing more songs in this ultimate deluxe edition, there must be something to it.

This collection of musicals still has the magic that we remember from those bygone years --- but as long as we have the labels and networks who play and show these wonderful films of yesteryear, they will never be forgotten --- hats off to Rhino Records, George Feltenstein (producer) and Doug Schwartz (engineer) and Turner Classic Movies for sharing newly updated with 25 remastered tracks and an entire disc of previously unused, never-issued outtakes material appearing on CD for the very first time, plus major upgrades in sound quality --- celebrating decades of the tunes and artists that gave it their all...from what it commonly called "The Hollywood Dream Factory" --- The Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals is still among us --- and "That's Entertaiment", gotta love it!

Total Time: 6-CD-Set ~ Rhino Records 73192 ~ (4/25/2006)

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 6 reviews  4.5 out of 5 stars