The Theater: Musical Stages

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT, PART 2 Directed by GENE KELLY

Material is running scarce. For this sequel to the successful and wistful anthology of big moments from MGM musicals, Gene Kelly has been compelled to enlarge the working definition of "entertainment." This compendium, casual and diverting, still contains a lot of song-and-dance footage. There are, however, frequent excursions into light comedy and heavy melodrama. "It's all entertainment," the narration implies. That is a fair enough generalization, but hardly a unifying theme. There is probably no coherent way to bring together Fred Astaire and Lassie, Judy Garland and Johnny Weissmuller. The strain shows.

Hoof and Croon....

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