''That's Dancing!'' is a 1985 American compilation film produced by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

that looked back at the history of dancing in film. Unlike the '' That's Entertainment!'' series, this film not only focuses specifically on MGM films, but also included films from other studios. A highlight of the film was the first theatrical release of a complete dance routine by Ray Bolger for his " If I Only Had a Brain" number that had been shortened in '' The Wizard of Oz''.

Summary

The hosts for this film are

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

(who also executive produced), Ray Bolger (his last film appearance before his death in 1987), Liza Minnelli, Sammy Davis Jr., and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Pop singer

Kim Carnes Kim Carnes (; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. A veteran writer of many of her own hits, as well as those for numerous other artists, she began her career in 1966 as ...

was commissioned to sing an original song, " Invitation to Dance", that plays over the closing credits. This film is sometimes considered part of the ''That's Entertainment!'' series, especially since its starting credits contain a card with the ''That's Entertainment! III'' title (not to be confused with the 1994 film), but even though it shared studio and producers, it is considered a separate production. Jack Haley Jr., who wrote, produced and directed the first ''That's Entertainment!'' film, also wrote and directed this one, co-producing with longtime friend David Niven Jr. Haley's father, Jack Haley, had co-starred with Bolger in ''The Wizard of Oz''.

Dedication

This film is dedicated to ''all'' dancers, especially those who devoted their lives to the development of their art long before there was a motion picture camera.

Appearances

* Tommy Abbott * June Allyson * Ann-Margret * Fred Astaire * Lucille Ball * Mikhail Baryshnikov * Jennifer Beals * David Bean * Busby Berkeley * Eric Blore * Monte Blue * Ray Bolger * John Brascia * Lucille Bremer * James Cagney * Irene Cara * Leslie Caron * Gower Champion * Marge Champion * Cyd Charisse * Joan Crawford * Dan Dailey * Jacques d'Amboise * Sammy Davis Jr. * Doris Day * Gloria DeHaven * Isadora Duncan * Buddy Ebsen * Taina Elg * Eliot Feld *

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE ( Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn (), was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with th ...

Loie Fuller Loie Fuller (; born Marie Louise Fuller; January 15, 1862 – January 1, 1928), also known as Louie Fuller and Loïe Fuller, was an American dancer and a pioneer of modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques. Auguste Rodin said of her, "Lo ...

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". He appeared in more than 60 Film, motion pictures across a variety of Film genre, genres dur ...

* Judy Garland * Virginia Gibson * Cary Grant * Jack Haley * Margaret Hamilton * Carol Haney * June Haver * Robert Helpmann * Judy Holliday * José Iturbi *

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

* Marine Jahan * Van Johnson * Ruby Keeler *

* Paula Kelly * Michael Kidd * Charles Laskey * Ruta Lee * Vivien Leigh * Bambi Linn * Peter Lorre * Susan Luckey * Shirley MacLaine * Dean Martin *

Léonide Massine Leonid Fyodorovich Myasin (), better known in the West by the French transliteration as Léonide Massine (15 March 1979), was a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer. Massine created the world's first symphonic ballet, ''Les Présages'', and ...

* Matt Mattox * Joan McCracken * Ray McDonald * Ann Miller * Liza Minnelli * James Mitchell * Ricardo Montalbán * Annabelle Moore * Tony Mordente * George Murphy * Gene Nelson * Julie Newmar * The Nicholas Brothers * Rudolf Nureyev * Donald O'Connor * Anna Pavlova * Marc Platt * Dick Powell * Eleanor Powell * Jane Powell * Tommy Rall * Debbie Reynolds * Jeff Richards * Chita Rivera * Bill "Bojangles" Robinson *

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last survivi ...

* Wini Shaw * Moira Shearer *

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

* Red Skelton * Tucker Smith * James Stewart * Lyle Talbot * Russ Tamblyn * Lilyan Tashman * Robert Taylor * Anthony 'Scooter' Teague * Shirley Temple *

Tamara Toumanova Tamara Toumanova ( ka, თამარა თუმანოვა; 2 March 1919 – 29 May 1996) was a Russian-born Georgian-American prima ballerina and actress. A child of exiles in Paris after the Russian Revolution of 1917, she made her ...

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...

* Lana Turner * Bobby Van * Vera-Ellen * Ethel Waters * Bobby Watson * Esther Williams * David Winters * Vera Zorina * Vincent Price * Robert Banas * Francesca Bellini * Betty Carr * Carole D'Andrea * Leroy Daniels * Norma Doggett * Harvey Evans * Nancy Kilgas * Bert Michaels * Susan Oakes * Gina Trikonis * Tarita Teriipaia

Films featured

* '' The Dumb Girl of Portici'' (1916) * '' So This Is Paris'' (1926) * '' Flying High'' (1931) * '' 42nd Street'' (1933) * '' Gold Diggers of 1933'' (1933) * '' Rufus Jones for President'' (1933) * '' Dames'' (1934) * '' The Gay Divorcee'' (1934) * '' Gold Diggers of 1935'' (1935) * '' Broadway Melody of 1936'' (1935) * '' Roberta'' (1935) * '' The Littlest Rebel'' (1935) * '' Born to Dance'' (1936) * '' Swing Time'' (1936) * ''

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

'' (1939) * '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939) * '' Gone with the Wind'' (1939) * '' On Your Toes'' (1939) * '' Down Argentine Way'' (1940) * '' Babes on Broadway'' (1941) * '' Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942) * '' Bathing Beauty'' (1944) * '' Kismet'' (1944) * '' The All-Star Bond Rally'' (1945) * '' The Harvey Girls'' (1946) * '' Till the Clouds Roll By'' (1946) * '' Ziegfeld Follies'' (1946) * '' Good News'' (1947) * '' The Red Shoes'' (1948) * '' Neptune's Daughter'' (1949) * '' Three Little Words'' (1950) * '' Royal Wedding'' (1951) * '' An American in Paris'' (1951) * '' The Merry Widow'' (1952) * '' Singin' in the Rain'' (1952) * '' The Band Wagon'' (1953) * '' Give a Girl a Break'' (1953) * '' Kiss Me Kate'' (1953) * '' Latin Lovers'' (1953) * '' Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' (1954) * '' It's Always Fair Weather'' (1955) * '' Jupiter's Darling'' (1955) * ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...

'' (1955) * '' Carousel'' (1956) * '' Invitation to the Dance'' (1956) * '' Les Girls'' (1957) * '' Silk Stockings'' (1957) * '' Indiscreet'' (1958) * '' tom thumb'' (1958) * '' West Side Story'' (1961) * '' Viva Las Vegas'' (1964) * '' Sweet Charity'' (1969) * '' The Boy Friend'' (1971) * '' Cabaret'' (1972) * '' Saturday Night Fever'' (1977) * '' The Turning Point'' (1977) * '' Fame'' (1980) * '' Flashdance'' (1983)

Home media

''That's Dancing!'' was not included when the three ''That's Entertainment!'' films were released on DVD in 2004; it was instead released on its own in 2007. The DVD includes several behind-the-scenes promotional featurettes from 1985 on the making of the film, as well as its accompanying music video featuring

singing "Invitation to Dance" although the DVD omits both the video and song itself.

References

External links

* * * {{That's Entertainment 1985 films 1985 documentary films 1985 musical films American documentary films American musical films Documentary films about films Documentary films about dance Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films directed by Jack Haley Jr. Compilation films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films English-language documentary films English-language musical films