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Gene Kelly, Sammy Davis Jr., Mikhail Baryshnikov, Liza Minnelli, Ray Bolger ... see more see more... , Jennifer Beals , Cyd Charisse , Ruby Keeler , Shirley MacLaine , Ginger Rogers , Fred Astaire , Dean Martin , James Mitchell

Nine years after his last compilation of musical-movie highlights (That's Entertainment, Part II), producer Jack Haley Jr. offers another enjoyable nostalgia-fest, That's Dancing. Unlike his earlier f... read more read more...ilms, which were confined to the output of MGM, That's Dancing offers vignettes from the best of Warner Bros. (the Busby Berkeley extravaganzas, On Your Toes), RKO (Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers), 20th Century-Fox (The Nicholas Brothers, Carmen Miranda), Universal (1969's Sweet Charity) and United Artists (the "Cool" number from West Side Story). There are also highlights from the top musicals of the 1970s and 1980s, which with such rare exceptions as Saturday Night Fever (1977) can't hold a candle to Hollywood's vintage songfests. Host/narrators Gene Kelly, Sammy Davis Jr., Mikhail Baryshnikov, Liza Minnelli and Ray Bolger help put the clips in their historical perspective, though all five stars seem tired and unenthusiastic. The real money scene in That's Dancing is Ray Bolger's "wind" dance, which was cut from the final release print of The Wizard of Oz (1939). In answer to the excellent audience response to this vintage sequence, Haley's next compilation, That's Entertainment III (1995), incorporated several such "lost" musical gems from the MGM vaults. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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1,334 ratings

G, 1 hr. 44 min.

Directed by: Jack Haley Jr.

Release Date: June 1, 1985

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DVD Release Date: July 24, 2007

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Flixster Reviews (40)

  • TonyPolito
    August 16, 2010
    TonyPolito
    It's enjoyable viewing of well-accomplished and famous dances/dancers, however those expecting to catch the full scenes of the VERY best 20th Century dance numbers in film will be disappointed.

    Gene Kelly splashin' & singin' in the rain? Nope. Donald O'Connor dancin' up 'n down... read more walls to make 'em laugh? Sorry. Fred Astaire's "Royal Wedding" ceiling dance? Nuh-uh. Sammy Davis, Jr. tappin' away? Only for 20 seconds when he's six years old.

    Mikhail Baryshnikov, however, is granted twenty full minutes to drag the viewer through a discussion of mostly-obscure ballet artists who all but never worked in cinema. And the film closes with a 1980ish eye-to-the-future extensively glaring at "Saturday Night Fever," "Fame," "Flashdance" and Michael Jackson - while ignoring Bob Fosse's monumental "All That Jazz" altogether.

    Two reasons for selections this spotty: First, Gene Kelly as producer made all the final calls on content, so the film is more a reflection of what he personally viewed as pivotal and/or anthropologically significant - rather than a square-on look at the best of dance. Second, licensing issues across studios skew the film's content.

    The majority of the look-sees are well less than a minute; that's a reflection of the director's inability to control his desire to cram an entire Century of dance into two hours of film (His original cut was nearly three hours).

    The better, more-fully-treated content includes several Busby Berkeley kaleidoscopic creations, a full study/treatment of Fred Astaire (solo & with Ginger), some lesser-seen though strong hoofers (eg, Eleanor Powell, Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson, Nicholas Bros.) and Ray Bolger in a dancing scarecrow number cut from "Oz."

    RECOMMENDATION: The viewer will find a lot of interesting, talented dance here - but not all of the best of it.

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Critic Reviews

Eric Henderson
July 27, 2007
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine

Bends over backwards to celebrate the perception that the box office success of Fame and Flashdance heralded the rebirth of the form. Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
August 22, 2004
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

A fine film about the beat that put bodies in motion from tap to ballroom to disco to break dancing. Full Review

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That's Dancing! Trivia

  • I am a choreographer. That's what I do. You are cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are dancers who have gone retarded. What you do is a tiny, pathetic subset of dancing. I will attempt to turn your robotic routines into poetry, written with the human body. Follow me, or perish, sweater monkeys.   Answer »
  • This is the final line to a movie known for dancing and singing in yellow slickers...what is the movie/play..?Ladies and Gentlemen. Stop that girl. That girl running up the aisle - stop her. That's the girl whose voice you heard and loved tonight. She's the real star of the picture. Kathy Selden.?  Answer »
  • I just got a question that said John Travolta was the star in Dirty Dancing. That's NOT TRUE!! The real star of Dirty Dancing was . . .   Answer »
  • What 1971 Disney classic is this script tidbit from: "Miss Price: That's my nightgown. Mr. Browne: [dancing with it] Is it really, my dear? Miss Price: Yes, and I'm not responsible for its behaviour. Mr. Browne: Obviously not, my dear. "  Answer »
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