That's Dancing!

That's Dancing!
Promotional movie poster for the film
Directed by	Jack Haley Jr.
Produced by	Jack Haley Jr. David Niven Jr.
Written by	Jack Haley Jr.
Starring	Gene Kelly Liza Minnelli Mikhail Baryshnikov Sammy Davis Jr. Ray Bolger
Music by	Henry Mancini
Distributed by	MGM
Release date(s)	January 18, 1985 (U.S. release)
Running time	105 min.
Language	English
Preceded by	That's Entertainment, Part II
Followed by	That's Entertainment! III

That's Dancing! (1985) is a retrospective documentary produced by MGM that looked back at the history of dancing in film. Unlike the That's Entertainment! series, this film did not focus specifically on MGM films and included more recent performances by the likes of John Travolta (from Saturday Night Fever) and Michael Jackson and from the then-popular films Fame (1980) and Flashdance (1983), as well as classic films from other studios, including Carousel, released by 20th Century Fox, and Oklahoma!, released by Magna Corporation (roadshow) and 20th Century Fox (general release).

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.

The hosts for this film are Gene Kelly (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 was commissioned to sing an original song 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 and directed the first That's Entertainment! film, also directed, produced and wrote That's Dancing! His father, Jack Haley, had co-starred with Bolger in Wizard of Oz.

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 Kim Carnes although the DVD omits the video itself.

Appearance

• Tommy Abbott
• June Allyson
• Ann-Margret
• Fred Astaire
• Lucille Ball
• Robert Banas
• Mikhail Baryshnikov
• Jennifer Beals
• David Bean
• Francesca Bellini
• Busby Berkeley
• Eric Blore
• Monte Blue
• Ray Bolger
• John Brascia
• Lucille Bremer
• James Cagney
• Irene Cara
• Leslie Caron
• Betty Carr
• Gower Champion
• Marge Champion
• Cyd Charisse
• Joan Crawford
• Dan Dailey
• Jacques d'Amboise
• Carole D'Andrea
• Leroy Daniels
• Sammy Davis, Jr.
• Doris Day
• Gloria DeHaven
• Norma Doggett
• Isadora Duncan
• Buddy Ebsen
• Taina Elg
• Harvey Evans
• Eliot Feld
• Margot Fonteyn
• Loie Fuller
• Clark Gable
• Judy Garland
• Virginia Gibson
• Cary Grant
• Jack Haley
• Carol Haney
• June Haver
• Robert Helpmann
• Judy Holliday
• José Iturbi
• Michael Jackson
• Marine Jahan
• Van Johnson
• Ruby Keeler
• Gene Kelly
• Paula Kelly
• Michael Kidd
• Nancy Kilgas
• Charles Laskey
• Ruta Lee
• Vivien Leigh
• Bambi Linn
• Peter Lorre
• Susan Luckey
• Shirley MacLaine
• Dean Martin
• Léonide Massine
• Matt Mattox
• Joan McCracken
• Ray McDonald
• Bert Michaels
• Ann Miller
• Liza Minnelli
• James Mitchell
• Ricardo Montalbán
• Annabelle Moore
• Tony Mordente
• George Murphy
• Gene Nelson
• Julie Newmar
• Rudolf Nureyev
• Susan Oakes
• Donald O'Connor
• Anna Pavlova
• Marc Platt
• Dick Powell
• Eleanor Powell
• Jane Powell
• Tommy Rall
• Debbie Reynolds
• Jeff Richards
• Bill Robinson
• Mickey Rooney
• Wini Shaw
• Moira Shearer
• Frank Sinatra
• Red Skelton
• Tucker Smith
• James Stewart
• Lyle Talbot
• Russ Tamblyn
• Tarita
• Lilyan Tashman
• Robert Taylor
• Anthony 'Scooter' Teague
• Shirley Temple
• Tamara Toumanova
• John Travolta
• Gina Trikonis
• Lana Turner
• Bobby Van
• Vera-Ellen
• Ethel Waters
• Bobby Watson
• Esther Williams
• David Winters
• Vera Zorina
• Vincent Price

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)
• The Littlest Rebel (1935)
• Swing Time (1936)
• The Wizard of Oz (1939)
• Gone with the Wind (1939)
• Down Argentine Way (1940)
• Babes on Broadway (1941)
• Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
• Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
• The Red Shoes (1948)
• Royal Wedding (1951)
• An American in Paris (1951)
• Singin' in the Rain (1952)
• The Band Wagon (1953)
• Kiss Me, Kate (1953)
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
• Oklahoma! (1955)
• Carousel (1956)
• Invitation to the Dance (1956)
• Silk Stockings (1957)
• tom thumb (1958)
• West Side Story (1961)
• Sweet Charity (1969)
• The Boy Friend (1971)
• Cabaret (1972)
• Saturday Night Fever (1977)
• The Turning Point (1977)
• Fame (1980)
• Flashdance (1983)

External links

• That's Dancing! at the Internet Movie Database