From MGM, to MGM, by MGM, this is a glorified YouTube compilation that's actually quite fun.

This made a ton of money at the time, introducing Boomers to Hollywood's good ole days. If you're interested in the history of the studio system, it is a great example of how studios wanted to present themselves, even decades after their heyday.

If this movie reminds you of anything, it reminds you the power that studios had over its stars. To talk about Judy Garland and all her happy times at the studio in the 70s without even mentioning her downfall or their roll in it is crazy. Even after so much negative press had come out about its system, MGM still has…

64/100

How exactly does one rate a compilation film? Can a movie be great merely by showcasing great moments from previous movies? Question deferred for now, as this particular one suffers from major structural issues, its clips scattered among various hosts' "packages" with little rhyme or reason. Some pay tribute to specific performers (Astaire to Kelly and vice versa; Minnelli to her mom, even though Garland had already been given a lengthy showcase with Mickey Rooney); some are organized around a theme (e.g. non-singing stars who were forced into musicals); some seem entirely random. Chronology gets the heave-ho, so there's no sense of the genre's evolution. To a large extent it plays like a feature-length Oscar-telecast tribute. But I'd never…

Even MGM documentaries about MGM musicals are illusions and fantasy— you can’t expect anything less. It's only fitting that a tribute to musicals would reel in the façade without acknowledging the darkness that lingers over the 200-acre backlot. Pure, unapologetic propaganda for “the good old days”, but damn them, it's effective.

Some highlights (and lowlights):

• Jimmy Stewart roasting Robert Montgomery’s singing with “he tries his best” 😭
• Mickey Rooney talking about his films with Judy Garland: “Where we got all that energy, I’ll never know.” ???!??!?! YOU DON’T KNOW ??!
• “If Lena Horne was in a movie, then it almost had to be from MGM.” Ok are y’all gonna talk about how the studio continually screwed her…

mickey rooney is like "i don't know where we got all that energy from" during a number where he and judy garland are jumping around like ???? sir they gave you both endless drugs!!! this thing is so sanitized it's almost funny (but not quite, it's mostly just sad). the most hilarious part to me were all the weird scripted bits that are basically, here's bing crosby leaning up against a metal pipe by a river somewhere! and here's donald o'connor walking past an abandoned swimming pool! also y'all are gonna give more time to SHOW BOAT than to lena horne?? both pointed AND rude.

i loved the part that's just jimmy stewart mildly roasting himself and clark gable and…

This compilation film marking 50 years of MGM gathers a host of stars from the golden age of Hollywood and musical numbers from a whole range of films.

Hailing from an era when home video as we know it didn't exist, on the face of it, this feels of its time, and possibly less essential these days when many (but by no means all) of these films are accessible. But besides the musical numbers, which are superb, it's become a fascinating historical document in itself - long-gone stars wandering round the defunct old studio backlot sharing memories, behind-the-scenes snippets and so on. And even though I feel like I've watched a lot of old pictures from this era, there was…

mickey rooney is like "i don't know where we got all that energy from" during a number where he and judy garland are jumping around like ???? sir they gave you both endless drugs!!! this thing is so sanitized it's almost funny (but not quite, it's mostly just sad). the most hilarious part to me were all the weird scripted bits that are basically, here's bing crosby leaning up against a metal pipe by a river somewhere! and here's donald o'connor walking past an abandoned swimming pool! also y'all are gonna give more time to SHOW BOAT than to lena horne?? both pointed AND rude.

i loved the part that's just jimmy stewart mildly roasting himself and clark gable and…

Reaches the height of hilarity, intentional and accidental, during the Mickey Rooney segment,  in which in quick succession - 1: Martin Arnold’s Alone: Life Wastes Andy Hardy is gestated during a hysterical supercut of Mickey and Judy pic similarities; 2: Rooney marvels at where they could possibly have gotten all that energy while praising the genius of Busby Berkeley (it’s pills, Mickey); 3: full on blackface is presented without comment.

One of my favorite memories of NYU is when this was presented in something called ‘Freshman Seminar’ as a double feature with Singin’ in the Rain and you could hear all the straight boys discover in real time that musicals are actually bizarre and great. At the end of the day it’s…

There are a lot of great, dazzling numbers here, and as a film buff it's doubly interesting to see how this fallen film studio is trying to sell its long past glory days in a depressing tour around a dilapidated backlot with awkward intros by aging stars. But the big lead watching this in 2021 is: In 1974 it was perfectly acceptable to include a big blackface musical number featuring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. I understand times were different in the before times, but 1974??? C'mon, MGM. It almost feels like they were taking some kind of desperate stand at a time when black Americans were finally making bigger strides in life and pop culture. I just watched Thunder…