Yesterday, an airborne MG TD popped from a magazine cover as Fred Astaire ambled by, or so it seemed watching part of MGM’s Entertainment trilogy. Today in Part 2 we glean tidbits from its more than six hours of classic flicks. We also encounter bodybuilder and fitness expert Betty Brosmer.
The Trilogy. Entertainment I is devoted to MGM’s musical films from the 1920s through the 1950s. Wikipedia lists archival footage performed by dozens of familiar names: Clark Gable, for instance, sings and dances “Putting on the Ritz” in 1939’s Idiot’s Delight. (MGM stars of the era evidently did what they were told.)
Eleven hosts included Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford, Debbie Reynolds, Bing Crosby, James Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney, Donald O’Connor, and Liza Minnelli, representing her mother Judy Garland. It’s fun to see them in 1974 attire with hip dos.
The musical numbers include several from Meet Me In St. Louis: Judy Garland’s “The Trolley Song,” “The Boy Next Door,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and Judy’s and cute-as-a-bug Margaret O’Brien’s “Under the Bamboo Tree.” Watching it rekindles my viewing the flick on a tiny TV in Aying, Bavaria.
Entertainment II. Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire hosted the 1976 sequel. It included more than musicals; for example, several of the memorable Marx Bros. comedy bits. Like the original, its commentary also cited the studio’s ruling hand over its stars singing and dancing even if their real talents lay elsewhere: Robert Taylor, for example; Greta Garbo, for another.
By contrast, I particularly like Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold in Gigi’s “I Remember It Well.”
Entertainment III. The 70th anniversary compilation in 1994 “focuses on outtakes, unfinished numbers and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the old musicals,” as cited by Caryn James, The New York Times. Wikipedia also quotes Roger Ebert who “praised its focus on musical numbers that did not appear on screen due to any number of factors, including ‘commerce, taste, race, sex and running time.’ ” It is at times less celebratory—if more factual—than the first two.
Back to Cavalier’s MG. I confess I’ve never read Cavalier For Men (as it was titled for awhile there). On the other hand, I can cite Bold, another magazine of the genre: Joe Wherry, Bold’s Automotive Expert, wrote in May 1955 about the “World’s Fastest Low-Priced Car,” my old fav the Dellow.
Bold, May 1955.
Wherry recounted, “Actually, this Limey two-seater does what the old Crosley Hotshot was supposed to do: It goes like blazes (in good tune it’ll top a true 82 mph with ease) and will make mincemeat out of the average stock TD-MG in performance and handling.”
Image from Bold, May 1955.
Which brings me full circle with Fred Astaire and the MG. Nor have I been the same ever since encountering Betty Brosmer. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025