Search - Henry Mancini, Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Schwartz :: That's Entertainment: The Ultimate Anthology of M-G-M Musicals [Box Set]

Beware: Look at the older boxed set first

Bill | West Hartford, CT | 05/04/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, there are 6 CDs in this new set, as there were in the last one. However, there are selections missing in the new set that were included in the old one. If that weren't bad enough, there are selections from the double LP of the first "That's Entertainment" that are missing from the first boxed set. In this new set, they've taken selections from the more famous movies (or, movies whose soundtracks have been released separately, like "Show Boat" and the Garland/Rooney musicals) and trimmed those back. One might miss them--I know I do. Some rarities from the first boxed set, like selections from "The Opposite Sex" and Nancy Walker's "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet" song--among several others--are not in the new set. If this new set is being marketed as a 'complete' anthology of all three movies, that's terribly misleading--because it's not. I haven't had time to go disk by disk to discover exactly what's missing, but newly-published music on disk 6 clearly comes at the expense of other selections. (Why couldn't this have been 7 disks then?) I only listened once to all the selections of the "new" set to learn if they're worth having in place of the old selections, and it's a judgment call to decide which is more valuable to have. My anger stems from the fact that consumers of this specialty item even have to consider making that decision. Potential purchasers need to be warned that they may want to check very carefully the contents of each boxed set and decide from there. The old set is likely to be available for some time from used vendors, and for people who have an interest in music history, it may turn out to be a collector's item. This new set does not preserve the previous work of saving, remastering, publishing, and annotating; that seems rather ironic in a specialty item that centers around that very idea. This dampens my enthusiasm for the otherwise fine preservation work that everybody did for this set. I wonder whose decision it was not to make it as complete as it clearly should and could have been, because it's very disappointing to have selections disappear without any warning to the consumer."

Here are the songs from the 1995 edition missing from the 20

Matt Bailey | Northfield, MN | 08/11/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Swingin' The Jinx Away [extended version; shortened version appears on 2006 edition]: Frances Langford, Buddy Ebsen, and the M-G-M Studio Chorus

I'm An Indian Too (outtake): Judy Garland And The MGM Studio Chorus

Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man (outtake): Ava Gardner

Ain' It The Truth: Lena Horne

Too Darn Hot: Ann Miller

Doin' What Comes Natur'lly (outtake): Judy Garland And The MGM Studio Chorus

Anything You Can Do: Betty Hutton & Howard Keel

Mr. Monotony (outtake): Judy Garland

I Got Out Of Bed On The Right Side: Esther Williams, William Demarest, Charlotte Greenwood, Barbara Whiting, and Donna Corcoran

Please Don't Monkey With Broadway: George Murphy & Fred Astaire

Buds Won't Bud: Ethel Waters

I'll Take The High Note (extended version): Red Skelton, Jean Porter, Janis Paige, Carlos Ramerez, Helen Forrest, and Buddy Moreno

How About You?: Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney

The Opposite Sex (Prologue): Dolores Gray and the M-G-M Studio Orchestra

Friendship: Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly, et al

Too Late Now: Jane Powell

Lydia, The Tattooed Lady: Groucho Marx and the M-G-M Studio Chorus

Baby, It's Cold Outside: Esther Williams - Ricardo Montalban

Did'ja Ever?: Tony Martin

There'll Be Some Changes Made: Dolores Gray

The Stanley Steamer: Mickey Rooney, Gloria DeHaven, Agnes Moorehead, Walter Huston, Denny Wilson, and Jackie "Butch" Jenkins

Mr. And Mrs.: Rosemary Clooney and Jose Ferrer

You Can't Do Wrong Doin' Right: Van Johnson, Connie Haines, Stumpy Brown, Tom Farrell, Bob Troup, and the M-G-M Studio Chorus

I'm Gonna Live Till I Die: Julie Wilson

Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet (extended version): Nancy Walker and the M-G-M Studio Chorus

I Don't Care: Judy Garland

There's Beauty Everywhere: Kathryn Grayson & The MGM Studio Chorus"

Wow, so many classic songs in one place!

Jose Hawk | New York, NY | 05/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I got this box set for my birthday from my daughter and was so eager to open it up and start listening. i have most of these sings but on old vinyl records, they sound so good on CD remastered. I'm really happy i have the collection in one place and the liner notes are fabulous. So many interesting tidbits from my era. The reason to buy this set is also because of the outtakes and demos. it's really cool to hear the raw versions of these songs. I can't praise this enough, i think i'm going to get it for my mother for her birthday."