As a fan of many of MGM musicals (and such), of a number of the stars here and as someone who enjoyed the 'That's Entertainment' films greatly (the second one disappointed a little though but still had a lot to enjoy), 'That's Entertainment III: Behind the Screen' was a true gem of a documentary.
'That's Entertainment III: Behind the Screen' is everything a documentary should be, informative, illuminating, affectionate, heart-warming, charming and moving. Anybody who loves MGM or any of the stars featured here will be enthralled, it is as good a documentary as one will find anywhere and avoids all the potential problems that documentaries fall into.
It's shot beautifully and, in terms of how scenes flow and are ordered, structured in a way that's logical and never disjointed or random.
What was immediately a pleasure was seeing the whos who of talent assembled here, and just as entertaining was spotting them. It is impossible which one was my favourite, because everybody was so informative and entertaining, actually looking like they were delighted to be there, a lot of them you are able to listen to them for hours and still can't get enough. Misfires were none with no generalisations, subjective statements made to sound objective or things incorrect.
Scenes never feel too short or abrupt, nor do they feel overlong or dragged out. The information presented by these stars was so illuminating, with lovely anecdotes and such told in good humour by some and beautifully articulated always, some of which was news to me which was nice actually. Even the scenes detailing the behind the scenes for this very documentary was a joy. 'That's Entertainment III: Behind the Screen' is a perfect length and with no pacing issues at all.
Overall, fascinating and brilliantly done. Should be seen more often. 10/10 Bethany Cox
'That's Entertainment III: Behind the Screen' is everything a documentary should be, informative, illuminating, affectionate, heart-warming, charming and moving. Anybody who loves MGM or any of the stars featured here will be enthralled, it is as good a documentary as one will find anywhere and avoids all the potential problems that documentaries fall into.
It's shot beautifully and, in terms of how scenes flow and are ordered, structured in a way that's logical and never disjointed or random.
What was immediately a pleasure was seeing the whos who of talent assembled here, and just as entertaining was spotting them. It is impossible which one was my favourite, because everybody was so informative and entertaining, actually looking like they were delighted to be there, a lot of them you are able to listen to them for hours and still can't get enough. Misfires were none with no generalisations, subjective statements made to sound objective or things incorrect.
Scenes never feel too short or abrupt, nor do they feel overlong or dragged out. The information presented by these stars was so illuminating, with lovely anecdotes and such told in good humour by some and beautifully articulated always, some of which was news to me which was nice actually. Even the scenes detailing the behind the scenes for this very documentary was a joy. 'That's Entertainment III: Behind the Screen' is a perfect length and with no pacing issues at all.
Overall, fascinating and brilliantly done. Should be seen more often. 10/10 Bethany Cox