Original subtitles

Here's to the beautiful ladies

Here's to those wonderful girls

This is the mixture to start the picture So bring on the beautiful girls

When Fred Astaire sang this song in the film Ziegfeld Follies...

...the year was 1946...

...and MGM was at the height of its success in creating incredible fantasies...

...and setting them to music.

Here, Lucille Ball tames a pack of exotic cat-women.

It was imaginative, outlandish imagery, and audiences loved it.

It was a time before television and VCRs, when on the average...

...90 million Americans went to the movies each week...

...and the MGM musical was king of the box office.

The most popular entertainment in the world.

This is the mixture to start the picture

So bring on the beautiful girls

Once upon a time, there was a factory...

...that created wonderful musical dreams.

It happened when a special group of talented artists came together...

...to create some of the world's most enchanting movies.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was not the only studio...

...that made musical motion pictures.

But it did make more than anyone else...

...and somehow did it better.

To tell us more about those remarkable days...

...here's one of MGM's best: Mr. Gene Kelly.

The 44 acres behind me...

...was where it all began.

When I first arrived here...

...MGM's dream factory was in full swing.

And every week the studio released a new film...

...and musicals were always a big part of the lineup.

But the success of the MGM musical did not happen overnight.

It all started when the movies learned to talk.

At first, the studios were unsure of what to do with this new invention.

Then they hit on the idea of filming popular vaudeville acts.

My pet told me cutely That I'm set absolutely

- So I pet with nobody else but my, my pet - Whose pet?

- I repeat that he's my pet - Whose pet?

Ain't he sweet? And I pet with nobody else

But my pet

In The Hollywood Revue of 1929...

...one of the first all-talking, all-singing, all-dancing movies...

...the studio gave its huge roster of stars...

...a chance to get their feet wet...

...in the newfangled talkies.

The finale introduced a brand-new song that did a lot for me much later.

But at the time it was so new...

...that some of the performers had trouble remembering the lyrics.

Let the stormy clouds Chase everyone from the place

Come on with the rain I've a smile on my face

I walk down the lane With a happy refrain

Just singin' Just singin' in the rain

Singin' in the rain

Just singin' in the rain

Suddenly, the musical became an overnight sensation...

...delighting audiences with bigger casts...

...lavish sets and costumes...

...and even a new gimmick called Technicolor.

MGM began its most ambitious film of this kind...

...in late 1930...

...and filmed all the big production numbers...

...before the public lost interest in these plotless musicals...

...and the project was abandoned.

One of the numbers featured The Dodge Twins...

...performing... What else? - "The Lock Step"...

...from the unfinished March of Time.

Shake your stripes Beat your pipe

Start crooning the jailhouse wail

Lock your cell Step light, hello, warden

Join in and lock step It'll get you fizzin'

Like bottles of pop Get hep to the new jazz prison

Lock step

Clean as a whistle Fresh as a daisy

Brand-new Clean through

On my way Just wearin' that smile of mine

Clean as a whistle Fresh as a daisy

Spick-and-span

Spend my day Just wearin' a great big smile

To capture an audience, producers knew they could always turn...

...to the old reliable sex.

Imagine that.

This number, set in the shower room of a girls' school...

...shocked audiences in 1933.

All wearin' a great big smile

Can't you see we're all excited?

They might be relaxing

But, gee, I'd rather Exercise myself into

Say, the water stopped.

- Water. - Water.

Such scenes fuelled the growing public outcry.

Faced with threats of boycotts and censorship...

...MGM conformed to the stern Production Code.

- That the vulgar, the cheap and the tawdry is out.

There is no room on this screen at any time...

...for pictures which offend against common decency.

And these, the industry will not allow.

Ah, sweet mystery of life

At last I found thee

Ah

Among MGM's efforts for the new morality...

...was a series of wildly successful operettas...

...with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy.

My heart has heard The answer to its calling

For it is love that rules

Forevermore

In 1934, the studio lifted the public out of the Depression...

...and into a make-believe Hollywood party.

Hollywood party Get up, get up, get in it

Hollywood party Nobody sleeps tonight

Hollywood party Going a mile a minute

Hollywood party Nobody sleeps tonight

Let the laughter spring out Music ring out

Satan sing out, "Yeah, man"

At that crashing, furniture-smashing

Hollywood party Nobody sleeps tonight

And now, here's to beauty, laughter, romance, music.

On with the biggest party ever given in Hollywood.

Feelin' high

What's the use Feelin' low?

On that wagon On the town

Gonna be up Never down

There's a reason If you'd like to know why

I'm in love

I'm feelin' high

Even the biggest production numbers needed stars.

So Eleanor Powell became MGM's first big dancing star.

In Broadway Melody of 1938 and almost all of her films...

...Eleanor becomes a huge sensation by the last reel.

Follow in my footsteps

Follow them

Your Broadway And my Broadway

Got that rhythm

Inside me Everybody dance

You are my lucky star

Hear the rhythm of the music And the music of the rhythm

Got a pair of new shoes Got a pair of new shoes

Gotta dance

Tap your feet Light, long and sweet

And dance

Dance Now Broadway dance

A Broadway dance and go singing

The whole town is waking up

Your Broadway

And mine

It took a lot of hard work...

...to make musical production numbers for the big screen.

And here's a good example.

Eleanor Powell's tap dance of "Fascinating Rhythm"...

...from Lady Be Good.

On the right, we see what went on behind the scenes.

Stagehands using little tractors called mules...

...quickly take the set apart...

...allowing the camera to move forward to follow her dancing.

Fascinatin' rhythm You've got me on the go

Fascinatin' rhythm I'm all aquiver

What a mess you're making The neighbors will know

I'm always shaking like a flivver

Each morning I'm wakin' up

Very happy

Just to find that no work has been done

Once it didn't matter But now you do wrong

When you start to patter I'm so unhappy

Won't you take a day off? A couple of weeks?

Somewhere far away off And make it snappy

Oh, how I long to be the man That I used to be

Oh, fascinatin' rhythm

Won't you stop picking on me?

- Good morning - It's a lovely morning

- Good morning - What a wonderful day

We've danced the whole night through

Good morning, good morning to you

How do you do?

When MGM teamed Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland...

...in Babes in Arms...

...it launched the most successful musical team at the studio.

Good morning, good morning to you

With World War II raging in Europe, the Mickey-Judy musicals...

...provided an uplifting diversion for audiences of the day.

Qherever freedom's banners Are unfurled sing a song from our hearts

To the hearts of the world

We send our greetings to friendly nations

We may be Yanks But we're your relations

Drop your sabers We're all gonna be good neighbors

Here in God's

God's

Country

As Andy Hardy, Mickey Rooney was always falling in love.

Esther Williams played his love interest in her first film.

A fashion model and champion swimmer...

...Esther was working in an aquacade...

...when she caught the attention of an MGM talent scout.

In the 22 films she made at Metro...

...she was seldom out of the water.

This is MGM's famous saucer tank.

I did many of my underwater scenes here.

It's a huge, all-steel swimming pool...

...with porthole windows just below the water line...

...so that you can see anything that's going on inside.

This tank was originally built as a place for Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller...

...to fight his rubber crocodiles.

But I really had it pretty much to myself...

...once my swimming musicals became popular.

Every time they start off Wit' a water ballet

There's the customary swimmin' pool To swim in

But we don't wanna do it In the customary way

So we start off Just with bathin' suits and women

It had been five years since my Andy Hardy movie.

By this time, I had starred in several films.

And MGM was committed to finding new ways...

...to get me out of my clothes and into the pool...

...as in This Time for Keeps with the great Jimmy Durante.

Take ten percent off for your agent

Take ten percent off for the press

Then take another ten For your publicity men

What's another ten more or less?

Then take off a few incidentals

It's the little things that really count

Anyone with half a brain Can show a capital gain

If you take off the proper

Listen to your Papa

Take off the proper amount

I was called America's mermaid...

...because it appeared that I could stay underwater indefinitely.

In Jupiter's Darling...

...I swam into a sunken Roman amphitheater...

...where my presence had the magical effect of bringing statues to life.

In Dangerous When Wet...

...I swam into a cartoon sequence where I met Tom and Jerry.

You know, they were more animated than some of my leading men.

In Texas Carnival, I became Howard Keel's underwater dream...

...right there in his own living room.

For 12 years, I was the center of an amazing series...

...of vivid sights and water pageantry.

And I loved every minute of it.

I'd be like Cleopatterer If I could have my way

Each man she met she went and kissed

And she'd dozens on her waiting list

I wish that I had lived there Beside the pyramid

For a girl today don't get the scope That Cleopatterer did

If one performer could exemplify...

...the lighthearted spirit of the MGM musical...

...then June Allyson would surely be it.

Here, from Till the Clouds Roll By...

...she romanticizes the virtues of that ancient Egyptian princess...

...Cleopatterer.

Gaping in a line And watch her agitate her spine

It simply use to knock them flat

When she went like this And then like that

At dancing Cleopatterer Was always on the spot

She gave these poor Egyptian ginks

Something else to watch Besides the sphinx

Marc Antony admitted That what first made him skid

Was the wibbly, wobbly, wiggly dance That Cleopatterer did

This was the original main gate at MGM.

In the early days, when a star came to work...

...they'd drive in here...

...and then the studio car would whisk them off...

...to their destination on the lot.

It was all so glamorous.

MGM liked to boast...

...that it had more stars than there are in the heavens.

I just felt lucky to be counted among them when I was still just a kid.

I never wanna hear Johann Sebastian Bach

That's me on the right.

Still wet behind the ears from the Broadway show...

...Best Foot Forward...

...which the studio bought and took me along as part of the package.

It's not hard to tell...

...that Nancy Walker, Gloria DeHaven and I...

...desperately wanted to make good at Metro.

Yes, the barrelhouse The boogie-woogie and the blues

Oh, the barrelhouse Makes you want to carol

Every boogie beat will raise your heat

When they start to play the blues

You'll never choose to lose the blues

Oh, the blues will really get you

And the barrelhouse Is bound to upset you

And the boogie-woogie beat Will drive you straight to distraction

Hey, let's go professors Get a solid reaction

From a barrelhouse

The boog-boog-boog-boog boogie And the blues

I love the boogie 'Cause it tickles my spine

I love the boogie 'Cause it's fresh and it's fine

Just like a cigarette with modern design That's why I love the boogie-woogie

Yes, yes

It seems to knock the wind Right out of my chest

It's so darn good It makes a fool of the rest

Just goes to show you That the boogie's the best

That's why I love the boogie-woogie

Yes, yes

It's right as rain As low as thunder

High as a cloud And sweet as a cake

It's got a kick like mountain liquor And it's as slick and hard

To take as Veronica Lake

It picks you up And then it knocks you right down

It makes you laugh and play And act like a clown

No other music has the right To the crown

'Cause there's nothing That will raise your heat

- Like the boogie-woogie beat - Don't mean the barrelhouse

- Like the boogie-woogie beat - Don't mean the blues

I love the boogie-woogie beat

- She loves the boogie-woogie beat - Great

Each year, hundreds of performers like me...

...were brought to MGM, hoping to get a break in the movies.

There were acting teachers, instructions in posture and grooming...

...and everybody had to learn to sing and dance.

It was an extensive crash course...

...designed to find those with that special something...

...known as star quality.

And if you had it, you got to take the next big step:

The screen test.

For instance, Kathryn Grayson had to wait two years at MGM...

...before she was given her first screen test...

...represented here in Anchors Aweigh.

But the wait paid off because she became one of MGM's leading sopranos...

...in the 1940s and '50s.

To the thrill of the night

Shakin' the blues away

Unhappy news away

If you were blue, it's easy to

Shake off your cares and troubles

Ann Miller was only 14 when she got her first movie contract at RKO...

...and was a seasoned pro when she came to MGM...

...for Easter Parade.

Shakin' the blues away

Unhappy news away

If you are blue It's easy to

Shake off your Shake off your cares

And shake off your troubles

Provin' that there's a way

To chase your cares away

If you would lose Your weary blues

Shake them away

Away

Joan McCracken was a wonderfully talented artist...

...from the Broadway stage...

...brought to enrich MGM's galaxy of dancing stars.

Here, Joan and Ray McDonald bring their infectious enthusiasm...

...to pass that peace pipe from Good News.

Solid potato salad Is the groovy movie salad, Jack

Solid potato salad bowl

Da-do da-do da-do-day Bring it back

Sometimes the studio tried out a novelty act...

...that just didn't catch on, no matter how hard they worked.

Meet The Ross Sisters from Broadway Rhythm.

Whoo! Whoo!

We're going on the town

MGM musicals had a special enthusiasm all their own.

In the 1949 hit On the Town...

...Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin and Gene Kelly...

...teamed with Betty Garrett, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen...

...as three sailors and their dates...

...go out on a night in New York City.

And hit the heights tonight Get high as kites tonight

East side, west side, rouse the city

One day, one night, that's the pity

But we won't look ahead

Won't let the light of dawn get us down

We're really living, Jack We're going on the town

We're going on the town

We're kicking back the traces

We're gonna do the places

We've never done before

We're going on the loose

We're throwing all our dough in

And we'll keep right on going

As if no one before had any fun before

Hot spots, swank spots Roofs and cellars

Three smart girls And three slick fellers

We're going to paint it red

We'll fill 'em up And then drink 'em down

Let's have a ball tonight

We're going on the town

What a dame, what a dame She belongs in the hall of fame

I have always admired the strength and stamina of dancers.

And one of the greatest is Cyd Charisse...

...whom Fred Astaire called "beautiful dynamite. "

And I completely agree.

I'm flat

Baby, you knock me out

You're the whistle in the kisser Super sweet

You're the top People stop when you're on the street

You're a wow with the power I admit defeat

One, two, three, four Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, boing

I'm beat Star light, star bright

I see stars when you move in

One, two, left, right You win

You got me hangin' on the ropes

Baby, you knock me out

You're the broad I'd applaud in a Broadway show

You're the chick with the kick Like a rodeo

Mighty punch, you got the punch That lays me low

One, two, three, four, Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, boing

KO

Bam, slam Hear me shout

Baby

You knock me out

This was MGM's scenic backdrop building where talented artists...

...created their movie magic, and this is just one section...

...of a huge painting re-creating the Scottish countryside...

...for the film Brigadoon.

Altogether, it was originally 600 feet long...

...and 60 feet high and wrapped around the entire interior...

...of MGM's Stage 15.

Gene Kelly and I spent many hours...

...rehearsing and filming our dance numbers in front of these heathered hills.

I've always had such respect for Gene.

Dancer, singer, actor, choreographer...

...and director.

He did it all...

...and always brought exciting new dimensions...

...to the musical motion picture.

First, you put your Two knees close up tight

Then you sway 'em to the left Then you sway 'em to the right

Step around the floor kinda nice and light

Then you twist around and twist around With all of your might

Stretch your lovin' arms Straight out in space

Then you do the Eagle Rock With the style and grace

Swing your foot way 'round And bring it back

Now that's what I call Ballin' the Jack

Gene's first big break came on Broadway, starring in Pal Joey.

MGM soon grabbed him...

...and started him off as Judy Garland's leading man...

...in For Me and My Gal.

Ballin' the Jack

Gene had a style all his own...

...charming and athletic, with boundless energy.

In Summer Stock, he created a classic number...

...using only a squeaky floor and a newspaper as dance partners.

As a choreographer...

...Gene staged this exciting and bittersweet ballet...

...to Richard Rodgers' "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue"...

...from Words and Music.

His partner: The wonderful Vera-Ellen.

Gene's inventiveness seemed inexhaustible.

In An American in Paris...

...he even danced into a Toulouse-Lautrec painting...

...to find Leslie Caron...

...and the incomparable music of George Gershwin.

The film won six Oscars plus a special award to Gene...

...for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film.

Fit as a fiddle and ready For love I can jump over the moon up above

Fit as a fiddle and ready for love

Gene teamed with Donald O'Connor...

...to perform this marvelously comic vaudeville routine...

...for Singin' in the Rain.

Soon all the church bells Will be ringing and I'll march with Ma and Pa

How the church bells will be ringing

With a hey naughty-knotty And a hotcha-cha

Hi, diddle-diddle, my baby's OK

Ask me a riddle, I'm waiting to say

Fit as a fiddle and ready for love

It was my pleasure to dance with Gene in several films...

...but I think this one is my favorite.

"The Heather on the Hill" from Brigadoon.

You are my lucky star

Gene inspired a whole new generation of stars.

One of the brightest was a young California girl...

...named Debbie Reynolds.

Here's Debbie in a rare outtake from Singin' in the Rain.

Rod La Rocque and Valentino

You are

My lucky star

I was only 16 and still Mary Frances Reynolds...

...when I entered the Miss Burbank contest.

I did it as a lark to get a blouse and a scarf...

...that they were giving away to all the contestants.

Well, as fate would have it...

...an MGM talent scout was in the audience...

...and in a year, I was under contract to the biggest studio in Hollywood.

It was at MGM that I learned the workings of the studio's glamour mill...

...comprised of dozens of talented artists and technicians...

...who made MGM's leading ladies appear on the screen...

...as images of unsurpassed beauty.

Gorgeous gowns created by the world-famous designer Adrian...

...were part of the treatment.

As well as Makeup and Hair Departments...

...that could accomplish any style imaginable.

A star like Joan Crawford would sometimes...

...have her look redesigned numerous times...

...until it matched the exact mood of the role she was to play.

The studio prided itself on presenting some of the most...

...glamorous women seen anywhere in the world.

You stepped out of a dream

You are too wonderful To be what you seem

Could there be eyes like yours?

Could there be lips like yours?

Could there be smiles like yours?

Honest and truly?

You stepped out of a cloud

In 1941, the glamour age had reached its zenith...

...with Tony Martin and an all-star cast in Ziegfeld Girl.

And have you all to myself

Alone and apart Out of a dream

Safe in my heart

Out of a dream

Of you

I even got the glamour treatment in a dream sequence...

...to the song "A Lady Loves" in the film I Love Melvin.

A lady loves expensive clothes And pretty jewels and furs

And French chapeaus

She loves her lingerie in black It suits her zodiac

Loves a penthouse Where she'll be content to stay

Finds little gifts on her breakfast tray

But now and then pack and sail away

For a simple Riviera holiday

Donald O'Connor plays my boyfriend in the film.

He envisions a different role in life for my character.

His version of me as a stay-at-home farm girl...

...was dropped from the final film.

Now, at last, you can see our differing points of view.

A lady loves the simple things

She loves her dreams tied up With apron strings

There are no yachts In all her plans

Just little pots and pans

In the doorway She'll wait for his warm caress

And he'll be handsome Well, more or less

But he will notice that brand-new dress

Saying, "You look nice Oh, never mind the price"

A lady loves beaucoup I'amour

But first of all she loves to be secure

And she adores the subtle phrase

That it's the man who pays

Yet there is one vital thought She will place above

All of the things I make mention of

But most of all a lady loves to love

And what is more a lady loves to live

And what is more a lady lives to love

Thanks for the present Of the silver-blue mink

Thanks for the plane And the ice-skating rink

Thanks for the yacht And for the solid-gold sink

Thanks a lot, but no thanks

Dolores Gray uses glamour as a weapon...

...in this spoof of the power of the devastating female...

...over the hapless male...

...from It's Always Fair Weather.

However classy

By which this lassie can be had

Thanks for the banks And for the Santa Fe line

Thanks for the darling uranium mine

But I'm a gal With only one valentine

Thanks a lot, but no thanks

For I am just a faithful lassie

Waitin' for her faithful lad

And there's no gift However classy

By which this lassie can be had

Thanks for losin' your mind

And thanks for Fort Knox Sealed and signed

But I've got a guy who's Clifton Webb And Marlon Brando combined

Thanks a lot, but no

No thanks

I don't know why they scold me

For doing what I'm trying not to do

In Torch Song, Joan Crawford made her final musical film...

...as a fading legend...

...performing in tropical makeup for the song "Two-Faced Woman. "

The recording wasn't a new one at MGM.

Sung by voice double India Adams...

...it had originally been used with Cyd Charisse...

...for The Band Wagon, but was cut from the final film.

It's been suggested that they may have dropped the wrong version.

Makeup

I don't belong

I can't help being a two-faced woman

A little bit of boldness A little bit of sweetness

A little bit of coldness A little bit of heatness

Don't fall in love With a two-faced woman

Givin' you a warnin' I'll leave you in the mornin'

Got another lover under cover

I'm like a weathervane

That goes with the breeze

My disposition

Makes me do as I please

That's why they call her A two-faced woman

A little bit of day

And a little bit of night

A little bit of sad

And a little bit of bright

A little bit of boldness

A little bit of sweetness

A little bit of coldness

A little bit of heatness

Good and bad Sweet and sad

Black and white Wrong and right

They call me two-faced woman

In the early 1940s...

...Hollywood began a fascination with things tropical...

...and south of the border, and MGM was no exception.

Exotic rhythms and costumes...

...transported audiences away from cold climates...

...and the troubled times of a world war.

Many Latin artists were recruited to add an authentic sound to these films.

One of the most popular was Xavier Cugat and his orchestra.

Ricardo Montalban became a sensation at Metro...

...as the Latin lover, driving female audiences wild.

Here with Ann Miller and Cyd Charisse from The Kissing Bandit...

...there doesn't seem to be enough Ricardo to go around.

From Nancy Goes to Rio comes the Brazilian bombshell herself:

The incomparable Carmen Miranda.

He's got the kind of appeal That turns your head like a wheel

And what a wonderful feeling That feeling you feel

Your heart will beat like a bongo

Just like was beating in mine

The heat of the sun may be 101

But you make it 109 And there is more to it yet

I'm gonna bet you a bet That you can pack up and go

But you'll never forget

Carmen, of course, had her imitators...

...but none quite like Mickey Rooney...

...in Babes on Broadway.

Hey, Ma

It seems we've stood and talked

Like this before

One ofthe performers at MGM whom I admired the most...

...was the legendary Lena Horne.

But I can't remember where

Or when

Some things that happen

For the first time

Seem to be happening again

It was a long time ago I stood in this very spot...

...and recorded that lovely song.

When I first walked onto this recording stage in 1942...

...it looked pretty much as it does today.

Although the technology was prehistoric...

...compared to what we use today.

I recorded all of the music for my movies here...

...and it is still considered Hollywood's greatest recording stage.

I have many memories here...

...good and bad.

I never felt like I really belonged in Hollywood.

At that time, they didn't quite know what to do with me, a black performer.

So I usually just came on, sang a song and made a quick exit.

It was just one of those things

Just one of those crazy things

This was true of my first film in the studio, Panama Hattie.

Yeah, I got to sing a great Cole Porter tune in a featured appearance...

...but what I really wanted was to be given an acting role in the movies.

Just one of those fabulous flights

A trip to the moon on gossamer wings

Just one of those things

If we thought a bit of the end of it

Before we started painting the town

We'd have been aware That our love affair

Was too hot not to cool down

So goodbye, dear, and Amen

Here's hoping we meet now and then

It was great fun

But it was just

One of those things

Said that gal, Du Barry

"Ain't it the truth?"

In 1943, I got to play a part.

Georgia Brown in Cabin in the Sky.

And this good song, "Ain't It the Truth," was cut from the movie...

...because studio bosses thought it too risqu�...

...to show a black girl in a bubble bath.

Love is a ripplin' brook

Man is a fish to cook

You got to bait your hook

Rise and shine

And cast your line

You got to get your possum

Ain't it the truth?

While you still in blossom

Ain't it the truth?

Cleopatra and Delilah

Had it way over Ruth

Them gals did mighty swell

They sure did ring that bell

Ain't it the gospel truth?

It's the truth

The truth

It's the solid

Mellow truth

In 1946, I played the role of Julie...

...in an excerpt from Show Boat in Till the Clouds Roll By.

I was being considered for the part for the 1951 version of Show Boat...

...but the Production Code Office had banned interracial romance...

...on the screen.

So the studio gave the part to my good friend Ava Gardner.

And she was wonderful in it.

The studio had Ava rehearse singing the role...

...to the recordings that I had made hoping to get the part...

...which annoyed us both.

Anyway, she did a great job on her own...

...but just before releasing the film, the studio dubbed her...

...with Annette Warren's voice.

Fish got to swim, birds got to fly

I got to love one man till I die

Can't help lovin' that man of mine

This is what audiences would have heard...

...if they had allowed Ava's voice to be used.

Tell me he's lazy, tell me he's slow

Tell me I'm crazy

Maybe I know

Can't help

Lovin' that man of mine

Though Ava was one of my few good friends...

...I was deeply disappointed that I didn't get the part.

That's a rainy day

But when he comes back

That day is fine

The sun will shine

He can come home

As late as can be

Home without him

Ain't no home to me

Can't help

Lovin' that man

Of mine

I was not the only one to lose a role here.

In Annie Get Your Gun, Betty Hutton was a big hit...

...as Annie Oakley.

But Betty wasn't the studio's first choice.

Judy Garland had begun filming the role and completed two numbers...

...when she suffered a breakdown and had to be replaced.

Retrieved at last from the MGM film vaults...

...is Judy's version of "I'm an Indian Too. "

Am I an Indian yet?

Hoh!

Like the Chippewa Iroquois, Omaha

Like those Indians

I'm an Indian too A Sioux

A Sioux

Some Indian summer's day Without a care

I may run away

With Big Chief Sun-of-a-Bear

And I'll have totem poles

Tomahawk Small papoose

Which will go to prove I'm an Indian too

A Sioux

A Sioux Oh, I'm an Indian, I'm an Indian

I'm an honest Injun Indian

I'm an Indian, too

Ow

Folks are dumb where I come from

They ain't had any learning

This is the only other number Judy shot forAnnie Get Your Gun.

As you can see, whatever conflicts Judy struggled with as a person...

...she always came through as an entertainer.

Still we've gone from A to Z

Doin' what comes naturally

You don't have to know How to read or write

When you're out with a feller In the pale moonlight

You don't have to look In a book to find

What he thinks of the moon And what is on his mind

That comes naturally

My uncle out in Texas Can't even write his name

He signs his checks with "x's"

But they cash them just the same

Grandpa Dick was always sick

But never saw a doctor

He just died at 93

Doin' what comes naturally

The sleepless nights The daily fights

The quick toboggan When you reach the heights

I miss the kisses And I miss the bites

I wish I were in love again

Words and Music was the last time...

...that Judy and Mickey Rooney worked together at MGM...

...ending the most popular song and dance team...

...the studio would ever have.

No more pain

No more strain

Now I'm sane But I would rather be gaga

The pulled-out fur of cat and cur

The fine mismating of a him and her

We've learned our lesson And we wish we were in love

Again

Judy Garland and I grew up together at MGM...

...and completed high school between long days of shooting.

Here on the lot we made 10 pictures together...

...and even when we worked separately...

...we turned to each other for friendship and encouragement.

We were the very best of friends, more like brother and sister.

I still miss her very much.

Judy was 11 years old when I first heard her sing...

...and I told her right off what I felt then...

...and what I feel today.

I said to her, "Darling, you're the best in the world. "

By the time 15-year-old Judy appeared in Everybody Sing...

...she had already been on-stage for more than a decade...

...billed as the little girl with the great, big voice.

Teach me how to sing

Music with a modern rhythm Let me swing

Mr. Mendelssohn swing

Music is a thing

That's no good without that rhythm

Sweet and hot Fast and slow

So get yourself A little dash of holy ho

And swing it Mr. Mendelssohn swing it high

Hey, swing it low

And swing it Mr. Mendelssohn swing

I'm past the stage Of doll and carriage

I'm not the age To think of marriage

I'm too old for toys

And I'm too young for boys

I'm just an in-between

In Love Finds Andy Hardy...

...Judy laments the fact that she's not a little girl any longer...

...and not quite a grownup either.

Grownups ignore me

And in every sense

I'm just on a fence

I'm just an in-between

For a few years, Judy was an in-between.

Even though the critics had compared her talent...

...to that of a teenage Sarah Bernhardt...

...the studio had to search for just the right part...

...to showcase her grownup gifts.

They found it in her first starring role:

Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz.

When Judy stepped into the Technicolor land of Oz...

...it mirrored her arrival as a major star.

Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

We must be over the rainbow.

Follow the yellow Brick road follow the yellow brick road

Follow, follow, follow, follow Follow the yellow brick road

Follow the yellow brick Follow the yellow brick

Follow the yellow brick road

You're off to see the Wizard The wonderful Wizard of Oz

You'll find he is a Whiz of a Wiz If ever a Wiz there was

If ever, oh ever, a Wiz there was The Wizard of Oz is one because

Because, because, because Because, because

Because of the wonderful things he does

The Wizard of Oz was to become...

...the most widely seen motion picture of all time...

...and Judy's wonderful performance in the picture...

...earned her a special Academy Award...

...which I was lucky enough to present to her.

And, Judy, I hope you win many more of them, honey.

Thank you.

And how about doing us all a little favor now...

...and singing "Over the Rainbow"? Will you do that?

Somewhere over the rainbow

Blue birds fly

Birds fly over the rainbow

Why, then

Oh, why can't I?

I like New York in June, how about you?

I like a Gershwin tune, how about you?

I love a fireside when a storm is due

I like potato chips Moonlight and motor trips

How about you?

My favorite memories of working with Judy...

...are when it was just the two of us performing a simple...

...song and dance routine together...

...like this one from Babes on Broadway.

I love to dream of fame, maybe I'll shine

I'd love to see your name

Right beside mine

I can see we're in harmony

Looks like we both agree

On what to do

And I like it, how about you?

Down on an island, the southern seas

There lived a lassie named Minnie Breeze

And all the natives agree That she's the hottest thing in Trinidad

Judy became one of the country's top 10 box-office stars.

The little girl was growing up.

So the studio gave her the full glamour treatment...

...in this Busby Berkeley extravaganza from Ziegfeld Girl.

They call her Minnie from Trinidad

They all love Minnie from Trinidad

And all the natives would be so sad

If Minnie ever left Trinidad

And all the natives would be so glad

If Minnie

Came back to Trinidad

For Minnie

Minnie

Came back to Trinidad

Who, stole my heart away

Who, makes me dream all day

Dreams I know can never come true

Seems as though I'll ever be blue

Who, means my happiness

Who, would I answer yes to

Well, you ought to guess who

No one but you

By 1946, Judy was one of the studio's most valuable assets...

...and made a special guest appearance as Marilyn Miller...

...in the Jerome Kern biography, Till the Clouds Roll By.

March on, little doagies

March on, down the trail

One of Judy's biggest hits was The Harvey Girls.

The film was so big, in fact...

...that there wasn't time for this extraordinary production number...

...in the final film.

Here are Judy, Ray Bolger, Cyd Charisse, and a cast of hundreds...

...in a never-before-seen "March of the Doagies. "

We don't know where we're goin'

But we're on our way

March on, little doagies

March on, down the trail

March on, little doagies

Till we're past the last fence rail

Out there lies the prairie

Out there breaks the day

Oh, we don't know where we're goin'

But we're on our way

- Me for a campfire out on the trail - Me for an old cayuse

- Me for the sound of the coyote's wail - And I'm all set to vamoose

- You for a pipe, when the evenin' is still - You for your own backyard

- I'll be the first fella over the hill - Me for a campfire out on the trail

An old cayuse and a coyote's wail With nothin' to do

And nobody asking me why Give me a cowhand song

And I'll be gettin' along

March on along

March on The doagies on the trail

Are marchin' on

Until the last grand swale

Out there lies the prairie

Out there breaks the day

Oh, we don't know where we're goin'

But we're on our way

In Summer Stock, Judy was seen for the first time...

...wearing what was to become her trademark for years to come.

The top half of a tuxedo.

Two years before, however, she had worn the same outfit...

...in a scene removed from the released version of Easter Parade.

Irving Berlin had based a song on just a few notes...

...and called it "Mr. Monotony. "

This is Judy at the top of her career.

Playing on his slide trombone

In a certain monotone

He was known as Mr. Monotony

Any pleasant interlude

That would mean a change of mood

Didn't go with Mr. Monotony

Sometimes he would change the key

But the same dull melody

Would emerge from Mr. Monotony

Folks for miles would run away

Only one preferred to stay

She would come around and say

"Have you got any monotony today?"

"Haven't got any monotony

Today

Can't play

Today

Haven't got any monotony

Today"

It only happens when I dance with you

Another legend at Metro was my good friend Fred Astaire...

...who always romanced a glamorous partner in his motion pictures.

In Easter Parade, it was the one and only Ann Miller.

Seem quite so near

Why does it happen, dear

Only with you?

Two cheeks together can be so divine

But only when those cheeks

Are yours and mine

I've danced with dozens of others

The whole night through

But the thrill that comes with Spring

When anything could happen

That only happens with you

It was at a rehearsal hall like this...

...that I spent my first days at MGM...

...preparing for the production numbers in Easter Parade.

Oh, and I was just scared stiff because I was going to dance...

...with the master.

But Fred Astaire was as charming off the screen as he was on...

...and he put me at ease right away.

Especially after I agreed to dance with him in ballet slippers...

...so I wouldn't be taller than he was.

Fred was a perfectionist. After exhausting hours of rehearsal...

...when we all thought we had it just right, he would say:

"Come on, Annie, let's do it one more time. "

What I wouldn't give to do it just one more time again.

Fred and his sister Adele were already stars...

...in the New York and London theater before he came to MGM in 1933.

Do you feel like going through that number with Mr. Astaire?

- All right. - Freddie.

Show Miss Marlowe the routine on that opening number.

- Good evening. - Miss Marlowe.

Do you know the routine? - I've seen it often enough. I'll try.

That's fine. Harry, give us the pickup on that gang number, will you, please?

It was a little more than a guest appearance for Fred...

...for he was soon to be under contract to RKO Pictures...

...where they were about to team him with Ginger Rogers...

...causing a string of hit musicals to follow.

Fred didn't return to MGM until seven years later...

...at which time he starred with Eleanor Powell...

...in Broadway Melody of 1940.

In 1945, Fred and a new partner, Lucille Bremer...

...stepped out to "Coffee Time" in Yolanda and the Thief.

Its director, Vincente Minnelli.

That's for me

I'm drum crazy, yes I'm drum crazy, yes

I'm plumb crazy for drums

Fred could make music out of almost anything.

And he often found new challenges that stretched his talents.

In Easter Parade, he uses drums to make a melody.

First, soft violins

Then, sweet saxophones

Then, blue clarinets croon

When it's my turn I turn into a loon

When the drum takes the melody

When the drum carries the tune

Hard-boiled private eyes were all the rage in the '50s.

Perfect for the musical spoof, "The Girl Hunt" ballet...

...from The Band Wagon.

In it, Fred plays a tough detective tracking down a killer.

The femme fatale, Cyd Charisse.

She came at me in sections.

More curves than a scenic railway.

She was bad. She was dangerous.

I wouldn't trust her any farther than I could throw her.

She was selling hard, but I wasn't buying.

A team that had no equal was Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

In The Barkleys of Broadway, they dance the "Swing Trot"...

...under the main titles of the picture, but with the titles removed...

...another musical gem is revealed...

...from the most beloved dance team of all time.

And you're the greatest Dancer in the land

It's bill and coo-y, tea for two-y

Just watch your partner's Eyes grow dewy

Entrenous-y you're slightly screwy

But irresistible On and on

Oh, what a natural they've hit upon It gets you going till you're really gone

And you will never rue the day

The day you realize The Swing Trot is here to stay

For The Belle of New York, the studio decided to reshoot this scene...

...because Fred's costume didn't suit his famous dapper style.

So by putting the original and the reshot versions together...

...it gives us a rare opportunity to see just how perfectly rehearsed...

...Fred really was.

I wanna be a dancin' man while I can

Gonna leave my footsteps On the sands of time

If I never leave a dime

A dancin' man

With footsteps On the sands

Of rhythm

And rhyme

Anything you can do, I can do better

I can do anything better than you

Another one ofmy favorite leading men was Howard Keel.

Best known for his rich baritone voice, he had a very competitive romance...

...with Betty Hutton in Annie Get Your Gun.

- No, you're not - Yes, I am

- No, you're not - Yes, I am, yes, I am

I can shoot a partridge With a single cartridge

I can get a sparrow With a bow and arrow

I can live on bread and cheese

- And only on that? - Yes

- So can a rat - Any note you can reach, I can go higher

- I can sing anything higher than you - No, you can't

- Yes, I can - No, you can't

Yes, I can

Anything you can wear, I can wear better

In what you wear I'd look better than you

- In my coat? - In your vest

- In my shoes? - In your hat

- No, you can't - Yes, I can, yes, I can

Anything you can say, I can say faster

I can say anything faster than you

- No, you can't - Yes, I can

- I can jump a hurdle - I can wear a girdle

- I can knit a sweater - I can fill it better

I can do most anything

- Can you bake a pie? - No

Neither can I

Any note you can sing I can sing sweeter

I can sing anything sweeter than you

No, you can't

Yes, I can

No, you can't

- Yes, I can - No, you can't

- Yes, I can - No, you can't, can't, can't

Yes, I can, can, can

- No, you can't - Yes, I can

This is the vault where thousands upon thousands of MGM films are stored.

Their worth in dollars, film history, entertainment...

...is immeasurable.

There are a few of these, of course, in which I appeared.

This one, Rose Marie...

...was the first wide-screen, CinemaScope musical.

Now, in the 1950s, Hollywood went into a panic...

...that rivaled the advent of talking pictures.

A monster had taken over the movie-going public: Television.

So the movies went into new technologies...

...such as CinemaScope, stereophonic sound...

...to try to recapture their audience.

Today to get the public To attend a picture show

It's not enough to advertise A famous star they know

If you want to get the crowds To come around

You gotta have glorious Technicolor

Breathtaking Cinemascope and Stereophonic sound

In Silk Stockings, Janis Paige and Fred Astaire...

...spoof the necessary elements to make a modern motion picture.

This lover boy's technique

If you want to hear Applauding hands resound

You gotta have glorious Technicolor

Breathtaking Cinemascope and Stereophonic sound

The customers don't like to see The groom embrace the bride

Unless her lips are scarlet And her mouth is five feet wide

In glorious Technicolor Breathtaking Cinemascope

Or Cinerama, VistaVision or

Superscope or Todd-AO and Stereophonic sound

And Stereophonic sound

There was a time when dancing Was so intimate and sleek

A fella hugged his partner As they'd cuddle cheek to cheek

Now he doesn't even know If she's around

Because they're in glorious Technicolor Breathtaking Cinemascope and

Stereophonic sound

It's not enough today To see a dancer at his ease

He's got to throw his back out And come sliding on his knees

He's gotta have glorious Russian ballet Or modern ballet or English ballet or

Chinese ballet or Hindu ballet or Bali ballet or any ballet

And Stereophonic sound

And Stereophonic adds an extra tonic

Stereophonic sound

- Shakin' the blues away - Away

- Unhappy news away - Away

If you were blue, it's easy to

Shake off your cares and troubles

In 1955, the studio cleverly combined the new technologies...

...with the old-fashioned backstage musical and starred Doris Day...

...in the Oscar-winning hit Love Me or Leave Me.

Do like the voodoos do

Listen to a voodoo melody

They shake their bodies so To and fro

With every shake A lucky break

- Provin' that there's a way - A way

- To chase your cares away - Away

If you would lose your weary blues

Shake 'em away

- Shakin' the blues away - Away, away

- Unhappy news away - Away, away

If you were blue, it's easy to

Shake off your cares and troubles

Tellin' the blues to go

They may refuse to go

But as a rule they'll go If you'll shake 'em away

Do like the voodoos do

Listen to a voodoo melody

They shake their bodies so To and fro

With every shake A lucky break

- Provin' that there's a way - A way

- To chase your cares away - Away

If you would lose your weary blues

Shake 'em away

Shake those blues away

Gotta chase those cares away

Just to prove that there's a way

A way to shake, shake your blues

Away

The warden threw a party In the county jail

The prison band was there And they began to wail

The band was jumpin' And the joint began to swing

You should've heard Those knocked-out jailbirds sing

Let's rock

Times were changing, and so was music.

MGM began appealing to a new generation of filmgoers...

...with Elvis Presley and the "Jailhouse Rock. "

Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock

Spider Murphy played The tenor saxophone

Little Joe was blowin' On the slide trombone

The drummer boy from Illinois Went crash, boom, bang

The whole rhythm section Was the Purple Gang

Let's rock, everybody, let's rock

Everybody in the whole cell block

Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock

Number forty-seven said to number three:

"You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see

I sure would be delighted With your company

Come on and do the Jailhouse Rock With me"

Let's rock

Go, go, go

Everybody, let's rock

Lay it on me, daddy-o

Everybody in the whole cell block

Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock Dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock

Rock, rock, rock

Dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock

Rock, rock, rock

Dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock

Rock, rock, rock

Gigi, am I a fool without a mind...

...or have I merely been too blind to realize?

Oh, Gigi.

In 1958...

...the golden age of the MGM musical came to a grand finale...

...with Lerner and Loewe's Gigi.

The film became the studio's top box-office musical...

...and won nine Academy Awards, including one for this lovely song.

The film stars Louis Jourdan and the lovely Leslie Caron.

Oh, no

Overnight there's been A breathless change

In you

Oh, Gigi While you were trembling on the brink

Was I out yonder somewhere Blinking at a star?

Oh, Gigi

Have I been standing up too close?

Or back too far?

When did your sparkle turn to fire?

And your warmth become desire?

Oh, what miracle

Has made you the way

You are?

What a time it was.

Life was simpler then.

And so was the movie business.

MGM's dream factory created a rich, romantic...

...compelling world of illusion.

And although we may not see anything like it again...

...we're blessed with memories...

...and miles and miles of film.

In the words of Irving Berlin:

"The song is ended...

...but the melody lingers on. "

A show that is really a show

Sends you out with a kind of a glow

And you say as you go on your way

That's Entertainment

A song that is winging along

Or a dance with the touch of romance

Is the art that appeals to the heart

That's Entertainment

The world is a stage

The stage is a world

Of entertainment