The extraordinary story of Arthur Freed and the mighty musical genius of MGM

That Was Entertainment: The Golden Age of the MGM Musical traces the development of the MGM musical fromThe Broadway Melody (1929) through its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s and its decline in the 1960s, culminating in the notorious 1970 MGM auction when Judy Garland's ruby slippers fromThe Wizard of Oz, Charlton Heston's chariot fromBen-Hur, and Fred Astaire's trousers and dress shirt fromRoyal Wedding vanished to the highest bidders.

That Was Entertainment uniquely reconstructs the life of Arthur Freed, whose unit at MGM became the gold standard against which the musicals of other studios were measured. Without Freed, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ann Miller, Betty Garrett, Cyd Charisse, Arlene Dahl, Vera-Ellen, Lucille Bremer, Gloria DeHaven, Howard Keel, and June Allyson would never have had the signature films that established them as movie legends.

MGM's past is its present. No other studio produced such a range of musicals that are still shown today on television and all of which are covered in this volume, from integrated musicals in which song and dance were seamlessly embedded in the plot (Meet Me in St. Louis andSeven Brides for Seven Brothers) to revues (The Hollywood Revue of 1929 andZiegfeld Follies); original musicals (Singin' in the RainEaster Parade, andIt's Always Fair Weather); adaptations of Broadway shows (Girl CrazyOn the TownShow BoatKiss Me KateBrigadoonKismet, andBells Are Ringing); musical versions of novels and plays (GigiThe Pirate, andSummer Holiday); operettas (the films of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy); mythico-historical biographies of composers (Johann Strauss Jr. inThe Great Waltz and Sigmund Romberg inDeep in My Heart); and musicals featuring songwriting teams (Rodgers and Hart inWords and Music and Kalmar and Ruby inThree Little Words), opera stars (Enrico Caruso inThe Great Caruso and Marjorie Lawrence inInterrupted Melody), and pop singers (Ruth Etting inLove Me or Leave Me). Also covered is the water ballet musical--in a class by itself--with Esther Williams starring as MGM's resident mermaid. This is a book for longtime lovers of the movie musical and those discovering the genre for the first time.