That's Entertainment, Part II together for the first time since the 1946 film "Ziegfeld Follies", and for only the second time in their careers. (It was the last time 76-year-old Astaire danced on film, though the veteran actor continued to make film and TV appearances into the 1980s; Kelly would go on to appear in the 1980 musical "Xanadu".) According to film historian Robert Osborne, in specially-filmed introductions produced for Turner Classic Movies, it was Astaire who suggested to Kelly that the two take advantage of this potentially last-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform together, something Kelly actually wishes for out loud during his narration of
Judy Garland only its cost, but also the increasing expense of the shooting delays while Garland was ill, as well because the general public was not yet willing to accept her in a sophisticated vehicle. Following her work on "The Pirate", she co-starred for the first and only time with Fred Astaire (who replaced Gene Kelly after Kelly had broken his ankle) in "Easter Parade", which became her top-grossing film at MGM and quickly re-established her as one of MGM's primary assets. Thrilled by the huge box-office receipts of "Easter Parade", MGM immediately teamed Garland and Astaire in "The Barkleys of Broadway".