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
Fred Astaire last long. Astaire returned to the big screen to replace an injured Kelly in "Easter Parade" (1948) opposite Judy Garland, Ann Miller, and Peter Lawford and for a final reunion with Rogers (replacing Judy Garland) in "The Barkleys of Broadway" (1949). Both of these films revived Astaire's popularity and in 1950 he starred in two musicals – one for M-G-M – "Three Little Words" with Vera-Ellen and Red Skelton and one on loan-out to Paramount – "Let's Dance" with Betty Hutton. While "Three Little Words" did quite well at the box office, "Let's Dance" was a financial disappointment. "Royal Wedding"