‘That’s Entertainment!’: Superb Retrospective : VARIOUS ARTISTS: “That’s Entertainment! The Ultimate Anthology of MGM Musicals”Turner/Rhino ****

If there were a Grammy for the year’s best new reissue label, it would go to the partnership of Turner Classics Movies Music and Rhino Movie Music, which ends the year on a spectacular note with this superbly designed, six-disc retrospective.

The collection contains 129 selections from 82 MGM musicals and a beautifully designed 100-page booklet that details the history of the films, complete with photos of the colorful theater posters for them.

The fun begins when you pick up the booklet and see on the cover the famous scene of Gene Kelly by the lamppost from 1952’s “Singin’ in the Rain,” one of the most celebrated MGM films.

After an overture conducted by the late Henry Mancini, the first disc follows up on the Kelly photo by giving us four different versions of “Singin’ in the Rain,” which was written by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed.

The first version is by Cliff (Ukulele Ike) Edwards from the 1929 film “The Hollywood Revue of 1929.” Next is a Jimmy Durante rendition from 1932’s “Speak Easily.” The tune pops up again in 1940’s “Little Nellie Kelly,” performed this time by Judy Garland. And then there’s the Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor treatment from the 1952 film.

As the set proceeds, it supplements highlights from such prized films as 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz” and 1944’s “Meet Me in St. Louis” with nearly two-dozen performances that were never previously released on record.

The set is also filled with duets, from Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy’s hugely popular “Indian Love Call” (from 1936’s “Rose Marie”) to the delightful Frank Sinatra-Durante teaming on “The Song’s Gotta Come From the Heart” (from 1947’s “It Happened in Brooklyn”).

For virtually all of its six-disc journey, “That’s Entertainment!” is a treasure.

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