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| Studly? Rutherford, Rooney, Garland, Turner |
One might as well say "Mickey! Mickey! Mickey! as actor and role were pretty much inseparable. There were other girl-crazy teens in old time movie series -- Jimmy Lydon in the Henry Aldrich series and Kenneth Howell in the Jones Family series [both of whom were quite talented] -- but nobody was quite like Andy Hardy. Andy was sort of in-between the very silly if lovable Henry and the more serious and stable Jack Jones, although all three could lose their heads over the ladies.
Below is a round up of the last entries in the Andy Hardy series beginning with Life Begins for Andy Hardy and ending with Andy Hardy Comes Home, although one could claim that the last true Hardy film was Love Laughs at Andy Hardy 12 years earlier. Andy Hardy Comes Home was to be the first of a new series, but its mediocrity and other problems put paid to that idea.
The Hardy movies varied in quality, ranging from the excellence of Andy Hardy's Double Life to the comparative miserableness of Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble, with others stuck in the middle. But none of the Hardy films were completely awful, if for no other reason than the excellent performances of Lewis Stone, Fay Holden, and especially the irrepressible Mickey Rooney.
Hi Bill - it's Andy Hardy time! To answer your question, YES, Mickey Rooney was exceedingly studly! I love the old home movies of Rooney clowning around at Louis B. Mayer's swimming pool, flexing his muscles...he was small but he was mighty! He got all the good-looking girls, even though they all towered over him. Come on, he even married AVA GARDNER! :-)
ReplyDeleteThe Hardy movies are a joy...so glad you are highlighting them.
-Chris
Love your comments about Mickey's studliness, and you've got a point. Ava was one of the most voluptuous women in Hollywood -- although her marrying Mickey may have been a career move, but who knows? Then there's the [tall] tale of Norma Shearer and Mickey in the former's dressing room. In any case, he seemed to score with the ladies off-screen as much as he did onscreen, although one could argue it certainly led into a lot of alimony being paid! That's the price of studliness, LOL!
ReplyDeleteLOL, Norma Shearer was a total cougar, so I do believe the Rooney story. In the late 1950s, Shearer pursued a very sexy young guy she met around the pool at the Beverly Hills Hotel, promising him a career in the movies. The two had an affair and she was good as her word, getting him cast in a few "A" pictures but his performances were flat and wooden. He became a producer instead, a VERY successful one named Robert Evans. Thanks to Norma!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to reread those two Shearer bios for more info!
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