When some old vaudevillians leave town to go on tour, their children decide to put on their own show. That's the plot of this okay Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland "let's put on a show" musical. This is based on a Rodgers and Hart stage musical, but the only songs by the team that are left are the title tune and "Where or When?," which I believe was from another show. ("The Lady is a Tramp" from Pal Joey plays in the background of one scene.) As usual, some of the "kids" in this are a bit too old, such as Douglas McPhail and real-life wife Betty Jaynes, both of whom have beautiful semi-operatic voices (they do "Where or When?"). Mickey and Judy are in splendid form, of course, and we see footage of Rooney when he was a small boy performing in vaudeville. Of the older cast, which includes Guy Kibbee, Margaret Hamilton, Henry Hull and Ann Shoemaker, Charles Winninger [Three Smart Girls] is a stand-out as Mickey's father, Joe Moran. Johnny Sheffield of Bomba fame also has a small role. Judy sings "I Cried for You," Mickey does an excellent impression of Gable, and there's a memorable finale in "God's Country." McPhail had hoped to have a career along the lines of Nelson Eddy, but when it didn't materialize and he and Jaynes got divorced, the poor guy took his own life at age thirty.
Verdict: Not the best Mickey-Judy musical but fun enough. **1/2.
I own this movie as a part of my Garland/Rooney collection, and this one is pretty solid if not the best (they are all pretty damned good!!). Busby Berkeley really brought the charisma out of both these talented kids. I have heard he was a monster, and personally tortured, but a talented director of musicals. Love his early 1930s work, too, with all those kaleidoscopic visions of beautiful girls!
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Yeah, Busby started that whole bit with the girls shot from overhead, didn't he? He did some amazing stuff. Garland and Rooney graced every musical they were in.
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