ANDY HARDY'S DOUBLE LIFE

William Lundigan, Mantan Moreland, Mickey Rooney

ANDY HARDY'S DOUBLE LIFE (1942). Director: George B. Seitz.

"You're really the stuff, dad!"

Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) is leaving for Wainwright college in just a few days, and he finds himself with two dilemmas. First, his father, Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone), wants to accompany Andy to Wainwright, his old alma mater, where he will introduce him around, and stay for two weeks, a prospect which leaves Andy feeling like a little kid going to kindergarten. Then Andy finds himself supposedly engaged to two women, Polly Benedict (Ann Rutherford), and her friend, Sheila (Esther Williams), a psych major. As for the judge, he's dealing with a little boy (Bobby Blake) hit by a truck, while an ever-touchy Marian (Cecilia Parker) has high hopes for her blossoming romance with Jeff Willis (William Lundigan) from The Courtship of Andy Hardy. Both Rooney and Parker were getting older -- Rooney was 22 playing 18 and Parker was 28, starting to look a bit chubby and matronly  --  but the series still had a lot of life in it judging by this superior installment. Lewis Stone and Fay Holden as his wife really have a chance to shine with their expert performances -- Stone is particularly affecting -- and more cannot possibly be said about the simply wonderful Rooney. Parker, Sara Haden as Aunt Millie, and Lundigan are also fine, and there's a funny bit with that excellent comic character Mantan Moreland as Prentiss, the butler for the Benedict family. Addison Richards [The Royal Mounted Rides Again] also makes his mark as Polly's father, as does Robert Pittard as Andy's friend (?), Botsy. There are also brief appearances by Arthur Space as a lawyer, and Junior Coghlan as another of Andy's so-called buddies. Esther Williams [Raw Wind in Eden] was "introduced" in this movie -- it really was her first picture -- and she's quite good in fact, playing the role in just the right note. Andy Hardy's Double Life has an excellent, often touching script with equal parts humor and drama, and despite some silly moments, all of it works.

Verdict: One of the very best of the Hardy pictures. ***1/2.

THE LOST JUNGLE

THE LOST JUNGLE (1934). Mascot Serial Feature version [approx. 71 minutes]. Directed by Armand Schaefer and David Howard.

This is the feature-length version of the serial starring the real Clyde Beatty playing himself. While not any kind of Tyrone Power or Laurence Olivier, Beatty was an attractive fellow with an ingratiating manner, and he plays in this stuff about as well as many another serial hero. Clyde's girlfriend Ruth (Cecilia Parker) is hoping he'll propose before she has to go off with her father, Captain Robertson Edward LeSaint), on a voyage to the south seas. “He's different from other men,” she tells her father because she fears Clyde is more comfortable with animals than he is with women. When Ruth and the others wind up shipwrecked on a jungle island, Clyde goes to the rescue on a dirigible that falls apart in mid-ocean. Eventually he also winds up on the “lost island” of Kamor, which also has a lost underground city as well as a treasure. Sharky (Warner Richmond), a jealous associate of Clyde's, consistently causes trouble for everyone, as does a man-eating tiger they call Sammy [how anyone can have affection for a beast that slaughtered several crew members is never explored]. Clyde brings along his publicity man Larry (Syd Saylor) for comedy relief, and comes across a vital little Mickey Rooney in an early sequence. Although one can tell that this feature version leaves out a lot of plot details and possibly some exciting scenes, there's little in this that will make most viewers want to seek out a full-length version of the serial, although one is available on DVD.

Verdict: It doesn't look like one of Mascot's better entries. **.