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DVD Love Finds Andy Hardy
It's hard to overstate just how corny and funny the Andy Hardy series of the 1930s and 1940s looks by today's standards--but that doesn't mean these films don't have a certain winning quality. It doesn't matter whether it's Mickey Rooney's winningly goofy blend of lust and innocence as a high school kid dying to make out with his girlfriend or his surprisingly touching man-to-man talks with his father, Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone). Think of this film as the precursor to "Archie" comic books, with its story of young Andy, desperate for the money to buy a car, winding up with three dates to the same formal dance. Rooney is engaging as the motor-mouthed (yet deceptively thoughtful) teen in pre-World War II, tail-end-of-the-Depression, small-town America: often in a coat and tie, always in a dandyish porkpie hat. This was the first film in this series in which Judy Garland appeared as girl-next-door Betsy Booth. --Marshall Fine
"Love Finds Andy Hardy" is a little treasure of a film, for several reasons... if you like Mickey and Judy, if you like seeing Lana Turner in one of her first movie roles, and if you like seeing the type of simple family films that MGM made in its heyday in addition to the more familiar blockbuster musicals.
The main reason for most people to like the film (including me) is Mickey and Judy. Mickey Rooney shows his outstanding comic talent in this film, especially when he experiences the predicament of first having TWO dates for the big dance, and then ends up with the prospect of NO date! And you can't help but be blown away by 15-year-old Judy Garland's knockout rendition of three songs in the picture -- "In Between", detailing her plight of being neither a little girl or quite-yet-grown-up young lady, "It Never Rains But What It Pours", and "Meet the Beat of My Heart"... the latter two performed with all of the gusto and style that would make her a legend.
These two talented youngsters will keep you entertained!
A GREAT LOOKING TRANSFER - WHERE'S THE REST OF THE SERIES?
"Love Finds Andy Hardy" is the third film in the Andy Hardy series about a Judge (Lewis Stone) and his irrepressibly manic son, Andy (Mickey Rooney). In this film young Andy gets a run for his money when the girl next door, Betsy Booth (Judy Garland) pulls cupid's arrow with sincerity and comes out the winner. This was the first film in which Garland's character appeared and perhaps, it's the best in the whole series. The hokum and corn is deep and laughable but hey, that's part of the film's charm and truly, you have to be a die hard cynic not to fall for Andy's overwhelmingly patriot schmaltz. A winner through and through. TRANSFER: Warner gives us an impressive looking transfer with a solid B&W picture. The gray scale is nicely balanced. Age related artifacts are kept to a bare minimum. There is some minor shimmering of fine details that is distracting at times. Blacks are solid. Contrast levels are well represented. The audio is mono but nicely cleaned up for this DVD. EXTRAS: An intro from Garland biographer, Jonathan Fricke. BOTTOM LINE: This is a must have for collectors. One only wishes that Warner had had the foresight to release the entire Andy Hardy series as a box set. Ditto for "The Thin Man"!
Surprisingly Fresh
I'd never seen an Andy Hardy film but I'd read that they reflected L.B. Mayer's delusional vision of American, full of sanctimonious lectures about the virtues of clean, small town living. But if "Love finds Andy Hardy" is typical of the series, then this view is both harsh and narrow. Yes, this is a story about a very white, very Christian small town but there aren't many lectures and the story is simple and unpretentious which allows the actors to develop their characters. The film suggest a way of living that allows for disagreement, sibling rivalry, unrequited love but doesn't transform any of that into pathos or moral tales. Instead, scenes unfold naturally and easily with a certain sweetness that is warm and inviting not cloying and artificial. Maybe this film has worn well because in its simplicity is a portrait of a period of American culture that seems geniune and lost forever. It doesn't feel dated because the film doesn't aspire to be ahead of the times but very much of it.
Clearly this is Mickey Rooney's movie. I've never been fond of him as an actor. His mugging and frentic energy make me turn away in embarrassment. However, in this film there are many moments when his enthusiasm is more infectious than his mugging is distracting. He works well with Lewis Stone and Judy Garland. Also he conveys his internal dilemma dealing with two girls with comedy and concern. There are also many moments when he hams it up so I don't want to mislead anyone! But at least I could see why he was so popular which is something that had escaped me despite watching several of the Garland-Rooney musicals.
The reason I watched this film was to see Judy Garland and I wasn't disappointed. This film was shot shortly before, "Wizard of Oz" and she is awkward and somewhat unfocused but alas she is Judy Garland which means despite her lack of maturity, she is the best thing in the film. Her musical numbers are delightful and her predicament of being too young for Mickey is touching and sweet. Sure, she doesn't know what to do with her hands and occasionally mugs for the camera but at sixteen Judy Garland is clearly bursting with talent, promise and excitement.
One of the finest American musicals, this 1944 film by Vincente Minnelli is an intentionally self-contained story set in 1903, in which a happy St. Louis family is shaken to their roots by the prospect of moving to New York, where the father has a better job pending. Judy Garland heads the cast in what amounts to a splendid, end-of-an-era story that nicely rhymes with the onset of the 20th century. The film is extraordinarily alive, the characters strong, and the musical numbers are so splendidly part of the storytelling that you don't feel the film has stopped for an interlude. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Director(s): Vincente Minnelli - Alan D. Courtney - Roy Mack DVD Release Date: Released the 06 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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"Say, he looks like an actor," says the platform conductor. And with that introduction, Gene Kelly steps off the train and into his film career. After starring on Broadway in Pal Joey, Kelly made his film debut in For Me and My Gal opposite Judy Garland, with the pair playing vaudeville performers who team up to find success and, of course, romance. But just when things are looking up, World War I intervenes, and Kelly has to take drastic measures to keep a promise and avoid the war, at least temporarily.
Bad move, Gene. Filmed in 1942, For Me and My Gal vigorously supports the war effort, including teaching Kelly the error of his ways. The old-time setting also allows for a basketful of nostalgic charmers, including "After You've Gone," "Oh You... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Judy Garland - George Murphy - Gene Kelly Director(s): Busby Berkeley DVD Release Date: Released the 06 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The Ziegfeld Follies were a popular form of entertainment during the 1910s. They featured many types of entertainment from low-brow vaudeville humor to high class musical numbers featuring glorified women in elaborate costumes. This film is about the women who are privileged enough to be chosen to be a Follies girl and how their lives change when fame hits.
Lana Turner plays the lead, a beautiful elevator girl turned showgirl. Her performance is understated perfection from the beginning when she feels gorgeous and wonderful to her decline into alcohol and ill-health.
Jimmy Stewart plays her boyfriend, a sweet man who idealizes his relationship with Turner. When she begins to flake, his heart breaks, and he becomes a bootlegger with dreary hopes of striking it... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Robert Z. Leonard DVD Release Date: Released the 06 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This is my favorite Judy Garland movie. The DVD is a faithful reproduction of the movie and has, as expected, a pictorial clarity unheard of in the movie era. The flawless reproduction is tarnished, however, in a scene near the end of the movie. In the scene, the lights are low and were corrected to present reality. They were rendered so dark that the stars, Van Johnson and Judy Garland, were nothing more than silhouettes on the screen. From the tape version of the movie, this scene was one of Judy's most hilarious scenes, attributed to the expressions she delivered in response to Mr. Johnson's advances, both of which were unseen in the black. The DVD is worth watching, but, for students of Judy Garland's talents, a tape version clarifies the omissions of the DVD. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Judy Garland - Van Johnson Director(s): Buster Keaton - Robert Z. Leonard DVD Release Date: Released the 06 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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It is so ironic that all of Judy's MGM features are now being released by Warner Bros. DVD division AND that they are being released with such care; stunning video transfers; great special features; many with commentaries or introductions by the finest of all Garland biographers, John Fricke (a good friend). Here is Judy's final film performance, originally made through United Artists, being released by MGM's DVD division. How ironic. The video transfer for this film is Horrible! It uses a level of compression typically used for extra material besides the Feature Film. This DVD is unwatchable on computers and any Progressive Scan DVD player and TV or monitor. Compression artifacts occur with ANY movement and resemble one side of a Zipper.
Ironically, the sound and chapter... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Ronald Neame DVD Release Date: Released the 11 May 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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