MGM, 1940
Starring Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, June Preissler, and William Tracy
Directed by Busby Berkeley
Music and Lyrics by various
This week, we return to the US to join Mickey and Judy in two of their "barnyard musicals" of the late 30's and early 40's. Truth be told, most of them didn't take place in a barn. "Teen musicals" probably would have been a more appropriate description. Judy and Mickey always played a couple of talented kids who put on a show for some worthy cause - in this case, helping a friend and playing with Paul Whiteman - and find love with each other in the process. How does this version look nowadays? Let's head to Riverwood High School, just as the orchestra is in rehearsal, and find out...
The Story: Jimmy Connors (Rooney) is tired of playing the usual classical music for the school orchestra. He wants to put his drumming talents to use as the head of his own "modern dance" (i.e swing) outfit. His gal friend Mary Holden (Garland) supports his ambition, and so does the school principal after they agree to show off their talents at a school dance. The dance is a success, but Jimmy's already off and running again. Now he wants to take the band to Chicago for a big school orchestra contest put on by Paul Whiteman (himself). The principal (Francis Pierlot) can't afford to send them all, so the kids put on a spoof melodrama at the Elks Club to earn their way to Chicago.
The show goes over well, but Willie (Larry Nunn), a friend of Jimmy's who has a crush on Mary, is hurt when he's jerked around on the wire apparatus. He desperately needs an operation on his arm. Now, Jimmy has to decide whether to help a friend, or use the money from the show and a loan by a local bank officer to attend the contest.
The Song and Dance: Garland and Rooney are the thing here, and they're a ball of energy as the drumming prodigy who refuses to let anything come between him and stardom and the smart girl who just wishes he'd put the sticks down and look at her. June Preissler isn't bad as the cute blonde who distracts Jimmy about mid-way through, and she can do some of the most amazing acrobatic bends I've ever seen (in a long gown, no less). Busby Berkeley's hand can be seen all over the place, from the fruit orchestra to the huge "Do the La Conga" number at the dance.
Favorite Number: "Our Love Affair" starts off as a typical romantic ballad for Rooney and Garland, but ends in fairly bizarre territory. Rooney pulls fruit from a bowl to represent his imagined orchestra, and it becomes fruit playing instruments in a nifty stop-motion segment. "Do the La Conga" is the big dance number. Rooney, Garland, and the other teens really get into it, swinging and kicking at each other with abandon. The entire "Nell of New Rochelle" melodrama spoof, from the kids singing "The Gay Nineties" to Garland's "Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl" to Preissler tumbling through "Ta-Ra-Boom-De-Ay" is a hilarious delight. The big finale, a montage of the title song, "La Conga," and "Love Affair," gets into patriotic turf as it begins with the orchestras playing the title number and ends with Garland and Rooney's faces superimposed against an American flag.
What I Don't Like: The movie is as melodramatic as the blood-and-thunder adventures the kids make fun of at times. The entire subplot with the kid needing the operation and Rooney's sacrifice can seem awfully corny nowadays. That big patriotic finale comes out of nowhere and, while stirring for audiences who were seeing more of World War II in the news, is just a little bit too much nowadays.
The Big Finale: The imaginative numbers alone makes this a lot of fun for fans of the young stars, Berkeley, or the MGM musicals of the 40's and 50s.
Home Media: Easily available in all formats. The DVD and Blu-Ray are from the Warner Archives.
No comments:
Post a Comment