Starring Patsy Kelly, Jack Haley, Stuart Irwin, and Judy Garland
Directed by David Butler
Music by Lew Pollack; Lyrics by Sidney D. Mitchell
We move west to Texas for our next college football musical. There's a lot more history in this one than you might think. This was Judy Garland's first major role, on loan to Fox from MGM, and one of Betty Grable's bigger roles at the time. Irwin had been specializing in big goofy guys since the time of Sweetie; this wound up being one of his rare starting roles. Patsy Kelly was coming from shorts, Jack Haley from his success in the Shirley Temple vehicle Poor Little Rich Girl. How do they fare as married coaches who recruit a talented hillbilly to play against Yale? Let's start at Yale as the professors there try to decide who should play their football team in a big charity game and find out...
The Story: One of their younger assistants accidentally invites Texas State University to play them. They haven't won a game in years, but the students believe their luck is changing when former high school coach Slug Winters (Haley) and his wife Bessie (Patsy Kelly). Bessie is really the one who knows something about football, and it's her suggestions that really begin to whip the team into shape.
Just as it looks like the team might have a chance against Yale, their quarterback Biff Bentley (Fred Kohler Jr.) breaks his leg. Desperate for a replacement, Bessie and Slug discover a shy hillbilly named Amos (Erwin) who can throw a watermelon farther than the pros. They bring him and his sister Sairy (Garland) to Texas State U under assumed names. Amos falls hard for co-ed Sally Saxon (Arline Judge), to the frustration of her wealthy boyfriend Mortimer (Grady Sutton). Amos almost leaves when he thinks Sally isn't interested in him, but the Winters convince him to stay for the Yale game. Inclement conditions could prevent Texas State from winning, until Bessie remembers how Amos likes to feel the earth between his toes...
The Song and Dance: Adorable football musical makes the most of its goofy premise with a terrific cast and some lively numbers. Irwin made such a delightfully sweet hillbilly, he got a nod for Best Supporting Actor in 1937. Garland already shines in her first movie, especially in her three big numbers. She's such an enthusiastic kid, you can't liking her. The movie really belongs to Kelly and Haley, and they, pardon the football pun, run with the ball. Kelly in particular is a blast as one of the few female coaches in filmdom.
Favorite Number: We don't get our first number until almost 15 minutes in, but it's the students singing Texas State's rousing alma mater. Tony Martin, in one of his earliest roles, joins Dixie Dunbar for "You're Slightly Terrific" at the school pep rally, with Dixie leading the students in an energetic dance routine. The Yacht Boys get their first of many numbers at the rally with the adorably silly "Woo Woo!" Three lovely ladies join them at the homecoming dance for "We'd Rather Be In College," much to their surprise! They also lead campus radical Elisha Cook Jr. through "Down With Everything" as they try to get him arrested so Amos can use his name.
Judy finally gets to show what she can do with the dance number "The Balboa" to earn enough for the trip to Yale. Dixie Dunbar and Betty Grable lead the wild arms-and-legs two-step. Slug tries to seduce Sally back into Amos' arms with "You Do the Darnedest Things, Baby." Judy really makes the crowds at the train station to see the team off go crazy with her vivacious "The Texas Tornado." She also gets "It's Love I'm After" with a chorus of cowboys before the game. The Yacht Boys return near the end of the game...but they're embarrassed to perform "We Brought the Texas Sunshine Here With Us" during halftime in a major blizzard. The film ends with Texas State's band and the entire cast joyfully reprising "The Texas Tornado."
Trivia: Filming was reportedly a nightmare. A misfired gun in the crowd sequence towards the end sent one student extra to the hospital and injured three others, students sprained their ankles and hurt their necks during the fast-paced marching scene, and there was a fire on the train station set that the cast had to help put out.
"It's Love I'm After" was originally intended for Betty Grable and Johnny Downs, but their version was cut. Judy also had a number dropped from the film, "Hold That Bulldog," though it is mentioned in the credits. The audio for "Love I'm After" survives, but "Hold That Bulldog" is completely gone.
What I Don't Like: This is riddled with cliches of the highest order. They're better-presented than in Sweetie, but it still isn't anything you haven't seen before. It's Sweetie crossed with the slobs vs snobs comedies of the 1980's and the hillbilly B musicals of the 60's. It also doesn't treat campus protests and radicals any better than C'mon, Let's Live a Little did almost 30 years later. Though Cook Jr.'s character isn't a villain, he's blown off and treated as a joke by the other students. And if you're looking for more from Grable, you're going to be disappointed. She's limited to a barely-there love interest role and her part in "The Balboa."
The Big Finale: This wound up being a pleasant surprise. Judy Garland's first musical doesn't reinvent the game, but it is a lovely way to spend an hour and a half if you're a fan of her or any of the stars or want to see a good school-set movie.
Home Media: The Fox Marquee Musicals DVD is hard to find, but it may turn up used. You're better off streaming this one.
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