Andy Hardy detective

Judge Hardy is trying to help the Valduzzis who are facing eviction. He sends Andy (Mickey Rooney) out to find the couple's daughter.

It's the eighth film in the Hardy family franchise. They are really churning them out. It's been less than three years since the first movie. This is really a TV sitcom put into film form. More and more, the franchise is placed in the hands of Mickey Rooney. In a way, there may be too much on his plate. He has side stories everywhere. It's sitcom chaos and then it gets real serious. It gets surprisingly dark for about ten minutes. It's a real clash of tones with the sitcom humor. This one seems to be alternating much more than the other movies.

Eighth entry in the Hardy series has the Judge (Lewis Stone) assigning Andy to help locate the daughter of an immigrant couple in danger of losing their home. Meanwhile Andy is having his usual girl and money troubles that will inevitably lead to one of the patented man-to-man talks with his dad. In the middle of all of this, the movie takes a somber turn as Mrs. Hardy comes down with pneumonia and battles for her life.

Not one of the stronger Hardy films but still enjoyable. The mother illness subplot that takes over the middle is out of place with the rest of the movie. It feels very much like they needed something dramatic so they threw that in there. Still, the Hardy series was always top quality so they manage to make it all fit together as best they can. The cast of regulars is terrific, as usual. Always love seeing Ann Rutherford's adorable Polly Benedict. Henry Hull has a bit part as a doctor and Maria Ouspenskaya a small role as part of the immigrant couple that sets the story into motion. But the scene stealer of the movie has to be June Preisser as Euphrasia 'Phrasie Daisy' Clark, her first of two Andy Hardy appearances. I defy anybody to suppress a smile when she says "Phrasie Daisy loves Andy Pandy."

"Judge Hardy and Son" is the eighth in the series of Andy Hardy films. It contains Andy's usual high school hi-jinks, his usual money problems, and his usual girl troubles.

It is important to remember that the studio was cranking out these Andy Hardy films as fast as they could, wanting to capitalize on Mickey Rooney's popularity. As a result, some of the scripts were repetitive, if not uninspired.

In this installment, there are a couple of serious subjects, especially a threatening illness that befalls Andy's mother. Judge Hardy offers some sober observations about faith and the proper appreciation of life itself. Then the comedy continues.

The film has a hasty resolution, as with an episode in a series. Because the next Andy Hardy film would follow shortly, this is understandable and, to some extent, excusable. But the overall story--except for the section about the illness--lacks depth. Even the sections devoted to Andy's love interests feel shortchanged.

This film uncharacteristically introduces a lot of pathos in the plot when Mickey Rooney's mother, Fay Holden, gets pneumonia halfway through the film. It makes Mickey realize that his problems pale in significance to a real problem of life and death; it brings the family closer together and makes Mickey grow up a little. There's a touching scene with his sister, Cecilia Parker, where they admit to one another they really like each other despite their constant fighting. I loved that scene, which made the film so different from most of the others. It did not, however, detract from the good comedy throughout, with Mickey getting into hot water through his actions, going deeply into debt thinking he'll win a prize, inviting two girls to the Fourth-of-July fireworks celebration and constantly battling with his car to keep it running. Lewis Stone also shines as his father, looking for the daughter of an elderly Italian immigrant couple to keep them from losing their home, and getting Mickey to help find her. If you see only one film from this very popular series, this one would be a good choice. It's also a good chance to see Mickey in the first scene he played with his real-life father, Joe Yule, who plays Munk, the tire man.

Judge Hardy and Son (1939)

** (out of 4)

Eighth film in the series has Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) trying to help a foreign couple who are about to lose their home. Back at the Hardy household Andy (Mickey Rooney) is having trouble with both money and girls but life's real lessons are brought up when his mother (Fay Holden) comes down with pneumonia and might die. This is a very somber entry in MGM's Andy Hardy series and I'm sure many might enjoy the darkness but overall I thought the film was one of the least entertaining as it just felt rushed and the story really didn't hit me as it should have. We'll start with the story involving the foreign couple. They pretty much just show up at the start of the film and this here allows Andy to do some detective work for his father but there's no laughs or drama to be had with this subplot. The stuff dealing with Mrs. Hardy's death was a mixed bag. On one hand it led to some overly dramatic speeches that were just really, really silly. I don't mean to make light of death but I think people even in 1939 knew the outcome and the preaching here was a tad bit too much for me. I know this series has a lot of people against it because it made life seem all too simple but I've never put any of the films down for that. The religious aspect to the film was just a tad bit too forceful in my opinion but there's no question that their heart was in the right place. It also allows Rooney to do some dramatic acting and he does a wonderful job with it especially in one scene where he finally breaks down at the thought of losing his mother. Stone also gets some very good moments with his son Andy as the two talk about death and what might end up happening. Fans of Universal's monster movies will be happy to see Henry Hull in a brief part as the doctor and Maria Ouspenskaya plays the foreign lady. Ann Rutherford is as charming as ever as Polly and we get a nice performance by Martha O'Driscoll as one of Andy's lady friends. This entry goes without much of the comedy of the earlier films and there's no question the moral lessons are on high alert but in the end none of it really worked for me. This certainly isn't a horrible film but at the same time the series has so many better efforts.