The Hardys Ride High

I loved some of the Andy Hardy films. All of the Hardy films with Judy Garland were great because I just love Judy so much. Especially "Love finds Andy Hardy" with Judy's wonderful tearjerking song "I'm just an in between". And I loved all the backyard Judy/ Mickey musicals i.e. " Babes on Broadway", "Strike up the band", etc. I also loved " Andy Hardy's double life" cause I love Esther Williams and that was her sweet debut.

"The Hardy's ride high" was one of my least favorites of the series for several reasons. Andy makes a very stupid move with a beautiful girl which I explain more later in this review. Judge Hardy was a little more over the top here than normal. His usual honest, sensible character here seemed a little less sensible here than normal, such as his reaction to when Andy told Dad how he spread a bunch of lies about him being a dumb drunk. Dad/Judge didn't even have a reaction, which I didn't quite get. I also don't get how Andy told lies about his dad that extreme, when his dad had always been so good to him. Compared to how a lot of fathers have treated their kids in more recent times, Andy's dad was very good to him. The Hardy's fly to Detroit in this film and are looking at possibly inheriting 2 million dollars. Wow, for 1942, that's like the good life for the rest of their lives and then some. We get a look at the old style passenger propeller planes of the 40s before jet aircraft were invented. And back then, only the very rich flew, which the Hardy's were in this film. The middle classes usually travelled long distance by train back then. We also get a look at a Detroit car factory, Detroit being the city of car building since the early 1900s. General Motors had been there since the 1920s. Anyway, Andy meets this guy who invites him to a chorus girl club. At the club right away, this dancing beauty winks and smiles at Andy, and gives him her address to come over to her place after the show. What is it Micky Rooney had that made him such a ladies man? Even other characters in his films seem to keep asking him that. Anyway, this is the part where Andy makes the stupidest move. He's at the girl's apartment. The place looks very nice and fancy, bottles of liquor, and a maid addressing him formally, "Wont you please come in Mr. Hardy". Then the girl shows up looking so gorgeous, dressed stunningly, and showing Andy the utmost pleasure, interest, gentleness, flirting smiles and warmth. What does Andy do? He runs! He runs away as fast as he can. I DON'T GET THAT. I could somewhat understand him not wanting to cheat on Ann Rutherford/Polly, but she already cheated on him in this film with " Mr. Fancy pants". Besides, Andy and Ann were never that committed, they were always fooling around with other people. They were always "on again, off again". Sort of like Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper in the " Wonder Years". Anyway, how could Andy run away from that wonderful beauty who invited him for special, personal, one on one time in her lavish apartment? I don't get it! Then he drops and loses his friend's $170 cigarette case while running away in his sudden case of idiocy. That and Judge Hardy not being all up to scratch in this film is the reason I gave it a 6.

This is a decent but weak episode in the MGM series, possibly the weakest. The plot concerns the Judge being informed that he has inherited two million dollars and the entire family heading out to Detroit. Mickey Rooney spends almost all of his time mugging and the life lessons and warmth that give life to the series seem to be that if you inherit a major fortune, you shouldn't buy a tuxedo. Lewis Stone, as usual, gives a fine performance, although he is a lot more dithery than usual.

The movie is given the usual MGM gloss and people who like to spot talent on the rise or after the fall may note that Aileen Pringle plays a saleswoman who sells a dress. In the 1920s, she was one of MGM's leading players until Garbo came along and took all the good roles from her.

This is the sixth in the series and boy were they cranking them out! They had a successful formula and they were running with it.

The Hardys find they are due to receive a $2 million inheritance, once they take care of some formalities. They pack up the family and travel to Detroit--the big city.

Of course every family member sees his dreams coming true. Andy has plans to become a millionaire playboy. Daughter Marian plans to spend her dollars on dresses and plusher living quarters. Even Judge Hardy catches the fever.

From the beginning, the viewer knows what the final result will be. But there are some surprises--especially regarding the judge, who feels responsible for the well-being of the entire clan.

As in every installment, Andy and Judge Hardy have their man-to-man talk, which yields benefits for them both. And like every episode, basic small-town American values are affirmed.

Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) wins the big football game but Polly Benedict is trying to make Andy jealous. Judge James Hardy could inherit $2 million and goes to Detroit to back up the claim. The family joins him on the trip. Philip Westcott is the adopted son who would inherit without the Judge's claim and is working secretly to undermine the Hardy family.

It's the sixth film in the Hardy family franchise. Mickey Rooney is being Andy but he's starting to learn his lessons. It's Judge Hardy being the father figure and a man of principles. He can be a little too holier than thou. The opening case is both forward thinking and rather old fashion. Aunt Milly has a big side story. This is the family being the family. I do fear that the money would go to Philip but there is something more than winning in this case.

Hardys Ride High, The (1939)

*** (out of 4)

The sixth film in the popular MGM series has Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) learning that he might be the heir to $2 million dollars so the family goes to Detroit to collect the money. Kids Andy (Mickey Rooney) and Marian (Cecilia Parker) soon see green everywhere and begin to change as the chance of getting money begins to turn their character. I wish that I could have watched these films in order but I pretty much just have to catch them as they show up on TCM. With that said, I've really become a fan of the series over the past year and this one here is yet another winner. Once again many people might laugh at the "moral lessons" being taught here as there's no question it's doubtful there is any family as pure as the ones on display here. There's no question these films were just light entertainment meant to tell people how one should live their life. Typically I'd object to such preaching but there's no denying that these characters have a lot of charm and the actors do a brilliant job bringing them to life. This time out we have the Hardy's learning that money can lead to a lot of evil and this is especially true for the kids who start spending before they even get the money. Of course Andy gets caught up with a seedy character and soon ends up with a chorus girl (Virginia Grey) in a very funny sequence. Not only the bad money a lesson here but so is honesty when Judge learns something that might prevent them from the money. As usual the cast make the film work with Stone and Rooney so perfect in these roles that you can't see anyone else doing them. The two have a great chemistry together and they really do come off like a real father and son. Grey is very good in her role of the gold digger and Fay Holden, Parker and Ann Rutherford are as great as usual. The one issue with the film is the final twenty-minutes when the "message" is being told. It goes on about five or ten minutes too long but if you're a fan of the series then there's enough charm here to make it worth viewing.