Andy Hardy's Double Life

Andy Hardy's Double Life finds Andy planning to go off to Wainwright College which was the Judge's alma mater. Interesting that in 1942 the war apparently had not yet come to Carvel. I would have thought that Andy would be worried about the draft at this time.

But Mickey Rooney has his usual girl trouble and I swear I never did understand why Ann Rutherford as Polly Benedict just didn't give this guy the heave ho. It seemed like every film he was getting involved with some other girl, usually an MGM starlet the studio was trying to showcase.

In this case it was quite the showcase as Esther Williams who played a college coed and guest of Ann Rutherford decides to do some psychological research on the American male. Guess who she decides will be her guinea pig?

Cecilia Parker as Rooney's sister is also having troubles with William Lundigan who is a drinker and is before Lewis Stone for driving while intoxicated. As this hits close to home, Stone is looking for a root cause of the alcoholism as opposed to just tossing Lundigan in the clink.

In an even briefer role at the very end of the film is another MGM showcase Susan Peters. She plays a young woman off to Wainwright College and she will be the first in a class of coeds as the venerable institution is admitting girls for the first time. That gets Rooney's attention real fast.

Peters would have too brief a career, falling victim to a hunting accident that caused paralysis. She was a lovely talented young lady, probably best known as Ronald Colman's niece in Random Harvest.

Andy Hardy's Double Life is an average entry in the series and will satisfy the fans of the eternal Mick.

Despite having graduated from high school three movies ago, Andy Hardy has still not started college. And he won't start it in this movie, either! That comes in the next entry, Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble. Here, though, we have Andy selling his jalopy to get the money to retrieve his convertible from storage in New York. The problem is the boys he's sold it to keep stalling on paying him and Andy's already written a check that will bounce if he can't get the money in time. Andy's also dealing with his usual drama with the opposite sex as well as trying to help his sister Marian and father Judge Hardy with their problems. Marian's still in love with her beau Jeff, the drunk driver. Judge Hardy is bending over backwards to prove a lumber company truck was responsible for an accident with a little boy (Robert Blake).

This one's notable for being the feature film debut of Esther Williams. Esther plays a psychology student who teams up with Ann Rutherford's Polly Benedict to teach Andy a lesson. Have no fear, Esther fans, she does get into a bathing suit for one scene. Gorgeous as always, Esther also showcases her romantic comedy potential. Her scenes with Mickey are some of the movie's highlights. This is also, sadly, the last of the Hardy films with Ann Rutherford. She left the series after this and never returned. Rutherford was one of my favorite parts of these movies. She was always adorable beyond words with great comic timing and wonderful chemistry with Mickey Rooney. Cecilia Parker gets more to do as Marian than she has in awhile. She was a larger presence in the early films in the series. If I'm to be honest, she was never a favorite part for me. She might appeal more to many viewers as Marian is a slightly more modern (i.e. flawed) character. This would be her last appearance in the Hardy series until the attempted reboot in the '50s. Lewis Stone is perfect, of course. Judge Hardy was often the highlight of these movies, even when Andy was the focus. Here Stone gets a little comedy to work with but the best parts of the movie are his father-son scenes with Mickey Rooney. For his part Rooney is excellent, handling both comedy and drama with ease. Fay Holden gets few scenes as Mrs. Hardy but makes the most of them, stealing the picture each time she's on screen.

This is one of the best Andy Hardy movies. A delightful mix of comedy and light drama. I smiled through the whole thing. I happen to love the Andy Hardy movies, corn and all. Your mileage may vary, though. If you're too cynical to enjoy these innocent movies with their sentimentalism and old-fashioned values, then spare yourself the trouble of watching. Also spare the rest of us as the world has enough snarky cynics as it is.

This is a fair installment of the Andy Hardy series. While it's very watchable, the story itself isn't especially strong. The bottom line is that Andy's problems (and he ALWAYS has problems) seem easy to solve but he manages to make them seem like Armageddon! The only particularly outstanding thing about the film is that it marks the debut of Esther Williams...and MGM often tried out new female talent in the Hardy films (such as Judy Garland, Ruth Hussey, Marsha Hunt and Lana Turner in some of their earliest films).

When the film begins, Andy is preparing to go off to college. The film EASILY could have simply gone from his high school graduation to him being in college but instead we see Andy struggle...mostly over things that really didn't amount to much. One problem is money some friends owe him (which EASILY could have been resolved), another involves two girls who conspire to make Andy think he's engaged to them and the final involves Judge Hardy's case involving a child (Bobby Blake) who is injured...and Andy steps in to help him with the case. All in all, Andy is a dope (as usual) and the film moderately entertaining.

The thirteenth in the series of Andy Hardy films, "Andy Hardy's Double Life" follows the formula faithfully, with Andy (Mickey Rooney) trying to juggle the attentions of two women while dealing with other issues, like jalopies and finances.

Meanwhile, Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) has a perplexing court case on his mind. Andy lends a hand.

But the real meat of this episode (and the reliable tearjerker) is the drama surrounding Andy's upcoming departure for college. This milepost is the beginning of Andy's manhood and Andy has to have a (real) man-to-man talk with Dad, effectively telling the Judge that the first four letters in father are also the first four letters in fathead.

The real reason for seeing this Andy Hardy installment is the film debut of Esther Williams, whose on-screen charms are immediately apparent. In short order she will have her own series of aqua-musicals to dominate the box office.

Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Andy (Mickey Rooney) is about to head off to college but he's got a few things to take care of before leaving. For starters, he must try and sell his junk car for $20 to pay for a bill and he must convince his father (Lewis Stone) not to go with him to college. Worst of all is that Polly (Ann Rutherford) wants to make up but her best friend (Ester Williams) decides to give Andy a test. Number thirteen in the series isn't the greatest movie ever made and it's not even a good one but there's enough innocent charm to make it worth viewing. I'd probably put this towards the middle of the series as it's not even close to some of the better entries but there's no denying we get some very funny moments but at the same time, the screenplay offers up some weak stuff. The one sequence that really didn't work for me was an attempt at comedy when mom was trying to sleep in but people keep ringing the door bell. The comedy they were going for here just seemed rather weak and it didn't make me laugh. Some of the film's better moments, of course, happen when Andy must turn to his father and try to get advice on his life, which he just can't understand. I thought it was rather funny that Andy also gets to teach his dad a few things, which was a nice change of events. We also get a side plot about a case Judge is working on as it involves an injured boy and his broke mother. It goes without saying by Rooney and Lewis are at the top of their game and both men turn in very good performances. By this time both were so comfortable in their roles that there isn't a false step anywhere. Fay Holden, Cecilia Parker and Sara Haden are all good as the family. Rutherford gets a slightly bigger than normal part, which is good as she too is delightful. The real standout is Williams. There's no question that she's the highlight of the film and especially the sequence with her and Rooney "test" kissing by the pool. This entire pool sequence is classic Hardy stuff and makes the film worth sitting through.