Love Laughs at Andy Hardy

Mickey Rooney made about a dozen and a half Andy Hardy films--and this is among the very last. Because of this, it's certainly far from original and lacks the energy of the earlier entries. It's also oddly depressing at times.

This installment finds Andy returning home from the war...and it was sure swell. However, instead of dealing with PTSD or the looming threat of international communism, Andy is in a daze--obsessed with his latest love, Kay Wilson (Bonita Granville). His plan is to go off to college using the GI Bill and marry Kay the co-ed. However, soon his plans fall apart, as it turns out that Kay has other plans. Additionally, although he goes to school, oddly, you never see him attend any classes! By the end, the audience is feeling a bit uneasy about his pain as well as a sense of déjà vu, as Andy is ALWAYS having girl trouble.

Aside from a cute side story about Andy dating a gigantic lady, the film has little in the way of interesting content or originality. It's clearly a film for the die-hard Hardy groupies and is reasonably entertaining but nothing more. And, incidentally, it's in the public domain and may be copied and viewed for free following the links on IMDb...though I wouldn't necessarily rush to do this.

This one one of the best entrys to the series. The acting was great as usual. Mickey Rooney was his normal, terrific self. Mickey Rooney was simply the best actor that ever lived. The man could do it all. This film was highly entertaining and terrific.!!! If you love the Andy Hardy series you will find it hilarious when he danced with a girl almost twice his size. I truly don't understand why some people have given this film a bad comment. There is simply nothing but great acting and a very very funny story! People who love Mickey Rooney should also check out his films Strike Up The Band, Boys Town, Bill, Stablemates,The Human Comedy. The man was simply amazing! I truly enjoy this entry to the Andy Hardy series. Buy it today! You will not be disappointed!

Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946)

** (out of 4)

The fifteenth film in the series has Andy (Mickey Rooney) returning home from the Army and clearing up a few things with his parents (Lewis Stone, Fay Holden) before heading back to college where he plans on marrying the girl (Bonita Granville) he fell in love with from the previous film. Andy's plans don't go as he expects and he gets the idea that college isn't for him and perhaps it would be best to just enter the working world. MGM would make the ill-advised decision to try and bring this series back in 1958 but it's clear this was originally meant to be the final entry in the series. I think it's also clear that the majority of the people involved were probably wishing this movie never happened at all. For starters, director Goldbeck, a newbie to the series, can't recapture the same magic as the earlier films and the entire tone of the film just doesn't seem right. Another problem is the screenplay, which really does seem to be picking up spare pieces at the bottom of a barrel. Nothing on display here is really of any interest as the entire love affair for Andy doesn't really make too much sense if you've seen the previous film in the series and for the life of me I can't understand why on Earth they spent so much time getting the entire story going. The early scenes in Carville are cute because it shows Andy meeting up with a few characters from earlier in the series (but no Polly) but it adds very little. The stuff at college isn't all that interesting either, although one of the few high points comes when Andy gets set up with a girl (Dorothy Ford) who is almost twice his size. Another highlight comes at the very end when Lina Romay shows up in a highly entertaining little sequence. The "final" spill to (originally) end the series works well but it's a shame everything else didn't meet its level of entertainment. Rooney isn't too bad in his role but it really does appear that his heart or mind is somewhere else. Stone and Holden really don't get very much to do and Sara Haden just appears briefly. Granville is as charming as ever but the screenplay doesn't do her any favors either. Fans of the series will certainly still want to check this one out but if you're new to Andy Hardy it's best to avoid this one and check out some of the earlier and better films.

Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) is home from the war. His mind is mostly stuck on marriage and his college girlfriend Kay Wilson (Bonita Granville). Misunderstandings, chaos, and heartbreak ensue.

Andy is just not Andy when he is focused on one girl. There is something off about this one. This temporarily ends the series until 12 years later when the final movie fails to revive the franchise. I never really liked Kay. She always seems to have one foot out the door. In the previous movie, I would be perfectly happy with Wilde twins. There is a fun gag with a very tall girl. Otherwise, this is fairly blah.

Andy arrives back in Carvel, tumbling off the back of an army truck in front of his folks. The family reunion in the middle of the main street, blocking the traffic flow to the amusement of all concerned, is the best scene in the movie. Andy's been separated (demobbed) from the Army and has but one thought on his mind, proposing to Kay Wilson who he'd met at college.

'Kay Wilson' is played by the (in this movie) maternal Bonita Granville who unfortunately doesn't sing for once. Mickey Rooney looks appropriately much older than his previous movie (he has, after all, come back from service in the Army) in the series but still manages to play the irrepressible 'Andy' as only he could. Lewis Stone and Fay Holden as his folks are wonderful as usual, despite the often insipid script. That's the main problem with this movie. The script is at times puerile and it's only the mostly excellent cast which makes it worth watching. We miss 'Marion' and Polly', while the charming Sarah Haden as 'Aunt Milly' is given few lines. She might as well not be there. Marion is apparently working in New York (it is she who wires the family that Andy is on his way) while we, so far as I noticed, are given no reason for Polly's absence, despite her father's presence.

The standout guest in this movie is the stunning Dorothy Ford as 'Coffy Smith'. Not only is Dorothy tall at 6ft 4", she is both graceful and beautiful. Though as before (and after), the script remains puerile, but the cast do their best to rise above it.

The high point in most Hardy movies - those without Judy Garland, anyway - is the father and son or rather 'man to man' talk between Lewis Stone and Mickey Rooney. In this movie it's on the subject of Andy either going to college and following in the Judge's footsteps, or running off to South America to make his fortune. Unfortunately, the problematic script results in an awkward, almost embarrassing scene between the two. Lewis Stone doesn't look at all well; he was in his late 60s at the time but looks much older (he died in 1953, chasing vandals off his property). Lina Romay as 'Isolbel' sings on two occasions but she's an unsatisfactory substitute for Polly. Hal Hackett as 'Duke' is unimpressive but again, maybe that's the fault of that script.

Overall, this is a necessary part of the Hardy series but it deserved a much better script. Despite this reservation, I can still recommend it.

My copy came as one half of a double bill region 4 DVD (with 'The Perils of Pauline'). It was made from an extremely poor print and should be avoided at all costs.