Judge Hardy's Children

The plot to "Judge Hardy's Children" is very odd. Apparently, some folks in D.C. have been impressed with Judge Hardy and they invite him and his family to the capital in order to have the judge chair a committee. The children jump right into it, as Marian meets a man who appears infatuated with her and Andy hits it off with a French diplomat's daughter! Pretty weird stuff...especially since one of these people they meet has a hidden agenda. What it is and how it impacts Judge Hardy is for you to see.

An interesting episode in a series that is usually very enjoyable...and this is no exception. Well worth seeing.

It's the third movie in the Hardy family saga. Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) has been recruited to chair a committee in Washington. His daughter Marian (Cecilia Parker) is taken with the high society. His son Andy (Mickey Rooney) falls for a French diplomat's daughter.

The family foursome has returned for this installment. The kids get into romantic troubles. Father still knows best. There is a dash of politics considering the Washington location. It does stay in the patriotic mainstream of its day. It is Rockwellian middle America. Rooney does a bit of toe tapping and swinging. It is strictly coloring within the lines and the actors' return really helps.

Judge Hardy's Children follows the Hardy family to Washington, DC. It's the third movie in the series, and there are a few references to the previous movie's vacation to Catalina. Mickey Rooney vows he's learned his lesson about falling for bad girls, and Cecilia Parker has made up with her boyfriend Robert Trent after her brief dalliance. Lewis Stone, as head of the household, is offered a first-row seat to a political court deal, but the offer seems too good to be true, as his wife Fay Holden is quick to warn him. Once the family is at the nation's capital, everyone gets into their usual amount of trouble.

In one of their classic "man to man" talks, Mickey asks his father if he was as girl-crazy when he was young. "I want to kiss all the pretty girls. Do you think I'm normal?" The usually stoic dad who always knows what to say become so overcome with the urge to laugh, he actually covers his face with his hands. When he lowers his hands, he still can't cover up his smirk as he says, "Yes, you're normal." As you might suspect, Mickey leaves behind Ann Rutherford when he goes on another vacation and falls for the first skirt who gives him the eye. Jacqueline Laurent is the French ambassador's daughter, but is she batting her eyelashes for the wrong reasons? And is Cecilia Parker getting too involved in politics for her own good? As usual, Lewis takes on the burdens of his children's problems, and when they grow out of control, his integrity, social standing, and entire career come into jeopardy. What will happen to Judge Hardy? You'll have to watch this installment, which is one of the best ones, to find out. As a bonus, it was filmed on location, so you'll see the movie stars frolicking around all the monuments!

In the third film in the series, the Hardy family take their act on the road--to Washington D.C. Judge Hardy, being an esteemed jurist, is serving on a commission which is to make a ruling regarding a utility company's monopolistic intentions.

Meanwhile, Andy tries to woo the daughter of the French ambassador, under the constant scrutiny of a dedicated chaperone.

The capital setting provides an opportunity for Judge Hardy to school Andy in the principles of freedom and democracy (as they were commonly perceived in the thirties).

The other Hardy child--Marian (Cecilia Parker)--falls for the sophisticated ways of a questionable crowd, but the judge finds a way to set everything straight, natch.

... or should I say they go Washington on him?

Judge Hardy is invited to go to Washington DC to be part of a committee on aqueducts and infrastructure, back when the federal government actually had money to spend on such things. This might seem like an odd thing for Judge Hardy to be called to do, but Hardy studying up on the subject of aqueducts was part of the very first Hardy family film "A Family Affair", so this did not come out of thin air.

While the Hardys are in Washington, the atmosphere goes to the heads of the two children. Marian meets three sophisticated people that she is taken with who just want to pump her for information regarding what the committee is doing. Her small-town trust in people is misplaced in this case. Andy meets the pretty daughter of the French ambassador and, doesn't have his head turned by Washington as much as he forgets that he is in Washington and dealing with cultural mores quite different from what he is used to.

This is the last Hardy film to not have Andy Hardy as the central focus as Andy's sister Marian becomes much more of a supporting character in the subsequent films.

If you liked the other Hardy films you'll like this one too, just keep in mind that the Hardys are not in Carvel for the vast majority of the running time.