Love Finds Andy Hardy

This has gotta be one of my all time favorite movies ever! It takes you back to simpler times, when cars were only $20 and makes you wish life could be like that now. Judy Garland is radiant in this movie, she absolutely steals every scene she is in! The movie is filled with an all star cast, including Mickey Rooney (well Hugh) Judy Garland (another duh) Lana Turner and others.

It's basically a story about Andy Hardy (played by Mickey Rooney) who gets into some girl trouble, and is helped by his neighbors granddaughter (Judy Garland) who is staying for Christmas. Judy sings some wonderful songs in this movie, especially "In-Between" it's such a believable song for a young girl to sing. They try to pass Judy off as a 12 year old, but she does look older. other than that, it's perfect!

Just Watch It.

Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)

*** (out of 4)

Andy (Mickey Rooney) catches a break when girlfriend Polly (Ann Rutherford) must head out of town because this leaves him able to earn $8 for a car he wants to buy. All he has to do is date his best friend's girlfriend (Lana Turner) while he's out of town as he doesn't want her going around with any other boys. Things don't go as planned but at least Andy has his new neighbor (Judy Garland) who just happens to have a few plans of her own. This fourth film in the series is often considered by man to be the best but I'm not certain I'd go that far. If someone is looking for pure laughs there are funnier films in the series but at the same time it's easy to see why this one would get so much attention due to the terrific cast. I guess you could say Andy is the luckiest guy in the world if his biggest problem is dating women like Garland, Turner and Rutherford but that's the major of the film's storyline. There are a few minor subplots dealing with Judge (Lewis Stone) having to take care of the fort when his wife (Fay Holden) leaves to take care of her ill mother. I'm guessing mom was pretty much written out of this one simply because you had so many other characters that needed attention. Apparently this film was shot in just 19 days and was released to theaters less than two months after it was given the green light. It's hard to imagine any movie being written, shot and shown in such a short period of time but I guess you have to give the MGM factory credit for this. Even though I wouldn't name this the best of the series there are still enough good moments to make it a must see. The majority of the charm comes from Rooney and his energy as he tries to get through all these situations while at the same time learning various life lessons. It's hard to imagine anyone else in the role of Andy Hardy as Rooney is pitch perfect for it and he matches well with the three females. He and Rutherford always had that great charm in each film but the real shock was seeing how good he was with Turner. The two really seem to have great chemistry and this comes across during a terrific scene in the woods where they kiss and Rooney lets out a scream of pleasure to which Turner then laughs in hysterics. Garland certainly gets the majority of the screen time and she does a fine job as well. She also gets to sing three songs, which she does a good job with even though none of the songs are all that memorable. It goes without saying but Lewis Stone is at the top of his game as normal. LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY is certainly a flick that any film buff should see simply because of the great cast. It's hard to think of a film with more young talent but they all deliver the goods and make this an entertaining little gem.

The Andy Hardy series, based on Vivien R. Bretherton's stories, proved to be a favorite of the public at the time they came out. It was a different and innocent America. These were the teen agers of that era, and their world, as Hollywood interpreted it. This picture was directed by George B. Seitz.

Andy loves Polly, but when a friend asks him to take care of the beautiful Cynthia, he complies. Enter the girl-next-door, Betsy, and the problems begin. As usual, the fatherly figure of Judge James K. Hardy, is there to guide his young son into doing the right thing. In fact, Andy and his parents didn't suffer from the generation gap that became prevalent later on; the openness of family relationships of that time is so refreshing and shows how much has been lost. It probably had to do with a loving mother, Emily, who stayed home and supervised her children.

The cast is delightful. Mickey Rooney shows why he was one of the most loved actors of the time. Judy Garland is a sweet Betsy and has an opportunity to sing three songs in the film. Lewis Stone and Fay Holden as the Hardy parents, are good and solid. Cecilia Parker is sister Marian. A young Lana Turner is seen as Cynthia and finally, Ann Rutherford was perfect as Polly.

A delightful comedy that about a more happy era in America.

I'd never seen one of these "Judge Hardy's Family" movies before this, but on Thanksgiving Day I checked out the TCM schedule to see what was going to be playing for the holiday and I was intrigued by the long list of movies within this series. So, while I was out for the day visiting the family I let my VCR record about three or four of these things. I just randomly began with this one, which I enjoyed and have since read is considered one of the better installments.

Here we have Mickey Rooney (I can't believe he was actually 18 when he made this) getting involved with two other girls once his main squeeze Polly (Ann Rutherford) has to go away to visit her grandma for Christmas. Andy's been looking to raise twenty dollars (!) to buy a car he's had his eye on, so while Polly's gone, Andy accepts his friend Beezy's offer to get paid to date his girlfriend Cynthia (Lana Turner) while Beezy's also out of town for Christmas. From there, "troubles" erupt when Cynthia gets way too stuck on Andy, and then his singing neighbor Betsy (Judy Garland) also starts to fall in love with him. Wish I had problems like that when I was 15!

While watching this film, you can't help become aware of how drastically times have changed in 70 years. This is a wholesome family affair. It was a joy watching Lewis Stone as Andy's old dad, Judge James Hardy, trying to bridge the generation gap (such as it was in the '30s) between father and son, and having his heart to heart talks with his boy. Mickey Rooney's characterization of the highly animated Andy Hardy was infectious, and I thought all three of his well-known leading ladies were cute. Judy sings a few tunes, of course, and I didn't mind them a bit. It seemed to me, though, that she was relegated more to the background for this story, unfortunately. I am looking forward to catching further entries from this series in the future. *** out of ****

I could see them remaking this movie in 2001 as a regular teen movie. What is "Love Finds Andy Hardy" about, really, other than a guy's quest for money, girls, and a car? Of course, the modern movie producers will have to add sexual humor to it. If you like teen movies and want to see their predecessor, if you're a fan of anyone in the cast, or just if you wanna catch up on your 1938 romance-comedies, this is a good movie to see. I would recommend it.