La doppia vita di Andy Hardy

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.

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.

I must admit that aqua-fem Esther certainly made a big "splash" in this, her film debut. I can certainly understand how she's able to turn Andy into mush with her charm assault and why he prefers her company to plain old Polly, who looks pretty pedestrian in comparison to Esther's ethereal (yet s-e-x-y!) beauty.

Like most Andy Hardy movies, this film is fun, uplifting and entertaining. It's hard to watch it without smiling.

In this edition of the series, Andy, played by Mickey Rooney, is preparing to depart for college. Before he leaves, he encounters one of his typical adolescent crises as Polly Benedict(his ex-girlfriend) and her visiting friend decide to teach him a lesson. Ann Rutherford returns as Polly, and her friend is played by Esther Williams in her studio debut. The acting, writing and directing are all very good in this picture.

Although this type of movie might not appeal as much to modern audiences, it is still a good film worthy of your time, and if you enjoy Andy Hardy movies, I would certainly recommend that you see this one.