Andy Hardy Banca o Sherlock

While there is a surprisingly serious plot point, this film has lots of laughs with Andy and solid family togetherness sprinkled throughout. It is an interesting glimpse at the Hollywood version anyway of the American family in a time of crises. Prayer, love for siblings, children and parents and the visiting family doctor and home nurse when health care was a touch less expensive and a touch more personal all play a part. This is one of the more enjoyable of the Hardy family films especially the ones without Judy Garland.

I enjoy the Andy Hardy pictures and they certainly were popular. However, I must admit that enjoying them and seeing them as excellent pictures is not the same thing. The plots are often very formulaic and even a bit silly...yet, you like the characters...well, that is except for the god-awful Euphrasia!

The film begins in very typical fashion--Andy (Mickey Rooney) is in need of money. His broken down jalopy needs new tires and he wants to take Polly (Ann Rutherford) to the dance. When he learns about an essay contest with a $50 prize, that idiot Andy just ASSUMES he'll win and commits the $50 to a variety of merchants in town. Later, after finally getting down to reading the rules, he realizes he's not eligible for the prize money! What is poor Andy to do??? Well, he comes up with a scheme to help a couple girls possibly win the contest so he can split the money with them. He also learns that his father, the Judge (Lewis Stone), is looking for someone and Andy agrees to help...if he gets paid for the work. Will all this work out as planned? And where does the hellishly annoying Euphrasia Clark come into all this?! Oh, and by the way, Andy's mother almost dies...

As usual, there's an ending where everything works out, several scenes where the incredibly wise Judge Hardy dispense great wisdom and women inexplicably chase Andy about as if he's Tyrone Power! Still, despite all this silliness, it's fun and quite enjoyable.

The Andy Hardy series gets a little serious in Judge Hardy And Son. Mickey Rooney gets a chance to do a little detective work on behalf of the court looking for a daughter to an elderly Italian immigrant couple who are in danger of losing their home. The elderly couple is played by Egon Brecher and Maria Ouspenskaya, neither exactly Italian, but in those days they were always cast as all purpose European ethnics.

Cecilia Parker and Mickey Rooney are having their usual brother and sister spats. And Rooney despite ever faithful Ann Rutherford gets himself involved with mush mouth southern belle June Preiser as a result of his search on behalf of Lewis Stone.

The Hardy family does come to crisis when Fay Holden who begged off a trip to see her parents on their golden wedding anniversary develops a touch of pleurisy. That moves quickly to pneumonia and the woman needs round the clock nursing care. Everyone else's troubles fade as the heart of the home threatens to stop beating.

Even Lewis Stone is knocked off kilter with his wife's illness, but in the end comes around to give Mickey Rooney the same old advice about love and life which Mickey keeps hearing, but it never quite takes.

One of the more enjoyable Andy Hardy films.

Judge Hardy and Son (1939)

** (out of 4)

Eighth film in the series has Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) trying to help a foreign couple who are about to lose their home. Back at the Hardy household Andy (Mickey Rooney) is having trouble with both money and girls but life's real lessons are brought up when his mother (Fay Holden) comes down with pneumonia and might die. This is a very somber entry in MGM's Andy Hardy series and I'm sure many might enjoy the darkness but overall I thought the film was one of the least entertaining as it just felt rushed and the story really didn't hit me as it should have. We'll start with the story involving the foreign couple. They pretty much just show up at the start of the film and this here allows Andy to do some detective work for his father but there's no laughs or drama to be had with this subplot. The stuff dealing with Mrs. Hardy's death was a mixed bag. On one hand it led to some overly dramatic speeches that were just really, really silly. I don't mean to make light of death but I think people even in 1939 knew the outcome and the preaching here was a tad bit too much for me. I know this series has a lot of people against it because it made life seem all too simple but I've never put any of the films down for that. The religious aspect to the film was just a tad bit too forceful in my opinion but there's no question that their heart was in the right place. It also allows Rooney to do some dramatic acting and he does a wonderful job with it especially in one scene where he finally breaks down at the thought of losing his mother. Stone also gets some very good moments with his son Andy as the two talk about death and what might end up happening. Fans of Universal's monster movies will be happy to see Henry Hull in a brief part as the doctor and Maria Ouspenskaya plays the foreign lady. Ann Rutherford is as charming as ever as Polly and we get a nice performance by Martha O'Driscoll as one of Andy's lady friends. This entry goes without much of the comedy of the earlier films and there's no question the moral lessons are on high alert but in the end none of it really worked for me. This certainly isn't a horrible film but at the same time the series has so many better efforts.

Eighth entry in the Hardy series has the Judge (Lewis Stone) assigning Andy to help locate the daughter of an immigrant couple in danger of losing their home. Meanwhile Andy is having his usual girl and money troubles that will inevitably lead to one of the patented man-to-man talks with his dad. In the middle of all of this, the movie takes a somber turn as Mrs. Hardy comes down with pneumonia and battles for her life.

Not one of the stronger Hardy films but still enjoyable. The mother illness subplot that takes over the middle is out of place with the rest of the movie. It feels very much like they needed something dramatic so they threw that in there. Still, the Hardy series was always top quality so they manage to make it all fit together as best they can. The cast of regulars is terrific, as usual. Always love seeing Ann Rutherford's adorable Polly Benedict. Henry Hull has a bit part as a doctor and Maria Ouspenskaya a small role as part of the immigrant couple that sets the story into motion. But the scene stealer of the movie has to be June Preisser as Euphrasia 'Phrasie Daisy' Clark, her first of two Andy Hardy appearances. I defy anybody to suppress a smile when she says "Phrasie Daisy loves Andy Pandy."