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Admittedly, I'm not the best judge of musicals, but this one seems disappointing given the level of talent involved. Visually, Garland and Rooney make a cute couple-- a match clearly made in malt shop heaven. And, even though I was disappointed, I can understand Garland's enduring appeal. She's definitely an incandescent presence, and one that doesn't come from just acting the part. On the other hand, Rooney is energetic and I can see him organizing a high school band. However, that energy too often becomes manic—for example, check out his conducting the orchestra at movie's end for sheer pointless delirium. Too often, his in- your-face high spirits comes across as more obnoxious than entertaining.

I guess my biggest disappointment is with the musical numbers. Berkeley's dancing phalanxes are eye-catching as usual, but there's not a single catchy tune to hang your hat on. The numbers are simply not up to Garland's level of show-stopping talent, whatever the reason. Then there's the overlong melodrama skit that unfortunately saps momentum by coming in the middle. On the other hand, the musical fruit sketch sounds silly but is really charming and well done. Also, professional musician Paul Whiteman turns out to be a pretty darn good actor. And for those interested in what those times were like, it's a chance to see what teens circa-1940 thought was "cool". Having your own dance band was clearly near the top. At the same time, the message seems to be that dance bands deserve respect, while playing in one is indeed a legitimate goal in life. Looks like controversies over music didn't start with rock-and-roll.

I can't help it, I love Mickey and Judy, and this is their best film together. It has fun songs ("Our Love Affair" and "Do the La Conga" especially), good Busby Berkeley productions (both the aforementioned, especially the fruit-as-orchestra dream sequence!), but more importantly, it perfectly evokes the ideal small middle-American town, complete with understanding mothers and principals, swell fellas and gals, and a comforting everything's going to be just fine feeling. I can't help yearning for this never-never land of rebellious but polite youths and understanding old-timers!

No I don't care what anybody says Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland were excellent miss film both young actors at the time and the singing and the music was superb. Yeah I mean it was a film on a 1940 remember that! But I loved Judy Garland and always will

A delightful high-energy romp. I think Mickey Rooney outshines Judy Garland in this one (but that might be like comparing apples to oranges, which incidentally play a not incidental role in this movie). Mickey plays the piano, the drums, sings, dances, pitches baseballs and jumps over fences and hedgerows....plus he's good to his widowed mother and turns up the "life's a gas" charm at the drop of a hat. Judy is more serious, reflective, and tender, all of which works well in the songs she performs. I could have done without the extended "Snidely Whiplash" melodrama routine, but hey, what's perfect in this world. The teenagers in this movie, however, look like miniature adults, and moreover, some of Mickey's band members look a little long in the tooth. Was there really a time when jazz was the most shocking thing a kid could be interested in?

Being a huge lifelong fan of Judy Garland, with a voice that you can listen to for hours and tire of, and who likes her paired with Mickey Rooney (a multi-talented performer with a tendency to overdo it), 'Strike Up the Band' was definitely something that couldn't be missed.

To me, 'Strike Up the Band' is the second best of their four "backyard" musicals. Their best being 'Girl Crazy', the best paced of the four and with the best songs and choreography, even if the story is not as good as the rest of the film. Faring weakest is 'Babes on Broadway' ('Babes in Arms' was a slightly better film regardless of its bowdlerisation of the source material), that film gets a lot right still but is too sentimental, contrived and corny in places with some out of place patriotism and a sour-taste-in-the-mouth finale. All four are worth watching though, and all four are well above average films.

'Strike Up the Band' is not perfect either, its Achilles heel being the far too corny, melodramatic and ponderous middle third (a shame because the film is actually very well paced for most of it and then drags badly in the non-musical moments of the middle third). The dialogue warms the heart and moves sometimes but the silly corniness of some of it is cringe-worthy.

Lastly while the cast are mostly splendid, there is one exception and that is the terribly annoying June Preisser (just as much as in 'Babes in Arms'), enviously athletic dancing is not enough for an obnoxious character played far too broadly to unbearable degrees.

However, even when not in Technicolor, 'Strike Up the Band' still looks lovely in crisp black and white and with elegant production design. As said, on the musical front (production values, songs, vocal performance, arrangements, choreography and dancing) 'Strike Up the Band' fares significantly better. The songs are great, not as great as the scores for 'Girl Crazy' and 'Babes in Arms' but almost. The three best songs being the plaintive "Our Love Affair", the exuberant "Drummer Boy" and the barn-storming "Do the La Conga".

Busby Berkeley's direction and how he stages the songs are not quite as imaginative, witty or dazzling as some of his other films, but it doesn't come over heavy-handedly and it has charm, tenderness and energy, particularly in the aforementioned three songs. Unlike 'Babes on Broadway', sentimentality is avoided thankfully and is replaced by a lot of entertainment and heart-warming. The story is unexceptional but is full of energy, fun, heart and charm, palling only in the non-musical moments of the middle third.

Rooney and Garland make 'Strike Up the Band' especially worth seeing, they are both on top form and their chemistry irresistible. From personal opinion, of the four Rooney-Garland "back-yard" musicals (despite 'Babes in Arms' being the one to get the Oscar nomination) this contains Rooney's best performance of the four, his role really plays to his strengths and even stretches him in showing more talents that one never knew he had (i.e. didn't know he could play the drum so well). Garland is as ever radiant and deeply touching, "Our Love Affair" being one of the most poignant renditions of any song in a film she starred in (very near the top too, and the list is long). Paul Whiteman, not the "King of Jazz" for nothing, contributes hugely to the film's appeal too.

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable film, a must for Garland fans and a must for anybody wanting to see what the fuss is about with her and Rooney together. 7/10 Bethany Cox