Love Laughs at Andy Hardy

This one one of the best entrys to the series. The acting was great as usual. Mickey Rooney was his normal, terrific self. Mickey Rooney was simply the best actor that ever lived. The man could do it all. This film was highly entertaining and terrific.!!! If you love the Andy Hardy series you will find it hilarious when he danced with a girl almost twice his size. I truly don't understand why some people have given this film a bad comment. There is simply nothing but great acting and a very very funny story! People who love Mickey Rooney should also check out his films Strike Up The Band, Boys Town, Bill, Stablemates,The Human Comedy. The man was simply amazing! I truly enjoy this entry to the Andy Hardy series. Buy it today! You will not be disappointed!

The penultimate Andy Hardy movie is really, for me, the end of the series. When it returned years later in an attempt to revive things, it just wasn't the same. There's no Hardy family without Judge Hardy, in my opinion. Anyway this one was released two years after the previous one. We learn in between films Andy (Mickey Rooney) served in the war. He's home now and anxious to reunite with Kay (Bonita Granville), his girlfriend from the last movie. Andy's planning to marry Kay and settle down. His parents aren't too crazy about this idea. They want Andy to finish college before thinking about marriage. Turns out it doesn't matter as Kay has other plans for her future.

What would an Andy Hardy movie be without pretty girls? Here we have the lovely Bonita Granville, Dorothy Ford, and Lina Romay. This Lina is not to be confused with the later actress and wife of Jesús Franco. This one was mostly known for her singing, as well as her appearance in a popular Droopy cartoon. Granville is a charming actress but her character is rather dull and the whole 'romance with my legal guardian' thing is just gross. Dorothy Ford, who was over six feet tall, is beautiful and easily the highlight of the picture. The usual Hardy cast is solid, with Mickey doing a decent job portraying a maturing Andy but not TOO mature. After all, Andy Hardy would be boring if his head was on too straight.

This is the last Hardy film to feature Lewis Stone's Judge Hardy. Stone continued acting after this but he died before the next Hardy movie, Andy Hardy Comes Home, which was a failed attempt to reboot the series. When the series started out, Judge Hardy was the main character. But as Mickey Rooney's Andy grew in popularity, he took the spotlight and the Judge was reduced to a supporting part (albeit still an important one). As I've said in other Hardy movie reviews, Judge Hardy was the backbone of the series. His loving relationship with wife Emily (played by the endearing Fay Holden) and his fatherly advice to his children, particularly Andy, was at the heart of everything that happened with the Hardys. Often the series drew its A or B plot from one of the cases brought before Judge Hardy in court. Yes, Judge Hardy is also the lightning rod for most of the criticisms that are leveled at these movies. It's through him that many of the series' old-fashioned values and ideas are put forth. If you are someone who mocks the series, chances are the Judge is your least favorite character. Personally, I like him a lot, even if I don't always agree with him. Without the Judge, as played so well by Lewis Stone, the series would have been just a bunch of juvenile comedies with Mickey mugging for the camera and it might not have lasted as long as it did.

For die-hard fans of the series, there is a little to like here but not a lot . I imagine most fans would consider this one of the lesser entries. There are still some good scenes, such as Andy locking himself out of the house while in his aunt's bath robe or all of the scenes with Andy and the much-taller Coffy Smith. But, for the most part, the mood and feel of the movie is just off compared to previous ones. It's slow and lacks the energy that the earlier Hardy movies had. It's certainly not one I would recommend to anybody trying out an Andy Hardy film for the first time. But, for fans, you'll have to see it at least once. If for no other reason than one final man-to-man talk between Andy and his father.

In the fifteenth Andy Hardy film, he--like so many other military men--returns home after the war. During his time away, he has been thinking a lot about Kay (Bonita Granville), who is still at college. For her part, she has been thinking a lot about him since their last film, two years earlier. Each has a big announcement for the other.

A side story has Andy being matched with an attractive Amazon (Dorothy Ford) who serves to further emphasize his diminutive stature. They make the best of it and enjoy their evening at the frosh dance.

This film is not one of the better Hardy family stories, though it contains the last man-to-man chat between Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) and Andy.

Dorothy Ford steals the show with her vivacious personality. Andy's crisis du jour eventually fizzles to nothingness when he spots the next comely coed.

There is a serious subject hidden inside this episode--the fact that the passage of years (and the experiences in those years) can result in unexpected expectations from lovers or spouses. But the matter is dispatched with quickly as if Andy were still a younger teen.

Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) is home from the war. His mind is mostly stuck on marriage and his college girlfriend Kay Wilson (Bonita Granville). Misunderstandings, chaos, and heartbreak ensue.

Andy is just not Andy when he is focused on one girl. There is something off about this one. This temporarily ends the series until 12 years later when the final movie fails to revive the franchise. I never really liked Kay. She always seems to have one foot out the door. In the previous movie, I would be perfectly happy with Wilde twins. There is a fun gag with a very tall girl. Otherwise, this is fairly blah.

Mickey Rooney made about a dozen and a half Andy Hardy films--and this is among the very last. Because of this, it's certainly far from original and lacks the energy of the earlier entries. It's also oddly depressing at times.

This installment finds Andy returning home from the war...and it was sure swell. However, instead of dealing with PTSD or the looming threat of international communism, Andy is in a daze--obsessed with his latest love, Kay Wilson (Bonita Granville). His plan is to go off to college using the GI Bill and marry Kay the co-ed. However, soon his plans fall apart, as it turns out that Kay has other plans. Additionally, although he goes to school, oddly, you never see him attend any classes! By the end, the audience is feeling a bit uneasy about his pain as well as a sense of déjà vu, as Andy is ALWAYS having girl trouble.

Aside from a cute side story about Andy dating a gigantic lady, the film has little in the way of interesting content or originality. It's clearly a film for the die-hard Hardy groupies and is reasonably entertaining but nothing more. And, incidentally, it's in the public domain and may be copied and viewed for free following the links on IMDb...though I wouldn't necessarily rush to do this.