La vie commence pour André Hardy

Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941)

*** (out of 4)

Eleventh film in the series is a pure delight as Andy (Mickey Rooney) decides to put off going to college even though Judge (Lewis Stone) feels that would be his best bet. Instead Andy travels to New York City to get a job and see what all life has to offer. He meets up with his old friend (Judy Garland) but quickly falls for a woman (Patricia Dane) who might not have his best interest in mind. I've read some critics who said this series handled dark subjects too lightly and perhaps that's true but that doesn't apply here. This film really shocked me at how mature it was and it even hit some rather dark subjects including suicide and what really makes a man. The movie has plenty of great laughs, some wonderful performances and an all around charm that makes this irresistible to fans of classic cinema. I'm still rather new to the series but the chemistry between Rooney and Stone is just marvelous and the two really come off as a real father and son. I'm not sure if it was just luck or if the two actors really did their homework but they are perfect together and really seem to know how to work off one another. This is certainly true during a brief scene at a table after Judge has come to visit Andy at work. The supporting cast is equally good and that includes Garland in her third and final appearance in the series. I've read she had four songs cut from the film but she doesn't have too much to work with except playing shoulder to Andy. Dane is the one who really surprised me because I thought she made for an excellent femme fatale years before that term would really take off. I think even those who aren't fans of the series would get a kick out of this one because it really does bring those "coming of age" issues up front and looks at them in a pretty serious manor. Even though there are laughs scattered throughout, for the most part the film is looked at in a serious way and this is a major plus.

Andy Hardy has just graduated high school, and so he ponders what comes next. His father has dreams of him attending his own alma mater, Wainwright college, and going into law. Looking at the long journey that would be - seven years of college - he decides to break out on his own and see what life on his own would be like. So he drives to New York City in search of a job.

He gets a room in a kind of high-rise boarding house for guys, back when women were not allowed past the front desk. His search for a job, though, is arduous until he finally lands one as an office boy at a stock brokerage concern.

Before he gets the job though, he runs out of money, can't get his car out of hock in storage, and goes hungry for a few days. At one point, his roommate, unable to get a job in what he wants to do, even kills himself in the bathroom, with Andy discovering the body! So this is not your average Andy Hardy film.

There is one really odd scene between Andy and his father, the judge. Usually I can easily see the rather timeless lessons the judge is trying to teach, but this one seems mid Victorian. The judge has noticed the flirting going on between Andy and the woman a few years older - she's probably 25 or so - who also works at the brokerage. The judge says that people should be faithful to their spouses before they even meet them, because lots of casual "dating" - to be euphemistic about it - makes it hard to be faithful to a spouse once you have one. So much for sowing one's wild oats!

Following his graduation from high school, a small-town teenager decides to try his luck learning about life and making it on his own in New York City. Where he encounters the death of a disillusioned, penniless young friend and the seductive wiles of a glamorous "older woman" he encounters at his office job. Not to mention the wrath of the censors (who forced the studio the change the cause of death from a suicide to a heart attack) as well as the Catholic church (whose Legion of Decency damned the film with an "objectionable for children" rating). Hard to believe that an episode in the ebullient Andy Hardy series caused such controversy, but it is this film's commendable attempt to portray the dilemmas of youth with honesty and candor (incredible for 1941) that make it the most durable and disarming entry of the entire series. As contemporary today as it was 60 years ago, "Life Begins for Andy Hardy" is blessed with, besides a refreshingly adult screenplay that evokes emotions unchanged by the passage of time, astoundingly "mature" performances by Mickey Rooney (for once underplaying) and Judy Garland (displaying a sincerity and warmth without ever singing a note).

Rooney's portrayal of a good-hearted teenager who decent instincts hardly prepare him for the brutal reality of survival in the "Big City" will strike resonant chords with anyone in a similar situation 60 years later. And, in addition to Rooney and Ms. Garland, sterling performances are contributed by the Hardy regulars (Lewis Stone, never more sage or heartrending as Andy's concerned father); the lovely Patricia Dane, as Andy's office co-worker and would-be seducer; and Ray McDonald, heartbreaking as a penniless aspiring actor reduced to living (and starving) in Central Park. A tacked-on happy ending and jarring lapses in continuity (indicating heavy studio re-cutting and re-shooting) fail to undermine the sweet sadness of this most unusual MGM drama--flirting with themes that would be dealt with far more candidly and cruelly some 20 years later in such innocents-lost-in-the-city classics as "The Rat Race" and "Breakfast at Tiffanys," of which "Life Begins for Andy Hardy" is a most poignant pre-cursor.

Although I have enjoyed every Andy Hardy movie that I have seen, this is probably my favorite entry in the series. It is admittedly a departure from the usual light-hearted comedy of the Hardy movies, but in this case, it works.

In the film, Andy leaves his sheltered small-town life for the city of New York in order to decide whether he wants to go to college or directly join the professional ranks. Andy's dilemma hit home with me when I first saw this film a few years ago since it was a decision that I was facing myself. Many younger viewers will probably be able to relate to the issues and problems that Andy must deal with as he attempts to make the transition from carefree adolescence to adulthood.

Mickey Rooney gives a good performance as Andy Hardy, as does Judy Garland in the role of Betsey Booth. This picture is not as cheerful as most entries in the series, but the most melancholy aspect of this film is the fact that it is Garland's last appearance as Betsey. Betsey is one of the most entertaining characters in the series of movies, and it's unfortunate that she only appears in three of the films.

Overall, this is a very good, although different, entry into the Andy Hardy series of movies.

Having just graduated from high school, Andy has to make some big decisions about his life. Judge Hardy wants him to enroll in his old college and study law. Andy's not so sure what he wants so, with the Judge's blessing, he decides to spend a month alone in New York City to experience life. But he quickly finds being a grown-up isn't all it's cracked up to be. He struggles at his new job, falls in with an older woman, and has to deal with the shocking death of a friend.

Atypical entry in the Andy Hardy series is more "adult" and serious. While I enjoy all of the Hardy movies and don't feel the need to put down on them for their homespun Americana, this one is a nice change of pace. It's also almost entirely Mickey Rooney, with Judge Hardy and the rest of the cast having relatively minor roles. Mickey Rooney is fantastic, though. Patricia Dane is good as the worldly gold digger. Ray McDonald is great as Andy's friend. Last of the Andy Hardy movies to have Judy Garland as a guest star. She sang some songs for this but they were cut, much to the horror of today's classic film fans. But I think I can understand why they were cut, given the tone of the film.

There are light moments throughout the movie, don't get me wrong. It's just more cynical and less innocent than other entries in the series. The writing's very good, as is the acting. Not your typical Andy Hardy movie but one of the most interesting. If they hadn't chickened out and changed the cause of death for Andy's friend I would bump it up a notch.