Product: The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection (Babes in Arms / Babes on Broadway / Girl Crazy / Strike Up the Band) (2007)
Rating: 5.0
The calm before the storm
"Babes in Arms", Strike Up The Band" and "Babes on Broadway" were all rather formulaic musicals, specifically designed for Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and while they were not playing Andy Hardy and Betsy Booth, the innate goodness of those characters were also employed in the script writing of these musicals. The first three films are very, very entertaining and show a constantly growing, artistically and musically and emotionally, Judy Garland. Mickey Rooney pretty much plays the same sort of role in "Babes" and "Band": nice, but manic. An avalanche of talent and an ego the size of Texas. I don't think Judy Garland ever really had an ego. She just went out there and did it.The break-out film here, is "Girl Crazy". It is in "Girl Crazy" that we see the end of Judy Garland as girl-next-door little-miss-fix-it sort of roles. With a dazzling and classic George/Ira Gershwin score, she can't miss. And she doesn't. She hits the bulls eye every time. And she's beautiful, too. Gone forever are the pigtails and perky nose and chipmunky facial expressions. Replaced by a physical maturity, she has cast all of those aside and gladly stands on her own two feet as a desirable woman.Brash, antic and manic, Mr. Rooney seems oblivious to the change. For Garland, he has outgrown his usefulness. The studio executives thought so, too. His final decent film for MGM would be "National Velvet" one year later, but the critics of that film paid attention to the wondrous Technicolor, the beautiful horse, and the striking Elizabeth Taylor. As an MGM asset, Mickey Rooney was toast.Not so, Garland. In fact, it would be up to Garland, after "Girl Crazy" to save the studio, as no one else was around. The legendary stars of the 30's, Shearer, Crawford and Garbo had all left. John Gilbert, Jean Harlow, and Marie Dressler had died. Who was left? Two beautiful pieces of cardboard, Lana Turner and Hedy Lamarr, certainly couldn't deliver the way Judy could, though they were popular. Clark Gable was in the service and even when he returned, he wouldn't reach the top of the movie mountain again. Who else was there? June Allyson? Nope. Spunky, maybe, but nowhere near the likes of Garland. Even the ever watchable Katherine Hepburn was making unwatchable movies ("Undercurrent", "Dragon Seed", "Sea of Grass").It was left to Judy to bring home the studio bacon. And she did. In film after film following "Girl Crazy", she was responsible for most of the money in the studio coffers. That's an amazing feat for a four foot, eleven inch young lady.But "Girl Crazy" is the turning point for her career. And for Rooney's. It's part of a movie history that will never be duplicated. Watch it!