Product: The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection (Babes in Arms / Babes on Broadway / Girl Crazy / Strike Up the Band) (2007)
Rating: 5.0
Worth Every Penny!
I love old movies, so when I saw this DVD set of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland musicals, I was pretty sure I would like it. How right I was! Judy's charm and Mickey's exuberance perfectly compliment each other in these four films. It seems like most of the other reviewers have dismissed the plots as being mostly irrelevant, but I found them interesting, so here are brief descriptions of every one:In the first film, a group of aging vaudevillians decide to go on a tour to make some money. When their parents refuse to take them along, Mickey and Patsy (Judy Garland) decide to put on their own show. Mickey directs, of course, and Patsy stars until she is forced to understudy by a temperamental actress who will fund the show only if SHE can play the lead. Patsy loyally stands by until Mickey seems to have an interest in the other girl. With everything falling apart, how will they be able to come together on the opening night and put on a successful performance? "Babes in Arms" is a cute little musical and gets the series off to a good start."Strike up the Band" was definitely my favorite of the set. The story is centered on Mickey's character, Jimmy, whose passion is playing the drums. The problem? It's his mother's dearest wish that he take up his late father's profession and become a doctor. The only person who really understands him is his pal, Mary (Judy Garland.) However, in trying to help Jimmy realize his dreams, Mary is hoping that he might make a dream of her own come true... The reason I like this story so much is because of the traditional values it cherishes. Unlike the "follow your heart - no matter what" motto that most modern movies spout, the moral of this story is that, while it is a great thing to pursue your dreams, you should value others above yourself.In "Babes on Broadway," Mickey Rooney and his two singing, dancing buddies are in NY hoping for a spot on Broadway. Putting on their own show sounds like a great idea, but where will they get the money? "What we need is a cause," Tommy (Rooney) tells his buddies. When he finds out that the local orphanage backed out of their promise to take kids to the country, he thinks he's found just the cause to pull at the heartstrings of the public. He offers to put on a benefit show to raise the money they need. Judy doesn't know his true motive, and thinks that he such a generous person. When his true colors show, he begins wishing that he were the kind of man she used to believe in.In "Girl Crazy," Mickey Rooney is a millionaire's son with out of control hormones. His father decides to send him out west to a rugged boarding school where there is a lot of hard work, discipline, and most important of all, NO GIRLS! Danny hates the school until he meets the headmaster's daughter and, of course, falls in love with her. However, she's different than the silly city girls back home, and he finds that winning her over may be harder than he expected.Naturally, the musical numbers are incredible. It's hard to choose favorites because there are so many great ones! Additionally, the bonus disk includes many of Judy Garland's best performances from her other movies, ranging from rare gems to well known songs. Also on the bonus DVD is a wonderful interview with Mickey Rooney as he fondly recalls memories of his early years and people he worked with. I could go on and on, but I probably should just say, in closing, that I have been saving up for a long time to buy this set, and it was worth every penny!