I've never seen a Judy Garland/Micky Rooney musical. They did a number of them in the 30s and 40s. They seem to have disappeared. Watching this one I can see why.
Within the first 10 minutes I was ready to turn it off. The plot is OLD (Garland and Rooney putting on a show), the dialogue is terrible and the jokes are SO bad. Also Rooney overacts horribly. But I stayed with it. When Garland showed up--about 15 minutes in--the movie got bearable. She was so young, beautiful and full of life. She made me stay with it. When the songs and dances came on they were great--and there's a hoedown number that stops the show. And Fay Bainter is very good as a theatrical agent. There's also a very bizarre sequence with Garland and Rooney in an empty theatre playing different characters--it's WAY too long and gets kind of dull. And this has an interesting subplot about WWII and British children. Still I can't recommend this.
Rooney is just horrible--he overacts in the dramatics and he REALLY overacts in the musical numbers--I was embarrassed just to watch him. That drags down the movie and the big finale was a minstral show with the cast in blackface! I realize in 1941 that was considered OK but it's terribly racist today (for the record I'm a white guy). I tried to look past that but I couldn't. And it's too long (almost 2 hours).
I'm giving it a 6--but I really can't say I liked it. The 6 is for Garland and some of the numbers.
Within the first 10 minutes I was ready to turn it off. The plot is OLD (Garland and Rooney putting on a show), the dialogue is terrible and the jokes are SO bad. Also Rooney overacts horribly. But I stayed with it. When Garland showed up--about 15 minutes in--the movie got bearable. She was so young, beautiful and full of life. She made me stay with it. When the songs and dances came on they were great--and there's a hoedown number that stops the show. And Fay Bainter is very good as a theatrical agent. There's also a very bizarre sequence with Garland and Rooney in an empty theatre playing different characters--it's WAY too long and gets kind of dull. And this has an interesting subplot about WWII and British children. Still I can't recommend this.
Rooney is just horrible--he overacts in the dramatics and he REALLY overacts in the musical numbers--I was embarrassed just to watch him. That drags down the movie and the big finale was a minstral show with the cast in blackface! I realize in 1941 that was considered OK but it's terribly racist today (for the record I'm a white guy). I tried to look past that but I couldn't. And it's too long (almost 2 hours).
I'm giving it a 6--but I really can't say I liked it. The 6 is for Garland and some of the numbers.