I have one nitpick, the blackface routines near the end of the film. And the characters in this film chose to do a minstrel number just because they wanted to. At least in "Everybody sing", Judy did a blackface routine in that film because she didn't want her eccentric parents to recognize her because they were trying to ship her off to Europe. It was that era's biggest downfall. That downfall isn't such a problem today, but there are plenty of new ones now that weren't around then. Actually, people were nicer and more decent in almost every way back then compared to today with the big exception being racism. And I'm sure that many good hearted people of that time only acted racist because they were taught to and were pressured to by the smaller percentage of people that enforced racism to be part of that era's society. Anyway, the blackface numbers in this film is why I subtracted two points. All of the other parts of the film, I rate a 10. They were just as terrific as the other Garland/ Rooney musicals. I love Judy Garland. I love the singing, the sentiment and the passion in "Babes on Broadway". In some other reviews I've read on this film, they don't. I can understand them not liking incessant singing and dancing if it isn't that good. But with Judy Garland, it's wonderful. I like sentiment and passion in the innocent style of 1930s and 1940s musicals, and it was also more around back then in real life. And I love the way Judy displays it in her films. Judy, who was 19 in this film, sang "How about you" beautifully while dancing with Mickey in her apartment. I find it sort of similar to "Our love affair" in "Strike up the band" with her and Mickey and "Me and my gal" in film of the same name with her and Gene Kelly. "Chin up, cheerio, carry on" was also great. She sings her songs like an angel. And " chin up, cheerio, carry on" has an added wonderful touch to it with Judy taking care of the English children there escaping the blitz in WW2 England from Germany. It really tugs at the heatstrings and touched nerves on those who lived through WW2. I also liked the few theatrical numbers in this film that Mickey and Judy acted out to legends such as Sarah Bernhardt (who's been mentioned a lot in films during this era including in Judy's "Presenting Lily Mars"). The theatrical numbers here beared some similarity to the ones in "Strike up the band", except there it really happened in the story, here it was in Micky and Judy's imagination. The motive for Mickey, Judy, and the others putting on their block party so they could take the English children to the country was a nice touch. Many people today I'm sure will wonder what the big deal is about going to the country. I believe it was that smaller more simple pleasures in life pleased people more back then. Today, everyone feels entitled to so much more in order to feel satisfied, and takes things a lot more for granted. Back then, it was a real treat for poorer people who never before left the urbanization of the city to spend time riding through open fields, hills, and pastures. And to walk through babbling brooks and feel the wide openness and smell the fresh air of the rural beauty.
Review of Babes on Broadway
