The first Hardy family movie to focus solely around Mickey Rooney, who was by now established as the break out star. This is sometimes called the best of the series and it remains warm and charming, with Rooney in good form – though sometimes he does mug a bit. The simple but highly effective plot involves him wanting to take Polly Benedict (Ann Rutherford, very good) to a Christmas dance – but she’s going away, so instead he takes another girl (Lana Turner, already a woman) as a favour to a mate. Lana looks great in a swimming costume and likes kissing, which you’d think would turn Andy on, but as in You’re Only Young Once, this actually turns off Andy. (His impotence in the face of sexually aggressive women would be a constant theme of the series).
The ace in the hole of this film is the appearance of Judy Garland, as the daughter of a music comedy star who comes to stay next door and develops a crush on Andy. She’s very cute, even if you can (with the benefit of hindsight), glimpse the madness in her eyes.
Marian only really appears at the beginning and end of film – her engineer boyfriend has gone on the town with some floozy, leaving Marian free to flirt with Judy’s cousin at the end (then he’s disposed of early on in the next Hardy movie). They get rid of the mother for most of the movie too, which is a good thing.
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