This takes off directly after the last one, i.e. on graduation night. It’s time for big decisions to be made – well, actually, not for Andy, his dad’s got it all sorted out, shunting him off to study law. Andy asks if he can go off to New York and work for a bit.
This is the most adult Hardy movie to date. Andy finds things tricky in the big city, he has an intriguing quasi-romantic relationship with a smart secretary (Patricia Dane) who is clearly too experienced for him but still likes him. “A fellah can’t kiss a girl goodnight when she’s just paid for dinner” he says – to which she replies “of course she can,” and kisses her – and she wants to have sex with him later. He also befriends a struggling male dancer (Ray McDonald) who dies (for one moment Andy thinks the guy killed himself but it’s ok it was just a dodgy heart – something which smells like it was added for the censors). Judge Hardy also clearly finds it difficult to cut the cord.
There are some touching scenes: Andy says goodbye to Polly Benedict, who is going off to college; Judge Hardy being upset that Andy is leaving home to go to work, but trying not to show it; Judge and Ma waving goodbye; Andy deciding not to tell his father at the end about everything that happened in New York.
Judy Garland makes her third appearance in the series, slightly more glammed up this time. She has some very bright lines – “I’ve got to rise above that”, “if a female thinks only what she wants to think she won’t get intro trouble”, “things are just adequate”. Andy has as few funny lines too – he says he doesn’t want to smoke “because it’ll stunt my growth”. She only sings a little bit in this one and her relationship with Andy isn’t really progressed – she just pines.
Unfortunately, there’s an awful scene where Judge Hardy turns up and clocks the sexy secretary and tells Andy not to be unfaithful to his wife to be, i.e. don’t root the hot secretary. Always trying to pour cold water on his son’s love life is the old cock-blocking judge. The secretary’s been nothing but nice to Andy but the Judge is all against her.
And there’s an even more awful scene when Andy is about to have sex with the secretary Judy engineers it so that the secretary’s ex-girlfriend turns up. And the secretary simply points out that people are hypocritical and his father might be full of it, and Andy begs off. This secretary has been nothing but nice to Andy, helping him get a job, giving him advice, not taking money from him. All she wants is to have sex with him. But that’s not good enough for the Judge. So in the end Andy decides not to go his own way in the world and does what his father wants… which is depressing. But, to be fair, honest.
Fay Holden seems to be a bit less of a ninny – she’s finally grown into the role, although she is still stupid and prone to crying. Marian isn’t in this one (he’s “away”). Andy refers to the brother and sister in Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary getting work.
No comments:
Post a Comment