A film which combines the best and worst of the Andy Hardy films. It is set during Andy’s last summer before heading to college (the same summer as Life Begins for Andy Hardy and Andy Hardy’s Double Life - MGM were desperate to delay his graduation as much as possible).
The best of it is a sweet plot where Judge Hardy asks Andy to take out the ugly duckling daughter of a divorcing couple in order to cheer her up – in the best tradition of Cinderella romance, the ugly duckling is actually very pretty, even before her transformation (Donna Reed), and after her transformation she’s a supermodel. But it’s a sweet tale, with Reed very winning, and the viciousness of her parents feels authentic.
It’s touching how Reed falls in love with Andy but he can’t get it up for her – after knocking back the sexy secretary in Life Begins it’s clear that Andy was going through a bit of questioning about his sexuality. (Polly Benedict comes back at the end, quite glammed up, but they seem to be more friends than anything else.)
The worst of the series involves a plot concerning Marian, making her first appearance in the series in a while. She comes back from the big city with a bit of an attitude – so of course her family set about trying to crush her spirit. In a rather nasty scene they make fun of her new dress because it’s a bit “fast”, then dress up in night gowns at dinner to tease her. Why? Because may be she thought there might be life outside of Carvel. Maybe she had dreams of becoming something other than the house-bound ninny that her mother is. (In this one the mother is so dim she gets in financial strife with a dud cheque. No wonder Judge Hardy wanted Aunt Millie at home – if he’s not having sex with her, she’s at least a source of decent conversation which he can’t get from his wife.) She learns her lesson because the guy who takes her out (William Lundigan) drink drives and crashes the car home. Now drink driving is a bad thing – but that shouldn’t have anything to do with Marian wanting to wear a flash dress. In one scene at the end Andy tells her “it’s not your fault that women’s brains are lighter than men’s”… you think this is set up as a joke but they don’t make it one. It’s not very pleasant.
You can tell they were having troubles with aging Andy a little – how irresponsible can he be? When he acts pompous, is it entirely a joke now? But it is still enjoyable. Lewis Stone has some effective moments as Judge struggling to get used to his children growing up.
There’s also an interesting scene where William Lundigan is drunk and Stone gives him a serve – he kind of goes overboard (talking about “man… capable of greatness… soaking in whiskey”) – but it’s not un-true.
(NB - a nice continuity touch – Todd Karns, the bitter brother from Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary, reprises his role, getting a crush on Donna Reed’s character.)
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