Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland ooze charisma!

Babes in Arms is another memorable movie from the seemingly endless parade of classics to come out of Hollywood in 1939. This was the first of the Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland “Let’s put on a show” musicals and the third of ten movies they would both appear in. It was a huge hit both commercially and critically. Rooney even earned himself a Best Actor Oscar nomination.

Rooney and Garland play Mickey Moran and Patsy Barton the children of vaudeville veterans. Not much of a stretch since both of them came from vaudeville stock in real life. With the coming of the talkies and the growing popularity of radio vaudeville began to disappear in the early 1930’s.

Mickey and Patsy’s parents fall on hard times and are unable to get work in the theater. Soon they face losing their homes when they cannot pay their mortgage notes. On top of this the neighborhood busybody (Margaret Hamilton doing a slight variation on Miss Gulch) threatens to force Mickey, Patsy and their friends into a “work” school for children.

What are these kids to do but roll up their sleeves and put on a show?

Sure the plot is predictable but this movie has plenty of heart. Charles Winninger as Mickey’s father Joe is good. He has one especially poignant scene where he gets a job as a rehearsal assistant for a big time Broadway producer. What he doesn’t know is that Mickey is hiding under the producer’s desk and has put the man up to hiring his father.

Speaking of Rooney, as an already established star he carries the movie, getting quite a bit more screen time than Garland, who was then on the cusp of stardom. During a rehearsal scene for the show they are planning he does spot on impressions of Clark Gable and Lionel Barrymore. He would reprise this hilarious routine 4 years later in Thousands Cheer.

The pedigree behind the talent this movie boasts is quite extraordinary. It was loosely based on a Rodgers and Hart stage hit. It was the legendary Arthur Freed’s first movie as producer for MGM and director Busby Berkeley had just defected from Warner Bros.

The score is filled with iconic standards of the day, several of which Arthur Freed would recycle 13 years later for the movie Singin’ in the Rain. These include, “Good Morning”, “You Are My Lucky Star” and “Broadway Rhythm”. Other songs include the title track also “Where or When” and “I Cried for You”. This last one is sung plaintively by Garland after Mickey has given her part in the show to another girl.

As was a common practice in those days a minstrel number is included in the big show. Both Rooney and Garland prance around the outdoor stage in blackface until, thankfully and fittingly, a hurricane comes along and stops the show cold.

Babes in Arms may be a product of its time but the talents of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney are timeless.
 

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