Judge Hardy's Children (1938)

In the third film in the series, the Hardy family take their act on the road--to Washington D.C. Judge Hardy, being an esteemed jurist, is serving on a commission which is to make a ruling regarding a utility company's monopolistic intentions.Meanwhile, Andy tries to woo the daughter of the French ambassador, under the constant scrutiny of a dedicated chaperone.The capital setting provides an opportunity for Judge Hardy to school Andy in the principles of freedom and democracy (as they were commonly perceived in the thirties).The other Hardy child--Marian (Cecilia Parker)--falls for the sophisticated ways of a questionable crowd, but the judge finds a way to set everything straight, natch.

As this screenplay (based on characters created by Aurania Rouverol) is credited solely to Kay Van Riper, we now know who to blame for the judge's smart little speeches and his seemingly endless man-to-man talks. In this entry, Judge Hardy is called to Washington (a most unlikely scenario, but we'll let that pass) to head a commission on monopolies (at least that has the right Roosevelt flavor) for the handsome reward of $200 a day! The judge takes his family with him, of course. Mickey falls for a French girl while Marian is given a whirl by the villains, Hale and Hussey. Alas, this promising scenario is all but drowned in such a welter of verbiage, I unhesitatingly nominate this entry as the worst of the series, despite the valiant efforts of its players, and its attractive sets (Stan Rogers) and costumes (Jeanne).As usual, this one was yawnfully directed in a super bland style by George B. (for boring) Seitz.

Judge Hardy's Children (1938) *** (out of 4) The third film in the MGM series has Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) taking a job in Washington, D.C. where he's to work for ten days on a special project. While there Andy (Mickey Rooney) falls in love with a French girl (Jacqueline Laurent) while his sister gets involved with a dirty politician. Those who find these Andy Hardy movies to be too clean or pure for their tastes certainly aren't going to change their opinion with this early entry but fans of the series should find enough charm and entertainment here. At just 78-minutes the film moves by extremely quickly as director Seitz keeps everything going at a fast pace. The weakest aspect of the film is the political stuff because Judge is brought to the Capital to do work on a big project and this talk often gets brought up and it even has a major part in later events in the film but we're never really told anything about it. Often it seems as if something about this project was simply left on the editing room floor and it just seems like Judge spends the majority of his time in a hotel when he's suppose to be working. Outside of that this film has pretty much everything fans would expect and of course a lot of the comedy comes from Rooney who once again delivers a fast and fun performance. One of the highlights of the film happens when Andy seeks advice from his father on whether or not it's normal to want to kiss every beautiful girl you see. Another high mark for Rooney comes during a dance sequence where he tries to teach the French girl the Big Apple. Rooney handles all the charm without a hitch and his father-son stuff with Lewis are well done by the actors. Stone is terrific as usual and Fay Holden, Cecilia Parker and Ann Rutherford are all fine in their roles. Laurent didn't seem to have much of a career in America and only seems to have been in a few French films after this one but I found her to be very charming and a nice match for Rooney. Betty Ross Clarke plays Aunt Millie in this entry and doesn't have the same punch as Sara Haden but this is just a minor issue. Overall, JUDGE HARDY'S CHILDREN is a good entry in the series, which still had many high points to follow for the Hardy clan.

Judge hardy, still wrangling over the Carvel Aquaduct project is sent to Washington D.C. and of course is joined by his family. Andy has girl trouble (surprise?) and sister Marion is led on by a political hack. Nothing here that a "man to man talk" can't fix!! Of course it is all good fun.