Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940)

Andy's got a crush on famous New York socialite Daphne Fowler (Diana Lewis) and brags to Polly and Beezy that he knows her. Judge Hardy has to go to New York to save the Carvel orphanage and decides to bring the family along. When Andy's friends hear about this, they expect him to bring back photographic proof of his romance with Daphne. Once in New York, he gets help from his friend Betsy Booth (Judy Garland), who's grown up some and still in love with Andy.The ninth entry in the MGM Andy Hardy film series is a good one. Probably the most quotable of the Hardy movies. Lots of funny lines ("We're not hillbillies. We wear shoes every day."). Mickey Rooney is terrific. Andy always had to learn life lessons in these movies but here he learns them all the hard way and Mickey does a fantastic job making Andy sympathetic while making us shake our heads at him at the same time. Judy Garland reprises her role as Betsy Booth from earlier in the series. She's a joy to watch and has great chemistry with Mickey. She gets to sing a couple of nice songs, too. Clyde Wilson steals his few scenes as the orphan Francis, who gets man-to-man advice from Andy. Cy Kendall has a good part as the owner of a fancy restaurant who gives Andy a tongue lashing for running up a bill pretending to be a big shot ("I've got eight dollars in my bankroll and with eight dollars I could buy the Club Sirocco."). A really good entry in the series with quality writing and solid performances from everybody.

Andy Hardy may have been the shining member of his class in Carvel, but when his family goes to New York with the Judge on business, he finds he can't take it on as he did the less sophisticated people in his home town. He has lied to his girlfriend Polly that he has made friends with a rising young New York débutante named Daphne Fowler (Diana Lewis). She expects evidence or will put a doctored picture of Daphne and Andy on the school's newspaper. I guess Polly had access to some pre-historic version of photo shop because she sends him a copy of the cover she intends to use unless he comes back with proof. In New York, Andy runs into old pal Betsy Booth (Judy Garland) whom he still considers a little girl. But two years have turned Betsy into a lovely teenaged girl and she has moved gracefully out of adolescence into being rather sophisticated herself. She looks like Jane Wyman in the later "Lost Weekend" in her leopard coat and hat. Of course, she still gets two songs belittling her attempts to find romance-"Alone" and "I'm Nobody's Baby". She adds some comic twists to the first song in order to get Andy's attention, and finally does when she starts swingin' to the latter. Andy finally opens his eyes to what he has been missing and sees his feelings for the débutante for the infatuation it was.As far as the other Hardy's, Andy and Marian don't argue all that much in this one which is a nice omission from the previous films, and Fay Holden's ma finally is the more gentle "would you care for more pie?" type mom rather than the lightly nagging wife she was in the beginning of the series. Sara Haden is back as Aunt Millie although she doesn't appear in the opening credits. She is actually more sympathetic to Andy than his parents are, while some of Lewis Stone's fatherly advice is laughably preachy. French born George P. Breakston is the little boy (whom Andy first assumes is a little girl) who is used in a silly plot twist involving Judge Hardy's attempts to keep funding for the Carvel orphanage from being stopped.I can't highly recommend this film other than for die-hard Judy fans. It's another MGM moral lesson from Louis B. Mayer's one-sided mind of what the American family should be, never has been, and never could be. The saving grace in this aspect of the film is that Andy does get himself into a shopping cart load of trouble and is less than the peppy All-American teenager Andy was in his home town. Look for references and a photo of Lana Turner's character Cynthia, who is mentioned several times, and referenced to no longer living in town.

The Judy Garland many venerate today is the post-Plaza Theater (c.1951) Judy --damaged, pill-popping, alcoholic, overweight--the inspiration for female-impersonators everywhere because of her unique way of pouring out a broken heart in song while living life on the brink as Liza's mother. But the real Judy, the Judy who won America's heart back in the late 1930s is this incandescent teenager, eighteen years old at the time of this film. Those who find the later Judy's manner of acting and singing over-the-top, a bit vulgar, should listen here to the sheer beauty and purity of her soprano voice, her flawless enunciation and phrasing, her feeling for jazz, her utter simplicity. What's more she was a superb actress; witness the scene in the Central Park hansom cab with Mickey, so touchingly real and affecting. It is said that Stella Adler, who was to become Marlon Brando's teacher, but working for Arthur Freed at MGM at that time, was a great supporter of her amazing talent; perhaps Stella coached her acting. The story of this film is typically silly and dated but Judy and Mickey together are as always wonderful!

I am a huge fan of Judy so this review may be biased. I enjoyed this very much. "I'm Nobody's Baby" was typical early Judy. She and Mickey make a delightful team. They just make me smile when they come on screen. You can tell they had a blast working together. I especially like when Mickey goes out on the town and his shirt stud...I like at the very end of the movie when he looks at his photographs and says, "How one's women do mount up!" Just priceless.