Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

George B. Seitz

Writers:

Aurania Rouverol (writer)
Tom Seller (writer)

Release Date:

5 July 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Plot:

Judge Hardy takes his family to New York City, where Andy quickly falls in love with a socialite. He finds the high society life too expensive...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Judge | Socialite | New York City | New York

Cast

Lewis Stone	...	Judge James K. 'Jim' Hardy
Mickey Rooney	...	Andrew 'Andy' Hardy
Cecilia Parker	...	Marian Hardy
Fay Holden	...	Mrs. Emily Hardy
Judy Garland	...	Betsy Booth
Ann Rutherford	...	Polly Benedict
Diana Lewis	...	Daphne Fowler
George P. Breakston	...	F. Baker 'Beezy' Anderson (as George Breakston)
Sara Haden	...	Aunt Milly Forrest
Addison Richards	...	George Benedict
George Lessey	...	Underwood, a Lawyer
Cy Kendall	...	Mr. Carrillo
Clyde Willson	...	Francis aka Butch

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G (original rating) | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #6256)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

"Bud's Won't Bud" (music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg), sung by Judy Garland, was cut from this film. For years, only a partial prerecording was thought to remain until the full recording was discovered and released in 1996 on Rhino's "That's Entertainment", CD box set. The tune, intended for 'Hannah Williams (I)' to sing in the 1937 Broadway musical "Hooray for What!" had been dropped out of town. Finally, in the Jeanette MacDonald vehicle Cairo (1942), "Buds Won't Bud" was presented on-screen, sung by Ethel Waters.

Quotes:

Betsy Booth: Well, let's go on inside. Maybe the coffins will cheer you up.
Andrew 'Andy' Hardy: It's a fine world. Back in Carvel there are people waiting to laugh at my funeral. Here in New York they've got coffins to cheer me up.

Movie Connections:

References Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)

Soundtrack:

I'm Nobody's Baby

The Dividing Line...

ANDY HARDY MEETS DEBUTANTE (1940) is the ninth (9th) film of the series and it shows the direction it was inevitably headed into. Characters ANDY HARDY (Mickey Rooney) and JUDGE HARDY (Lewis Stone) were going to be front and center. The rest of the cast was going too just punch the clock and collect their checks. The series would rise to the occasion again and have its moments but a fatal decline had set in.

Lewis Stone throughout the series would continue too portray the character of JUDGE HARDY in a sympathetic manner. The rest of the cast would be professional even though given less and less to do. Mickey Rooney on the other hand would continue his character as if there was no learning curve. ANDYs' reaction to any situation was in a naive and unbelievable way. Even after he returned as a veteran of World War II service in LOVE LAUGHS AT ANDY HARDY (1946) his reaction to any 'teapot tempest' was the same, juvenile.

In this film it is clearly illustrated. ANDY gets himself into several unbelievable situations that with a simple explanation would have been resolved. This screen writing device was known as the 'idiot plot'. A means of stretching a poorly written scenario. Maybe it was less Mickey Rooneys' fault then the Director and the Writers. Most likely George B. Seitz had directed one too many and a firmer hand was needed too control Rooneys' excesses. To see our overview of the entire series go to YOU'RE ONLY YOUNG ONCE (1937).