Babes in Arms

source: Babes in Arms

Babes in Arms

Mickey Moran (Mickey Rooney) was born in 1921 to vaudeville stars but vaudeville itself fails in 1928 with the arrival of the talkies. Mickey writes "Good Morning" and plays the piano with singing partner Patsy Barton (Judy Garland). With his parents going on the road by themselves, Mickey proposes for the kids to put on a show themselves. This has the great pairing of Rooney and Garland although they're not always together. It has great songs including "Good Morning" which would hit much bigger in the musical "Singin' in the Rain". I do have to warn about some full-on blackface minstrels due to its era. It's generally Rooney at his youthful height. It has some great song and dance although a big one is the minstrels.

This is not good because it's a Busby Berkley film. It's not good because of the corn fed mom country and apple-pie sentiment. It's not good because of the Rogers and hart score. This is great to watch because it comes from the hard years of the depression where even in hard times young people learned how to sing, or dance, or act, or sing dance and act. This large cast of performers is packed with showbiz musical theater talent born of Vaudeville, that represents an era that was unparalleled and we will never see again. For all his goofiness Rooney does it all here. And Judy, oh dear Judy, she shines in absolutely every thing she does. Giving more than we have a right to expect in every thing she does. Even with it's flaws as an over the top movie, the black face routine is not defensible even in it's own time, there are moments in this moving where if you don't see the awesome musical theater talent of the whole cast of "PERFORMERS", you are miserable indeed.

The story for this film is that Mickey Moran (Mickey Rooney) and Patsy Barton (Judy Garland) are aspiring entertainers and the children of vaudeville performers. Vaudeville has lost its popularity do to movies! Mickey and Patsy's parents are are trying bringback Vaudeville but they are failing . Now Mickey and Patsy now decide to produce their own show in a bid to reach their dreams of stage stardom and save their homes and not end up in a work camp!. I am not sure if this the first movie that has the plot of "Let's Save the ______" by putting on a show. Now the best musical number is at the begging of the film and its the "Good Morning" number. What is great about this number is that is just "Judy" and "Mickey". No fireworks or special effects. ITs two very talented people and a piano. Other numbers in this film range only from "Barely Tolerable" to "Awful". Worth watching once. Funny thing is that this film made more money (At The Time) than "The Wizard of Oz"

I'm not kidding. Mickey Moran (Rooney) and Patsy Barton (Garland) have parents who were in vaudeville before talkie pictures wiped the business out. Now, the kids want to put on a show, but their folks won't let them. Well, Mickey incites a riot, and the kids run around Town Square throwing fire-prone things into a massive pile and chanting stuff like "a-tisket, a-tasket, 200 yellow baskets..." Honestly. It's really bizarre. Then, when the whole pile is burning, they join hands, and, singing like mad, proceed to skip around the fire in a circle. WHOA! It's definitely something to see. Moving on, the plot is pretty typical, highlighted by the aforementioned bonfire scene and some excellent numbers. I wish they hadn't used a minstrel act though... All in all, fairly standard. P.S. Judy has a really cool dress in the finale.

Babes In Arms is one of my favorite movies of all time. I will never forget seeing this film. In fact, it was the first Mickey Rooney film I ever saw. Mickey Rooney shows off all of his talents here, proving why he was Hollywood's biggest star. Also, earning a much deserved Oscar nominations. Mickey and Judy always charm the pants off of me. Hollywood will never know two more talented teenagers. If you want a good laugh just watch Mickey's impersonations of Clark Gable and Lionel Barrymore. Very impressive stuff. Judy is simply gorgeous in this film as Mickey's girlfriend. The Rooney/Garland chemistry is unmatched to this day. For great music and fun, check out this classic musical.