Babes at Work

I was able to finish Babes In Arms and bake a Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cake before I rushed off to work this morning. This was the first of the four infamous Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland "barnyard musicals" that had a bunch of teenagers putting on a show, usually for a good cause. In this case, the kids themselves are the cause. They want to give their unemployed vaudevillian parents a new lease on life and keep their families together. Judy is all set to be Mickey's big singing star...until he sets eyes on cutesy former child star "Baby" Rosalie (June Preissler). Mickey's hoping that a big name will sell tickets. Judy's heartbroken and takes off. When a truancy officer (Margaret Hamilton) threatens to close down the show and take the kids away, things look pretty glum...until Judy returns to remind everyone that the show must go on, no matter what your age.

While this was a huge hit when it came out in 1939 (MGM's top-grossing musical of the year, beating even Judy's other famous 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz), it doesn't hold up today. The topical finale "God's Country" doesn't come off as well as smaller numbers like Mickey and Judy's swinging opening rendition of "Good Morning," or Douglas McPhail and Betty Jaymes' lovely "Where Or When."

(And considering the time I had, the cake came out nice, soft and sticky and just sweet enough.)

Work was...well, it was really boring. It was fairly quiet from my arrival at 11AM through the usual 4PM rush hour, after which things picked up considerably. I spent a lot of the afternoon putting away candy. I did pick up some extra hours, 1:30 to 7:30, tomorrow. I hope that was a good idea. While the additional money wouldn't kill me, we're supposed to get more crazy storms like last week Thursday afternoon.

I returned to Mickey and Judy when I got home and made Salmon with Green Pepper and Mushrooms for dinner. This time, they're Babes On Broadway. Mickey's part of a trio who sings and dances in restaurants, but he wants more. When they're turned down by a big-time producer (James Gleason), Mickey insists that he and his buddies become their own producers. Instead of raising the money, they agree to put on a benefit show to help the kids of a local orphanage go on a trip in the country. Mickey's delighted with the idea and with his new singer (Garland)...until he gets an offer for a big-time professional show from the producer's casting director (Fay Bainter). It'll take a lot of hard work and sacrifice, but Mickey and Judy do finally make their debuts on "a great place for babes like us to be on..."

I liked the urban vibe in this one better than the down-home Babes In Arms. Once again, topical songs like "Chin Up, Cheerio" (a radio broadcast for British kids escaping the Blitz to talk to their parents) are mixed with small, lovely tunes like Judy and Mickey's sweet Oscar-nominated "How About You?" My favorite number was actually a series of songs. Mickey and Judy enter an abandoned theater and imagine what it was like when theatrical greats like George M. Cohen and Sarah Berndhart played there. Loved Mickey's Cohan and Judy's hilarious Berndhart and fun Blanche Ring (singing "Rings On Her Fingers").

(PC warning - the Babes films feature similar black face/minstrel numbers that look rather offensive today, but were considered nostalgia for the simpler era of traveling minstrel shows in the late 30s and early 40s.)

Went into the beginning of Strike Up the Band next. This one varies things a bit by putting the kids in a "modern dance orchestra" (i.e, the swing orchestras popular in 1940, when this came out). Once again, babyish Preissler makes a play for Rooney, and Judy is left wondering about his loyalty. Meanwhile, one of the younger kids in the group needs an operation, and Mickey has to decide if he should use the money they've raised to take them to Chicago to audition for Paul Whiteman, or help a friend in need.

I saw this one on TCM in college. My impression at the time was some good numbers collapse under a pile of melodramatic mush towards the end. It's held up a tad better than that, though not quite as well as Babes On Broadway. The most famous numbers are the massive high school dance ala-Busby Berkley "Do the La Conga" and Judy and Mickey's "Our Love Affair," with the latter part featuring a nifty stop-motion fruit orchestra. There's also the hilarious spoof of old-time melodramas, with Judy and Mickey having a blast as ingenue and virtuous hero.