Written by: Kassidy at 10:58 pm
Release Information:
On September 25, 2007, Warner Bros. released The Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland Collection. This is the definitive Rooney/Garland Collection with four of their best musicals. These movies were filmed in black and white, which is how I like my classic movies. The reason for this is because a Rooney/Garland film was a sure sell. While color pictures were innovative at the time, if an audience would go to the movies anyway, the studio was more apt to shoot the film in black and white.
Rooney and Garland had box office appeal and the film was able to be made with a lower budget then it would have had they made the picture in color. I prefer black and white anyway because it gives the film something more, perhaps unexplainable, that seems to be lost in most of the colorized films of today.
The movies that are included in The Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland Collection are:
Babes in Arms, originally released October 31, 1939, Strike Up the Band originally released September 27, 1940, Babes on Broadway, originally released in January of 1942, and Girl Crazy, originally released November 26, 1943. These films were all remastered and the entire collection of MGM movies was packaged in a 5 disc set. There is one movie for the first four discs, plus special features, and a bonus disc packed with extras.
Plots for the Movies in The Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland Collection:
The first movie in this box set is Babes in Arms. It was originally released in 1939 and was directed by Busby Berkeley. When you think of a Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland movie it is typically going to be this movie you will be thinking of as it is one of the most popular films the duo made.
Babes in Arms was adapted from the Broadway hit by the same name that was created by the ingenious duo Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart. Babes in Arms was produced by Arthur Freed. This was the producing debut of Freed, who went on to produce all of the films in this set as well as Meet Me in St. Louis, Ziegfeld Follies, Gigi, Annie Get Your Gun, Brigadoon and many other famous movie musicals.
In Babes in Arms, Rooney stars as Mickey Moran, a talented young man who wants to help out his parents. His parents are Joe (Charles Winniger) and Florrie (Grace Hayes) Moran, two vaudeville performers who are dealing with financial problems. In order to help his parents out, Mickey rounds up all his friends, the best child entertainers he knows, including Patsy Barton (Judy Garland). The kids decide to hold a fundraiser to make money.
The pluses of this movie involve the chemistry between Garland and Rooney and the superb acting and singing, both of which are imperative for any movie musical. The downside is the adaptation is so loosely based on the Rodgers and Hart show that only a few of the songs in the original score are kept in Babes in Arms. Also, some may be put off by the minstrel show and the blackface worn by the duo during the show. While this is a period piece, and there seems to be no ill intent with this part of the movie, it is easy to see why some would be sensitive about watching a film with this content. Otherwise, this film is incredibly enjoyable.
Strike Up the Band was released a year after Babes in Arms came out. Busby Berkeley came back to direct this film and joining him was producer Arthur Freed. In this movie musical, Mickey plays James “Jimmy” Connors, who serves as the leader of his high school band. Jimmy wants to compete in a nationwide radio contest, Paul Whiteman’s High School Band Contest. His girlfriend, Mary Holden is played by Judy and the two perform excellent numbers together (and apart) including “Our Love Affair” and “Strike Up the Band” by the Gershwins.
The duo wants nothing more than to get to the contest. Unfortunately, they cannot afford the fare, though they happen to meet up with Whiteman who lends them the money after he is convinced how wonderful their band truly is. Mary, Jimmy and the band are ecstatic until a member of the band becomes gravely ill. The group is torn between paying for their friend’s medical care and using the money to go to the contest.
Despite the notoriety of Babes in Arms, Strike Up the Band has a faithful following who proclaim this is their favorite Garland/Rooney film. The original negatives of this MGM film were destroyed in a fire. Luckily this wasn’t the only copy of the film available, allowing new audiences to enjoy this film from one generation to the next.
You might have already guessed that Babes on Broadway teamed up Busby Berkeley and Albert Freed again. This one features one of the major production song and dance numbers Berkeley was known for in his career. This extravagant scene is one of the most memorable in MGM’s musical history. This film came out as war raged on in Europe (WWII) and that played a small role in this musical. In it, Rooney takes on the role of a Broadway wannabe performer, Tommy Williams. He has been singing in local spaghetti houses, but dreams of so much more for himself.
Tommy ends up meeting Penny Morris (Judy Garland), a singer with dreams of her own. The two put their heads together and decide to put on a benefit performance to raise money for orphans to go on a country holiday. Unfortunately, Tommy is doing it more for the notoriety he will receive and less for the orphans. With war raging, Penny mad at him and no way to get to a gig in Philadelphia, Tommy has a lot on his plate.
With this musical offering some of the best music the two made together, including their hit song “What About You” it is easy to see why this is a beloved classic by fans of Rooney and Garland.
The final movie in the set is Girl Crazy, which is by far the best in the bunch, in my opinion. The title of this movie was based on the tune by the Gershwins (George & Ira). Girl Crazy offers such unforgettable hits as “But Not for Me”, “Embraceable You”, “I Got Rhythm” and the well known hit, “Fascinating Rhythm”. Girl Crazy was, sadly, the last Rooney and Garland film ever made. The two have amazing chemistry in this film (and all of them really). Berkeley co-directed Girl Crazy with Norman Truong and frankly, this makes a difference in the quality of this film as opposed to the previous three, which Berkeley did on his own.
In Girl Crazy, Rooney plays the role of Danny Churchill Jr., a wild, nearly out of control playboy. Danny is sent out west to an all male college, where it is the hope of many that he will behave himself. The only woman around for miles is the granddaughter of the Dean of the school, Ginger Gray (Judy Garland). This is your typical movie, musical romance with the bad boy falling for the important man’s granddaughter. However, most romantic comedies/musicals do not have such an excellent score!
Audio/Visual:
The visual quality of these four movies was definitely better then the audio. These four movies had all been restored and the restorations look excellent. All four were transferred at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The four films included in The Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland Collection were all presented in a full screen format. I found the audio to be better then expected, especially for the age of the movies. The restorations were stellar.
The audio was another story. Throughout most of The Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland Collection I had to keep playing with my volume controls. The spoken words were so quiet I had to turn the volume way up. The music and singing was so loud, I had to keep the remote nearby so I could turn it down or risk blasting my ears. This is the one major complaint I had with this collection. I think the sound could have been fixed so that it didn’t change so drastically. The sound is available as Dolby Digital mono, which would explain why the quality isn’t as good as it could have been.
Special Features:
If you love bonus features on your DVDs then you will be surprised and happy with how many are included in The Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland Collection. Not only are there special features after each movie on the first four discs, the fifth disc is a bonus disc that is completely filled with extras.
There is audio commentaries for Girl Crazy and Babes in Arms. Both commentaries are provided by historian, John Fricke. Not only does Fricke provide plenty of information about these films, he also offers information on the cast and crew, as well.
Babes in Arms has multiple special features included on the first disc in this DVD Box Set. The first extra is an introduction by Mickey Rooney, who explains how he was linked up with Judy Garland in their first film together. There is a Little Rascals short on this disc called “Dual Personalities”, as well as a Hugh Harman, MGM cartoon, “The Mad Maestro”. Other special features included on this disc are the theatrical trailer, a special radio promo for Babes in Arms, two radio broadcasts on the Gulf Screen Guild Theater Radio Broadcast (which aired on 9/24/1939 and 11/9/1941), the Good News of 1938 Broadcast (a variety show where Judy performs) and a news reel with plenty of footage from Judy Garland’s birthday party to Mickey and Judy meeting New York’s Mayor LaGuardia at the New York World Fair.
Strike Up the Band has nearly as many special features as Babes in Arms. The extras start with another introduction by Mickey. This time he explains why the studio wanted him to make another movie with Judy and Busby Berkeley so quickly after Babes in Arms was released. There is a Pete Smith comedy short, “Wedding Bills” and a Rudolf Isling cartoon, “Romeo in Rhytym”. Other special features on the Strike Up the Band disc include the theatrical trailer, a radio promo, a “Do the La Conga” special feature where Judy and Mickey perform the song in stereo, a live Lux Radio Theater Broadcast where Judy and Mickey perform (it aired on 10/28/1940), and a Millions for Defense Radio excerpt that aired on 7/2/1941.
The special features for Babes on Broadway are similar to the special features found on the other three discs. As always, the first feature is the introduction by Mickey Rooney. This time he talks about being a box office champ with Judy Garland during the time when their films were being made. There is another Pete Smith short called “How to Hold your Husband – Back” and another Rudolf Isling cartoon, “Dance of the Weed”. There are plenty of other extras on this disc. The additional bonus features are a rough draft version of the Burt Lane guide track “Chin Up, Cherrio, Carry On”, a radio promo with songs from the movie, a Christmas promo, which advertises Mickey and Judy, the theatrical trailer, and a Lux Radio Theater Broadcast hosted by Cecil B. Demille, Merton of the Movies, which aired on 11/17/1941.
The last movie disc, Girl Crazy is also filled with bonus features. Mickey and Judy fans will be quite pleased with this box set. Mickey Rooney has an introduction explaining how this was the duo’s final film with Busby and Arthur Freed. He also explains why this is the best film, in his opinion. It is in large part due to the amazing score provided by the Gershwins. There are several other features on this disc. They include a Tex Avery cartoon, “The Early Bird Dood It”, a Pete Smith short, “Hollywood Daredevils”, a stereo number recording of the movie’s hit song, “I’ve Got Rhythm” (featuring Tommy Dorsey’s band and Judy as lead vocalist), an audio outtake of the soundtrack, “Bronco Busters”, and the theatrical trailer.
The fifth disc is completely made up of bonus features. This full disc has an interview featurette with Mickey Rooney with information about him you will be surprised to know. This featurette is called “Private Screenings with Mickey Rooney”. The feature, the “Judy Garland Songbook” has 22 performances of songs from multiple films by MGM. This is a collection of trailers for Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. There is a Mickey and Judy photo gallery, and the final bonus feature is a book with stories about the making of all four films.
Bottom Line:
The Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland Collection is chocked full of extras. The movies are absolute classics. If you love old movies, you love Mickey and Judy or you just want to watch something different then the same old blockbusters, then you need to consider adding The Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland Collection to your DVD library. They don’t make movies like this anymore. Despite some slight flaws due to the age of the films (including the audio) this is one of the best DVD collections Warner Bros. released in 2007.
|
Category |
Stars |
|
Storyline/Plot: |
|
|
Replayability: |
|
|
Acting/Directing: |
|
|
Audio: |
|
|
Visual: |
|
|
Special Features: |
|
|
Enjoyment: |
|
|
Overall Rating: |
|
Technorati Tags: The Mickey Rooney Judy Garland Collection, Babes in Arms, Girl Crazy, Strike Up the Band, Babes on Broadway, classic film, Warner Home Video, MGM
---------------------
Written by Kassidy - Visit Website
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kassidy received her degree in Journalism in 2002. She lives in the Midwest with her husband of six years, Jason, and their two little girls, Madison (5) and Emma (2.5), with one (a boy) on the way. The couple is very excited to welcome their first son next January. Passions in life for Kassidy include painting, scrapbooking, writing, being a Mommy, watching romantic comedies, and dancing.
