Oceanblue Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 I was never a big Mickey Rooney fan, but heard about the serials for years. I saw Andy Hardy Finds Love . I thought it was a cute film. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyDan Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 They are fun. After three or so you get the idea, but they weren't bad. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingFan Posted May 4, 2022 Share Posted May 4, 2022 The Hardy Family films are my favorite of the many entertaining film series from the ‘30s and ‘40s. I also love the Thin Man series and the Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie movies, but the Hardy films are the ones (of the series) that we watch the most at our house. (We watch a lot of series from those years. Besides those mentioned, we also enjoy Torchy Blane, Charlie Chan, the Lone Wolf, Perry Mason, and others.) The Hardy cast is outstanding. Mickey Rooney and Lewis Stone were two of the most talented actors of their era, the supporting cast is always good, and the stories are humorous and heartfelt. Sure, the plot lines can seem a bit corny today, but I’m willing to ascribe that to the very different era in which the Hardy films were made. For me, the best Hardy film is the one you mention, Love Finds Andy Hardy. It’s the first of the series to feature the great Judy Garland, and I love the Christmas-season setting. It’s also nice to have Lana Turner in the cast, and I really love the scene where the young Gene Reynolds uses his ham radio to get a message to Mrs. Hardy, who’s in Canada with her mother, who’s very ill. The only flaw in this film, in my view, is that Aunt Milly is not played by the usual Sara Haden, a very good character actress, but by the less suitable Betty Ross Clarke, who plays the role in two Hardy films. (I always wondered if her name was really Betsy, not Betty, as in “Betsy Ross,” but she’s billed as “Betty” in the credits.) Keep watching—you may find that you like other Hardy films as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allhallowsday Posted June 5, 2022 Share Posted June 5, 2022 I think in the first film LIONEL BARRYMORE plays the judge, then LEWIS STONE. I like the HARDY film where ANDY falls in love with LANA TURNER... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shank Asu Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 I believe there's only three films in the series that I haven't seen and they're all early in the series. Will probably one day spring for the collection on amazon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpetiti Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 This is probably my favorite MGM series. They are so light and fluffy and perk me up when I've had a bad day. I own only a couple but maybe I should treat myself to the collection 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 2 hours ago, lpetiti said: This is probably my favorite MGM series. They are so light and fluffy and perk me up when I've had a bad day. I own only a couple but maybe I should treat myself to the collection Nice to see support for Andy Hardy films and Micky Rooney. Here is he with the lovey Donna Reed. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allhallowsday Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhov Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 They all look miserable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 6 hours ago, Sukhov said: They all look miserable. I wonder if that is just one of the initial takes and not an actual used for distribution, promo shot, since they do all look miserable: a photo to determine if the placement of the actors is "right", etc... Often the actors will mug to the camera or not smile like they are doing here for these set-up photos. Because if that is an actual promo shot that was distributed, someone in the PR department should have been fired! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allhallowsday Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 33 minutes ago, JamesJazGuitar said: Because if that is an actual promo shot that was distributed, someone in the PR department should have been fired! I'm sure they wanted the performers to look serious. Did anyone notice LANA TURNER in there...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 1 hour ago, Allhallowsday said: I'm sure they wanted the performers to look serious. Did anyone notice LANA TURNER in there...? Why would "they" (the MGM PR department leads), wish for the performers of a mostly comedy serial, to look serious for their PR promotion? (and not just serious since Judy, Lana and Mickey look like they are unhappy or depressed). Anyhow, rhetorical question. (and yes, I did notice Lana). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allhallowsday Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 10 minutes ago, JamesJazGuitar said: Why would "they" (the MGM PR department leads), wish for the performers of a mostly comedy serial, to look serious for their PR promotion? (and not just serious since Judy, Lana and Mickey look like they are unhappy or depressed). Anyhow, rhetorical question. (and yes, I did notice Lana). I've handled many vintage studio publicity photos that might not make sense to modern audiences. It's the era, the principals' "bad" behavior in the that particular film; the Hardy films were like a melodramatic serial. LEWIS STONE was a serious, admired judge, handing out pithy advice every episode. Seriously. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntLee Posted August 27, 2022 Share Posted August 27, 2022 On 8/20/2022 at 8:15 PM, Allhallowsday said: So classic and beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpetiti Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 On 8/24/2022 at 12:23 PM, JamesJazGuitar said: Why would "they" (the MGM PR department leads), wish for the performers of a mostly comedy serial, to look serious for their PR promotion? (and not just serious since Judy, Lana and Mickey look like they are unhappy or depressed). Anyhow, rhetorical question. (and yes, I did notice Lana). If you look at the portraits at the beginning of each movie, they had that serious look to them actually. I've always taken it as taking a picture was a serious event and they wanted to take it seriously. Maybe that publicity photo was something similar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 4 hours ago, lpetiti said: If you look at the portraits at the beginning of each movie, they had that serious look to them actually. I've always taken it as taking a picture was a serious event and they wanted to take it seriously. Maybe that publicity photo was something similar? Maybe this was the MGM PR department way of saying the films were dramas with some comedy (instead of a comedy with some drama). PS: love your avatar photo; Now there is one funny lady but she also was great in dramatic films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpetiti Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 2 minutes ago, JamesJazGuitar said: Maybe this was the MGM PR department way of saying the films were dramas with some comedy (instead of a comedy with some drama). PS: love your avatar photo; Now there is one funny lady but she also was great in drama films. Thank you! I love her in that role, and so many others! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 4 hours ago, lpetiti said: Thank you! I love her in that role, and so many others! TCM showed The Opposite Sex last night. The Women is a much better film. The Opposite Sex does have some good actors in Ann Sheridan, Joan Blondell and Ann Miller. But Rosalind Russell was so great as Sylvia Fowler. Funny, and witty even when she was being mean. Dolores Gray was just mean without that Russell sparkle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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