Babes in Arms (1939)

Great Film overall

Fantastic!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

My real-time thoughts while watching the movie:Garland and Rooney were so talented even at a young age - Music performances are great, both the vaudeville and Busby Berkley numbers. - Its philosophy is childish (telling Native Americans to dance away their sadness), but it's kinda fitting for its juvenile subjects. - What kid wouldn't like this, young people rebelling against ignoring & discouraging parents? - …AAAAANNNNNNDDD, a parade of blackface. So offensive and insensitive it's almost laughable…almost.

Judy Garland, after her sweet, innocent role as Dorthy stars in her next first of several wonderful musicals with Micky Rooney. "Babes in arms" has some very touching, very nice songs in it. After Judy singing "Over the rainbow" like an angel in "Oz", she now sings some more songs in the same way starting with "Good morning". Amazing voice, wonderful song. But so are all of Judy's songs. Then she does this sing off with Betty Janes, Judy singing swing style and Betty singing opera. This is a good take off from "Every Sunday" where Judy does the same style sing off with Deanna Durbin. Deanna and Betty both have wonderful opera voices so they could've used either actress for this film and I think it would've been just as good either way. I love Deanna too. I believe the idea of her taking a part with Judy in this film was brought up during the making of it, that they wanted to make it sort of an "Every Sunday" sequel bit or reunion of a sorts, but she was unavailable for taking any parts at MGM due to her contract at Universal. I love Deanna's songs "Dannyboy" and "Because". Anyways back to this film, Mickey hams it up a little bit too much in this film in a couple scenes such as the over hyper way he acts when he receives $100 after singing "Good morning" with Judy. It is part of his goofy persona, which sometimes in my opinion treads on the line between OK and too much, but Mickey can be tough also which does indeed improve his image. He played a tough kid in 'Thoroughbreds don't cry' and he knew how to fight in that film, and he also does in the scene here in the soda shop where a guy picks a fight with him for advancing on his date, June Pressier. June is a sweet actress who also has some amazing gymnastics tumbling skills. She comes back in "Strike up the Band" to show us more of this in the stage number "Ta ra ra boom da lay". June fancies Micky and invites him to dinner. I liked that scene and where Mickey needs to be reminded by the butler which silverware to use, and that he doesn't quite know how to smoke a cigar. The quirky stuffy butler with that semi English, strong mid Atlantic accent is the same guy who plays the desk clerk at the studio in another film with Judy "Broadway Melody 38" (scene where Judy sings "everybody sing"). Judy fancies Micky too, but she gets hurt because he only likes her as a friend and she wanted romance. This exact same thing was also in "Strike up the band" and "Love finds Andy Hardy". I enjoyed Mickey's impersonation of Clark Gable and John Barrymore during rehearsals. I won't give away any more to spoil the plot. More great songs in this film were "Where or when" and "Babes in arms" when Judy, Mickey and company were walking down the street collecting more people leading to a great chorus with everyone dancing in all these circles on the playground. The tall guy with the talented opera voice leading both of those songs was also a live interest of Judy's in the very nice film "Little Nelly Kelly". This and many other of Judy Garland's musicals are wonderful. Judy Garland is wonderful. And the other characters in these films are great too.

Let's put on a show. Did that phrase originate with this movie? At any rate, I watched it and am reviewing it.I loved it. I have some peeves, but they will arise later. Right now, I am missing dear Mickey because he passed away last year, 2014. In his interviews, he used to literally cry about missing the dear departed Judy and about the way she was mistreated by the studio system. Judy's career would go on hot and heavy for about another ten years after this movie, before her star began to fade off. Her adult movie career was rather short, if you measure the years of her successes, but power packed with all of her cinematic productions and private life stories in between.Re Mickey: Night in/at the Museum, eat your heart out. Older actors have to eat, and earn money to afford that SAG card membership.You look at this film, Babes in Arms, and you see young, energetic Mr. Mickey Rooney, slim, quick-footed and fast with impersonations of Clark Gable, Lionel Barrymore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was trying to direct and teach the other teenagers his way of acting properly on stage. Mickey was first-listed as star of this movie; he was all domineering and screechy but probably deserved all of the hype.Judy was excellent, and her Eleanor Roosevelt My Day number was superb and nostalgic. Yes, Judy's swing vs. opera number reminded me very much of her 1936 Sunday in the Park (was that the name?) with Deanna Durbin. In real life, IMO Deanna was siphoned off in favor of Judy as a future star.Another actress IMO who was shoved under the bus in favor of Judy was (hold your breath) Shirley Temple. Shirley didn't get Wizard of Oz, but Judy did. Temple's career was about over soon after The Little Princess, I feel, 1938. In this movie, Babes in Arms, the June Preisser character is a has-been child actress who has starred in such previous filmers in particular as "The Baby Colonel"/Baby General or something like that, that reminded me of Shirley's "The Little Colonel"/Littlest General (?). Was this a satirical innuendo?Some bad as follows, I feel, but I am still giving this movie a 10 for sentimental reasons and still loving Mickey and Judy in all that they did: a pox on the bonfire and related singing, ala Nazis and possibly even Hitler Youth: similar bonfire done in a later Judy movie Meet Me in St. Louis which is a creepy/pun intended Halloween scene, which I also despised along with the homemade stupid Halloween costumes in the St. Louis movie -- and also throwing the wooden furniture into the bonfire. Ugh.African American character in this movie: June Preisser's maid. Other than herself, here were white actors who "blacked up" in the supposed spirit of vaudevillian minstrelsy tradition -- could this type of blackface dance scene even be done today, 2015? Back to the good: Douglas McPhail I felt was one powerful singer, who outsang everybody else. He was maybe the only white performer in the blackface minstrelsy scene, but I feel he helped carry it off.IT WAS THE GREAT DEPRESSION. No wonder the older actors were broke. Moviegoers who had the ten cents or whatever it cost, could see talking films way cheaper than to see live vaudevillians of the old days. How could the former performers afford all the houses in that community, and pay for all the churches, etc.? Hardly any could have been real headliners, and most statistically could barely afford to even stay in rooming houses much less pay for permanent real estate.FINALLY, POST-WAR BABY BOOM. You have to realize that most of these actors were born, say, around 1920 (like Mickey) or 1922 (like Judy), and that they were teenagers when making this movie. This means that they were born right after World War One ended. The irony is that in real life some of these teen actors would go into World War Two and have post-war baby boom babies themselves.Mickey Rooney went on to serve in World War Two, he of the seven wives (I think) and maybe even countless babies? Yes, it was child real-life Mickey in the tap dancing film clip interspersed into the life of the movie's child Mickey Moran. This was no imposter playing Mickey Rooney/Mickey Moran.I am a theatrical historian and movie reviewer. I have a Bachelor of Arts Degree in American History, which includes close to a minor in performing arts studies in theatre, dance and voice, plus fine arts. I took the American History major in order to study more the decades surrounding much of our theatrical/stage and movie/cinematic history and actors and actresses thereof. I also studied cinematic techniques and theatrical censorship and critiquing.In my historian and theatrical coursework, I wrote scripts and portrayed actresses such as Sophia Loren (speaking Italian), Mae West (in a boa), and Lucille Ball (screaming at Ricky Ricardo that he's a fancy bandleader while she's a homebound wifey).At any rate, you know from my other reviews that song and dance movies are my absolute favorites. Some people say that some of these movies are plot-less or slim of plot, but so what? Who cares? This movie is a classic. Yes, it talks about Der Fuhrer and Il Duce, and Douglas McPhail does a cool goose-step. God's Country reminds one of the huge patriotic dance scene in the later 1942 Yankee Doodle Dandy.Critiquing this movie through today's lenses (2015), RIP Mickey Rooney, and even with the aforementioned sadder parts, I still give this movie:10/10

The adults in this film are all Vaudeville stars. However, now that the age of talking pictures is here, they have all fallen on hard times. So, it's up to the spunky teens (most of which appear to be in their mid-20s) to save the day by proving they ARE the stars of the future and making enough money to save their bankrupt folks--who have no confidence in their talented youths.Technically speaking, "Babes in Arms" is a very good movie. After all, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland and the rest of the relatively young cast are immensely capable singers and dancers. You can't help but marvel at such talent and energy. Although this movie was hugely successful and led to many sequels, it's amazingly hard to sit through the film today--mostly since tastes have changed and this sort of film is clearly passé. I really struggled to stick with the film but couldn't pay attention because there were just so many songs that it lost my interest. Now I am NOT a person who hates 1930s Hollywood films--in fact, these are the sort of films I enjoy most and I have probably reviewed a couple thousand. But these musicals bore me because there isn't that much plot and the singing is incessant. If you like this, then by all means watch it--I just couldn't. This film is not like a fine wine that gets better with age--it's more like a nice loaf of bread.