Babes on Broadway
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Babes on Broadway
Plot
Advertised as a sort of sequel to MGM's Babes in Arms (1939), Babes on Broadway reunites the two stars of the earlier film: Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. Rooney is the guiding force of a group of young showbiz hopefuls who are trying to make it on Broadway. When things look darkest, he goes into his "Say, kids!" routine, rousing his companions to put on their own show. Highlights include a sequence in which Rooney and Garland go through a series of imitations of past theatrical greats. As cute and perky as Garland is, she has nothing on the "Carmen Miranda" takeoff performed--in full makeup and platform shoes--by the ubiquitous Rooney. Babes on Broadway ends with a typically overproduced production number stage by the film's director, the immortal Busby Berkeley. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviReview
The "Hey gang, let's put on a show!" musicals that Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland starred in during the 1930s and 1940s have been mocked endlessly, especially since the emergence of "camp" as a pop force in the 1960s. Babes on Broadway, the 1941 entry in this series, has plenty to mock -- the obligatory "Say, kids!" rouser in which Rooney first gets his great idea, an abundance of other corny dialogue, songs shoehorned in for the slightest reason, and even a minstrel show (which is pretty uncomfortable to sit through). But the entire production is filled with an overarching innocence that makes the corniness palatable. More importantly, the film has Rooney and Garland in tip-top form. Rooney's unstoppable effervescence is put to good use, reaching a climax of sorts in a full-out Carmen Miranda impersonation. His impressions in the earlier "Ghost Theatre" sequence are not as polished, but Garland's are quite good. She also scores a knock-out with her performance of "F.D.R. Jones," and both are winning in the charming "How About You." Busby Berkeley's direction is rather more restrained than usual, but he still gets in some trademark licks, especially at the end. Babes is often hard to believe, but easy to take. ~ Craig Butler, RoviCast
- Mickey Rooney - Tommy Williams
- Judy Garland - Penny Morris
- Richard Quine - Morion "Hammy" Hammond
- Fay Bainter - Miss Jones
- Virginia Weidler - Barbara Jo Conway
- Ray McDonald - Ray Lambert
Credit
Robert Kalloch - Costume Designer, Busby Berkeley - Director, Frederick Y. Smith - Editor, George Bassman - Composer (Music Score), Burton Lane - Composer (Music Score), George Stoll - Musical Direction/Supervision, Roger Edens - Songwriter, Ralph Freed - Songwriter, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg - Songwriter, Burton Lane - Songwriter, Harold J. Rome - Songwriter, Lester White - Cinematographer, Arthur Freed - Producer, Fred F. Finklehoffe - Screenwriter, Elaine Ryan - Screenwriter| Babes in the Woods (1932 Film), Babes in the Woods (1962 Film) | |
| Babes on Swing Street (1944 Film), Babette (1917 Film) |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Babes on Broadway
| Babes on Broadway | |
|---|---|
 theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Busby Berkeley Vincente Minnelli (uncredited) |
| Produced by | Arthur Freed |
| Written by | Fred F. Finklehoffe |
| Starring | Mickey Rooney Judy Garland |
| Music by | Score: Leo Arnaud George Bassman George Stoll (all uncredited) Songs: Burton Lane (music) Roger Edens (music) E.Y. Harburg (lyrics) Ralph Freed (lyrics) et al. (all uncredited) |
| Cinematography | Lester White |
| Editing by | Fredrick Y. Smith |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | 1941 |
| Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Babes on Broadway is a 1941 musical film starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland and directed by Busby Berkeley, with Vincente Minnelli directing Garland's big solo numbers.[1] The film, which features Fay Bainter and Virginia Weidler, was the third in the "Backyard Musical" series about kids who put on their own show, following Babes in Arms (1939) and Strike Up the Band (1940). Songs in the film include "Babes on Broadway" by Burton Lane (music) and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg (lyrics), and "How About You?" by Lane with lyrics by Ralph Freed, the brother of producer Arthur Freed. The movie ends with a minstrel show performed by the main cast in blackface.
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Contents
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Cast
- Mickey Rooney as Tommy Williams
- Judy Garland as Penny Morris
- Fay Bainter as Miss "Jonesy" Jones
- Virginia Weidler as Barbara Josephine "Jo" Conway
- Ray McDonald as Ray Lambert
- Richard Quine as Morton "Hammy" Hammond
- Donald Meek as Mr. Stone
- Alexander Woollcott as himself
- Luis Alberni as Nick
- James Gleason as Thornton Reed
- Emma Dunn as Mrs. Williams
- Anne Rooney as Jenny
- Ava Gardner as Pitt-Astor Girl
- Donna Reed appears uncredited as a secretary.
- Margaret O'Brien appears uncredited as an ambitious little girl at an audition who melodramatically pleads: "Don't send my brother to the chair! Don't let him burn!"
Production
This was the third film in the "Backyard Musical" series, which included Babes in Arms (1939), Strike Up the Band (1940) and Girl Crazy (1943). Good News (1947) and Summer Stock (1950) were also originally planned to become part of the series. Judy Garland starred in the latter with Gene Kelly.
The film was stalled in the middle of production when Garland secretly flew to Las Vegas to wed her first husband David Rose. She was 19 years old.
Musical numbers
- "Babes on Broadway" (Main Title) (MGM Studio Chorus)
- "Anything Can Happen in New York" (Mickey Rooney, Ray McDonald, and Richard Quine)
- "How About You?" (Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney)
- "Hoe Down" (Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Six Hits and a Miss, The Five Musical Maids, and MGM Studio Chorus)
- "Chin Up! Cheerio! Carry On!" (Judy Garland, St. Luke's Episcopal Church Choristers, and MGM Studio Chorus)
- Ghost Theater Sequence:
- "Cyrano de Bergerac" (Mickey Rooney as Richard Mansfield)
- "Mary's a Grand Old Name" (Judy Garland as Fay Templeton)
- "She's Ma Daisy" (Mickey Rooney as Harry Lauder)
- "I've Got Rings On My Fingers" (Judy Garland as Blanche Ring)
- "La Marseillaise" (Judy Garland as Sarah Bernhardt)
- "The Yankee Doodle Boy" (Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland)
- "Bombshell from Brazil" (Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Richard Quine, Ray McDonald, Virginia Weidler, Anne Rooney, Robert Bradford, and MGM Studio Chorus)
- "Mama Yo Quiero" (Mickey Rooney)
- Minstrel Show Sequence:
- "Blackout Over Broadway" (Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Ray McDonald, Virginia Weidler, Richard Quine, Anne Rooney and MGM Studio Chorus)
- "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" (Ray McDonald)
- "Franklin D. Roosevelt Jones" (Judy Garland and MGM Studio Chorus)
- "Old Folks at Home" (Eddie Peabody on banjo, dubbing for Mickey Rooney)
- "Alabamy Bound" (Eddie Peabody on banjo, dubbing for Mickey Rooney)
- "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" (Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Virginia Weidler, Anne Rooney, Richard Quine, and MGM Studio Chorus)
- "Babes on Broadway" (Finale) (Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Virginia Weidler, Ray McDonald, Richard Quine, and MGM Studio Chorus)
DVD release
Babes on Broadway was released on DVD for the first time as part of a 5-disc DVD set The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection on September 25, 2007. The set contains Babes on Broadway, Babes in Arms, Girl Crazy, and Strike Up the Band, as well as a fifth disc containing bonus features on Rooney and Garland.[2]
Notes
- ^ Higham, Charles; Greenberg, Joel (1968). Hollywood in the Forties. London: A. Zwemmer Limited. p. 172. ISBN 0-302-00477-7.
- ^ Amazon.com: The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection (Babes in Arms / Babes on Broadway / Girl Crazy / Strike Up the Band): Movies & TV: Mickey Rooney,Judy Garland
External links
- Babes on Broadway at the Internet Movie Database
- Babes on Broadway at AllRovi
- Babes on Broadway at the TCM Movie Database
- The Judy Garland Online Discography "Babes On Broadway" page
- Babes On Broadway page
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