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Never before available on home video and unseen on television since1973, the 1950 production of Annie Get Your Gun has achieved somewhat legendary status, most notably for who would inherit the role Ethel Merman had made famous on Broadway in 1946. MGM originally cast Judy Garland, but her ongoing drug and alcohol problems led to her being fired and replaced by Betty Hutton. Fortunately, the bright and brassy Hutton sparkles in this highly fictionalized story of Annie Oakley, the sharpshooter who wins fame in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and wins the heart of fellow sharpshooter Frank Butler (Howard Keel). Dashing baritone Keel was beginning his career as one of MGM's favorite leading men in the 1950s (including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Kiss Me, Kate). Together they make gold of the many Irving Berlin hits--"Doin' What Comes Naturally," "Anything You Can Do," "They Say It's Wonderful," "I Got the Sun in the Morning," and the classic anthem "There's No Business Like Show Business."

Annie Get Your Gun is unquestionably a product of the 1950s. Keel's relentless chauvinism and Hutton's constant fawning over him grow tiresome (though she does stand up to him in a battle of the sexes), and the Indians wear full headdresses and face paint, say "Ugh," and destroy modern conveniences. (In the name of political correctness, the 1999 Broadway revival starring Bernadette Peters removed "I'm an Indian Too" and received its own share of criticism from purists.) Quibbles aside, the excellent cast and immortal score make Annie Get Your Gun a classic musical. It's great to have it back. --David Horiuchi ... Read more

Reviews (71)

Betty Hutton scores a triumph as Annie Oakley
At last the 1950 movie muscial "Annie Get Your Gun" is finally available for a whole new generation and fans who fondly recall seeing it years ago to experience the magic of America's greatest composer,Irving Berlin(who in addition to the great score of this film brought us"White Christmas", God Bless America" and hundreds of others)dynamic stars, Betty Hutton, Howard Keel and a first rate supporting cast perform in one of Hollywood's greatest and at the time most expensive musical. The technicolor has been preserved in such a manner that the colors are a joy to behold and the meticulous detail of the great photography of Charles Rosher and the costumes by Walter Plunkett("Gone With The Wind")and Helen Rose, who did the exquisite western costumes for Betty Hutton are truly a feast for the eye.This film showcases Betty Hutton at her best. She may not have "voice of the century" like Judy Galand who had to bow out of the role due to illness and other problems but she adds a tremendous gusto to the role plus an almost child like innocence to her early scenes as the backwoods, uneducated Annie. She is especially touching in several scenes in addition to her special gusto (toned down here from some of her earlier roles). Betty Hutton was one of the top stars in Hollywood when this film was released. That same year she made the cover of Time magazine and the film went on to be one of the top grossing movies that year. She went on to sing and dance with Fred Astaire in "Let's Dance" and then won the coveted starring role in Cecil B. DeMille's oscar winning film(for best picture of 1952)"The Greatest Show on Earth"in which she did most of her own stunts in her role as a trapeze performer in a circus.(both of these films are available on video Her last big film was "Somebody Loves Me" in 1952. She left Paramount Pictures due to a dispute over having her then husband direct her next film. She later made one more film in 1956(released in 1957 called "Spring Reunion" a small black and white film produce by Kirk Douglas'company co-starring Dana Andrews. Miss Hutton gave a sensitive performance in this drama about an unmarried career woman in her 30's ,lonely and living with her parents. Once the most popular girl in high school, she meets and old classmate at a reunion. The film gave Miss Hutton a chance to really show that she was a actress fo considerable depth. It is a small film but quite affecting. It is not available on videobut has been aired on TCM) Also in "Annie Get Your Gun", Howard Keel made his movie musical debut and it was an auspicious one indeed. The first of many great parts showcasing his magificient baritone voice, natural acting ability and his strong, handsome ,masculine prescence.Mr. Keel later reached his peak in MGM musicals in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and especially "Kiss Me Kate" (both available on video and probably DVD)The theatrical version of "Annie Get Your Gun"had several songs that were not included in the film. One "I'm a Bad Bad Man" would have been fun to have had Mr. Keel perform and two sung by Annie were a ballad"I Got Lost In His Arms"(beautifully done recently by Bernadette Peters in the broadway revival) and the delightful "Moonshine Lullaby" sung by Annie to her little brother and 3 sisters with an assist by them . It would have been nice to have had Miss Hutton do these in the film. Most of her songs except "They Say It's Wonderful" are of the exuberant variety. She is a standout doing the show's greatest number "There' No Business Like Show Businesss" in which she sings with her co-stars, later a reprise by herself and a again with Mr. Keel. Before the film, it is enjoyable to see the original trailer(or coming attraction promotion) for the film, a short introduction and brief history of Annie Oakley and her various incarnations by broadway/television star, Susan Lucci. Shown are outakes made by Judy Garland before she was let go for the film. After the film 2 completed numbers by Miss Garland are shown. She appears rather tired in them but her voice is just great and fine natural acting ability is evident as always. Finally a lovely number that unfortunately was later deleted from the film before it was released is shown for the first time.It is called "Let's Go West Again" with Betty Hutton. It is a good number , beautifully shot, sung in a more low key manner by Miss Hutton. Another interesting sideline, some of the original lyrics by Mr. Berlin were considered a little too "racy" for movie censors in 1950. For example in "You Can't Get a Man With A Gun",The lyric "a man's love is mighty he'll even buy a nighty for a gal who he thinks is fun, but they don't make pajamas for pistol packing mamas" was altered for the movie to "a Tom, Dick or Harry will build a house for Carrie when the preacher has made them one" Although a minor complaint it did cause a few of the songs to lose a little of their "bite".The film won 2 Oscars for sound recording and musical adaptation and it is obvious by the smooth , clear arrangements which give great justice to Irving Berlin's genius as both a composer and lyricist. I highly recommend this film for the entire family, especially if you are tired of the current films that offer nothing more than extreme violence, car chases, boring performers, gimmicky special effects, blatant sexuality etc. run and get this film. Betty Hutton was recently interviewed by the brilliant Robert Osborne on TCM(the Turner Classic Movies cable channel) and if they see my review I want to say "Bravo" to both of you for an outstanding one hour conversation about Miss Hutton's life and career. I hope that Betty Hutton will continue to give future interviews and lectures . She is a remarkable "survivor"who gives so much of herself to her audience.It is not surprising that she got her start on the Broadway stage and after her movie career continued appearing all over The USA and Europe in concerts and and theatrical productions to sellout audiences until personal problems in the 1960's caused her to stop performing until she made a brief return to Broadway in 1980(filling in for Alice Ghostley) in the role of Miss Hannigan in "Annie" ( muscial based on Little orphan Annie)

Worth the wait?
Well, it`s here at last. The long-awaited VHS of this smash hit Broadway musical.
I remember seeing it at the movies when it came out and thinking - what went wrong?
The tunes are great - the start is excellent but there`s no heart.
It`s too clean I guess and one-dimensional. Poor Howard Keel has not got into his stride as a movie actor and his Frank Butler is stodgy and quite unpleasant.
Our girl, Betty does her nut as usual but as she gets prettier so does her character diminish and she too appears brash and unsympathetic.
Of course, the songs are block-busters but I really missed Moonshine Lullaby which would have gone a long way to redeem Betty Hutton`s portrayal of Annie Oakley.
My favourite line is when Chief Sitting Bull says:
"Keep bow tight, keep arrows sharp AND NO PUT MONEY IN SHOW BUSINESS."
Unfortunately the movie degenerates into montage sequences of little moment and a conclusion that depends on the woman being subservient to the man and 'letting him win'.
Based on a true story, it starts so well........but finishes like a damp squib.
In all fairness, Judy Garland couldn`t have cut it as Annie, as we see in a couple of her numbers before she was sacked from the production.

There Really Is No Businesss Like Show Business!
Annie Get Your Gun is my favort play.And now it is my favort movie. I loved being in that play even though i was only 11 years old i still loved doing it.As I got older I found out that there was a movie and when I got the movie I could not stop watching it, and now my future goal would Be Palying Annie Oakley. And I think Annie would be proud.

There Really Is No Businesss Like Show Business
Annie Get Your Gun is my favort play. I loved doing it even though i was only 11 years old is till loved doing it.As I got older I found out that there was a movie i could not stop watching it. And My Future goal in life would Be Palying Annie Oakley. And I think Annie would be proud.

One of the most fun films ever made!!
Betty Hutton is sooo good in this musical. Even in pigtails, freckles, and rags she's totally loveable and her backwoods accent is hysterical!!
Annie Oakley (Hutton) and Frank Butler(Howard Keel) are two of the best gunshots in the world, but Oakley, who doesn't know a thing about being a lady, falls hopelessly in love with the handsome Butler. After accepting an offer to work with Butler in Buffalo Bill's western show, Oakley takes pains to become a beautiful lady and win Butler's heart. Unfortunately for Oakley, Butler can't take her being a better shooter than him, so a big rivalry ensues and so does all the fun.
Most memorable performance is Hutton and Keel's adorable number with the song "Anything You Can Do."
The quality of this DVD is great. Picture's bright and clear, sound is excellent, and so are the extra features like Susan Lucci's intro and about four outtakes, two of which contain Judy Garland's only two finished performances. Enjoy!! ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

This quintessential Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland musical has all the kinetic energy and beaming goofiness that made their films together (nine in all) so popular--and so easy to lampoon. The son of a vaudeville performer (Charles Winninger), Rooney decides to put on his own show (in a barn!) to save his family's fortune, his town, his peers, and, gosh darn it, even the American way of life. The star luster generated by Garland matches the explosive energy of Rooney's performance. Director Busby Berkeley's big production numbers are a sight to behold, from a march through town for the title number to an embarrassingly dated minstrel show routine. The movie was made the same year as The Wizard of Oz (1939) and featured the same villain: Margaret Hamilton. How popular was Rooney at the time? The number one box-office attraction was nominated for best actor at age 19 in that landmark year against some of the most famous performances of all time: Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights, Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind, James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and winner Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr. Chips. --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Some Pretty Good Music
Pretty much long forgotten. Came out in 39 with a whole host of great movies including Wizard of Oz and Gone W the Wind. Very old fashioned and stagey. Some of the music is pretty hummable. The story is ordinary lets put on a show. Incredibly offensive blackface scene. Difficult to sit through. A few of the songs were reprised in the infinitely better Singing in the Rain. Good for Garland and Rooney fans and missible for everyone else.

Excellent Mickey and Judy!
This classic film stars Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland as teenagers living in Seaport, Long Island, NY just before the Great Depression struck. Vaudeville is dying; thus Rooney's family business as show biz perfomers is very much at stake. When the older folks leave Seaport to put on a show and prove to the world that Vaudeville is not dead yet; they leave the younger folks behind. What to do? Put on a show! Rooney's character trys to woo some fading child star so she can put up the money for the show and bumps Garland from the lead. She inevitably retakes the lead in the show and everything ends happily ever after when out of nowhere some hot-shot producer likes what he saw in the barn show scene. (By the way, one cautionary note: the barn show scene includes a minstrel show; although typical of that era it is not only dated but potentially ofensive to some viewers.) The viewer also gets an extra treat: Margaret Hamilton has a small role as the nasty old lady who runs welfare in the town and wants to send the kids off to a vocational school. All in all, this really is a very goood movie and great fun to watch. I would add that this is an obvious must-have for any Garland or Rooney fan. A BUY!

An Essential for Rooney-Garland Fans
In the 1939 Mickey Rooney was among the top box office draws in the world. Judy Garland had appeared as a supporting player in two Rooney films, and the two had significant chemistry--more over, Garland had just completed photography for THE WIZARD OF OZ--a film that MGM rightly expected would launch her to international stardom. The time was right to costar the two, and MGM did it with BABES IN ARMS.

The film was released not long after OZ and was an immediate and major hit, becoming one of the most admired musicals of the year. But time has a way of changing our perspective. Seen today, BABES IN ARMS feels a little strange, a little strained, and at times just downright, well, ODD.

BABES IN ARMS was originally a Rogers and Hart show that proved a smash on the New York stage--a slightly satirical script with one of the most powerful scores of the 1930s. MGM specifically purchased the property for Rooney and Garland and then promptly threw out the script, most of the score, and transformed the thing into the tale of young teenagers who decide to put on a show in a barn.

Although well performed, the songs that replaced the original score simply do not measure up to the play's original score, and viewers are likely to be startled by a minstrel show number that find Mickey and Judy romping in blackface. In justice to the film, it should be remembered that while minstrel shows had their heyday in the late 1800s and early 1900s, they remained popular well into the 1950s, and such great stars as Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor performed in full blackface well into the 1930s. While the number is stereotypical, that was in fact the essence of minstrel show; it is not meanspirited, and if nothing else it offers a glimpse into a now dead theatrical tradition.

But weirdest of all is the grand finale "In God's Country," a strange mixture of Hollywood ballyhoo, patriotism, and fear of the European war that would soon engulf the world. In its original form, the number also included Rooney and Garland doing a take off of FDR and Eleanor; although cleverly performed and quite mild in content, this was later cut in re-release, for MGM worried it might be construed as disrespectful during wartime.

The film also has a number of distinct flaws. Director Busby Berkley was most at home with big-budget musicals that had scope for the elaborate dance numbers he favored--he's something of a fish out of water with this more intimate material, and his approach feels heavy handed. Although much admired at the time (he actually received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for this film), Mickey Rooney's performance is absurdly manic by modern standards, and Garland's more natural performance is too often overshadowed by his excesses. The script is as weak as the score, few of the supporting performers are memorable (Margaret Hamilton is an exception), and the whole thing has a awkward quality to it.

Even so, it's still possible to see what all the fuss was about. The film does capture an inkling of the famous Rooney-Garland chemistry--a chemistry that would fuel three more "let's put on a show!" musicals, each one more more effective than the last. It is there in every musical number the two perform, in every line, in every scene, a very real and very powerful thing. While casual viewers would do better to select either BABES ON BROADWAY or GIRL CRAZY, in spite of all its flaws, Rooney-Garland fans will likely find BABES IN ARMS an essential.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Hurray for Mickey and Judy!
The plot is almost exactly like those in Mickey and Judy's other films together, eg "Strike up the Band." But still, it's better than the junky movies Hollywood makes today.
Margaret Hamilton once again is excellent as the villian, a rich, elegant woman who wants to see Mickey, Judy, and the other children sent to boarding school to get a "proper education." Like "Wizard of Oz" in which she played the Wicked Witch, she seems to be always there though she is only on screen for a matter of minutes.
All in all, this is a good family movie for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Dated, but charming.
I just saw it on TCM for only the second time in my life. I agree with most of the previous comments, but offer this anecdote. Indeed, much of the score from the stage BIA is not in the film, but that's not the ego of Freed, that's the ego of Hollywood. Hollywood has been tampering with the scores of stage musicals since the year 1. There's been stage-to-screen tampering done with SHOW BOAT, ON THE TOWN, BRIGADOON, GAY DIVORCE, SWEET CHARITY, and even A CHORUS LINE, to name a few. And Rodgers & Hart and Cole Porter were decidedly more sophisticated, adult composers; they had to endure the wrath of the puritanical Hollywood image back then. This is why I've always preferred musicals orignally created for the screen; no one looking for a stage predecessor would be offended. That was just the mentality of all film studios then. As it is, they did keep "The Lady is A Tramp" in the background and allowed "Where or When" to be performed in its entirety, albeit as part of a botched band rehearsal. But I loved the treatment of the title song (with its bonfire-rally choreography), and Judy Garland's torch solo "I Cried For You" is a stunning piece of poignancy which makes you forget that she is only 17 years old. As for the 'dated film' accusations: America just entered the war at the time of this release, and it's probably no coincidence that the film's finale "God's Country" is an especially long musical sequence. I mean, how ageless can it be with Mickey Rooney doing an impersonation of President Roosevelt?! ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

"Say, he looks like an actor," says the platform conductor. Andwith that introduction, Gene Kelly steps off the train and into his film career. After starring on Broadway in Pal Joey, Kelly made his film debut inFor Me and My Gal opposite Judy Garland, with the pair playing vaudevilleperformers who team up to find success and, of course, romance. But just whenthings are looking up, World War I intervenes, and Kelly has to take drasticmeasures to keep a promise and avoid the war, at least temporarily.

Bad move, Gene. Filmed in 1942, For Me and My Gal vigorously supports thewar effort, including teaching Kelly the error of his ways. The old-time settingalso allows for a basketful ofnostalgic charmers, including "After You've Gone," "Oh You Beautiful Doll,"and "Ballin' the Jack," and Kelly and Garland's crooning and tapping of thetitle tune is pure joy. --David Horiuchi ... Read more

Reviews (35)

A Musical Masterpiece
"For Me And My Gal" was one of the first musicals I saw, and one of the first I bought on video. Judy Garland is great in her first "adult" role. This is also the splashy debut of Gene Kelly to movie audiences. Movie hoofer and later politican George Murphy rounds out the love triangle. It's interesting to note the difference in the stars ages though. Garlandwas 20 when the movie was made. Kelly was 30. And Murphy was 40.

Most movies of the 1940s, let alone World War II movies, dealt with serious issues, but this musical is full of them. Some of the issues include draft dodging and the horrors of war among others.

The music portion of the movie is the highpoint. My personal favorite is Garland's teary rendition of "After You've Gone". Reportedly, she filmed it the day after her divorce from bandleader David Rose. Another memorable scene is the famous Garland-Kelly duet of the title track. The musical numbers are countless and timeless and add to the movie's greatness. If you are looking for a great musical, with dramatic moments, and a tearjerking ending, then "For Me And My Gal" is for you...

Gene Kelly's film debut
Judy Garland plays Jo Hayden, a Vaudeville performer who has big dreams to reach the top along with her partners Jimmy Metcalf (George Murphy) and Sid Simms (Ben Blue). But then Harry Palmer (Gene Kelly) comes along with a great duo act. A Vaudeville performer himself, Jo finds that he too has big dreams, to be able to play at the Palace. This is the tale about how these two team up and through hardships and the war effort, reach out for their dreams and to their surprise, find love.

I'm a big fan of all musicals so hearing that this was Gene Kelly's first film, I knew I had to see it. And though I didn't enjoy it as much as I do other superior musicals, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Judy Garland is one of the most wonderful actresses, a one in a million. Every note she sings is pure perfection and she is one talented actress. "For Me and My Gal" is more of a musical/drama than a musical/comedy, so expect Garland to have many scenes where her eyes are full of tears. And this being in black and white, these scenes come out simply beautiful since Judy Garland is a stunning actress.

Being a musical, expect to see some great musical numbers. All the dance scenes are well choreographed. Most favorite is probably the "Ballin' the Jack" where Garland and Kelly share a number. But since this is Kelly's first film, don't expect him to do any of his famous outstanding solo tap numbers. He does get a short number towards the beginning which gives really only a glimpse of his talents. He tap dances... with huge rubber shoes worn by clowns!

Another character is in this movie called Eve Minard played by Martha Eggerth, a beautiful operatic singer. Though I'm not a big fan of opera type music (Kathryn Grayson is the only one I love in the movies), I must admit that Eggerth has an astounding voice.

As I said, there is a lot more drama than comedy in "For Me and My Gal". But don't worry, the end is terrific, and my only reason for giving this movie four stars is that I do have other musical favorites which I think are a bit superior to this one.

To see Gene Kelly REALLY show off his tap-dance talent, watch:
*SINGIN' IN THE RAIN* - If you claim to be a fan of all musicals and STILL haven't seen this one... well, tsk tsk tsk on you!
*COVER GIRL* - Kelly has this one amazing number where he dances... with himself! VERY cool!
*ANCHORS AWEIGHT* - Great number where he dances with the cartoon, Jerry the Mouse! Also a scene where he plays a matador.
And just in general, watch any of Kelly's films, they won't disappoint!

I liked it too
I greatly dislike and resent reviewers who give away plots and endings. Why do they do it? This is one of my all-time favorite musicals. It is not a flag-waver and it does not sugar-coat war (rah-rah-America!), though as one reviewer mentioned, there is a note at the ending saying that war bonds would be sold in the lobby. War is hell. Everyone in it was wonderful, Garland actually kept right up with Kelly in the dancing, and she came across strong, professional and abundantly talented, all of which she is. (Incidentally, before Pal Joey, there was a straight play by Saroyan called The Time of Your Life which I think was Kelly's first big break (he danced), and before that a part in the chorus of a Porter musical called Leave It To Me, more than that I don't know.) The movie is singing and dancing from stem to stern, all wonderful, all Garland and/or Kelly, and I loved every minute of it. The directing was also good, though I'm no judge of that kind of thing, but it struck me as inventive and original while I watched it. I totally abhored Murphy's bit in France when he makes a sap out of the poor dumb foreigner with the fake money. And then his men have a good laugh. I thought it stunk. And on the subject of George Murphy (whose career in movies was about as stellar as Ronald Reagan's), Tom Lehrer said (sang, actually), "Gee it's great! At last we've got a senator who can really sing and dance!" That's about the size of it, folks. And I didn't think he did either of those particularly well. If he'd gotten the girl, I wouldn't have watched the movie a second time. One last note. I cried during this movie when Danny left for duty. And I really cried at the end.

Watching the Easter Parade
There is apparently a shortage of the Great Easter Parade film, one of the truly GREATEST musicals (of which not enough have been released). I don't know what is available RIGHT NOW, but a wonderful copy came out several years ago on Lasar Disk, so IT HAS BEEN RELEASED.

BLACK & WHITE....not color!
So many have done such a great job reviewing this movie I won't rehash....but Amazon.com taking their cue from Warners (on the DVD box) say this is color and it is NOT....its in its glorious original Black and White and a beautiful print at that! Didn't want anyone out there afraid this masterpiece had been colorized! Yiiikes
Kelly / Garland......please this should be a no-brainer! ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Great mixture of music, romance, and high-school Hyjinks!
Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland are great together in this movie. Rooney plays Jimmy, a high-school-band drum player who dreams of starting a modern dance orchestra. Garland plays Mary, Jimmy's good friend who does the vocals for his band and happens to have a crush on him. When the dance orchestra dream comes true, Jimmy and his orchestra play at the dance...and are an immediate success! Things start to complicate for Mary and Jimmy as well as the rest of the band when the new girl, Barbara Francis, arives in town. She steals Jimmy's heart, leaving Mary jealous and a little lonely. Barbara also steals Jimmy away from one of his number one priorities-the band. Luckily, Mary has Jimmy's back and covers up for him. When Jimmy hears about a high school band competition in Chicago, he tries to think of a way to raise money to get the band there. One of the ways was performing a melodrama skit (which I thought was quite entertaining). The day the band boards for the train, something terrible happens to one of Jimmy and Mary's friends. He needs a crucial surgery that costs the same amount of money as the trip to Chicago. Will they use the money to help their friend? And will Jimmy and Mary end up as a couple? Find out when you watch "Strike Up The Band".

PLEASANT NOSTALGIA
This picture is about a group of High-School musicians who turn the school band into a swing orchestra aspiring to compete in a nation wide contest conducted by Paul Whiteman (who was once know as the King of Jazz). With BABES IN ARMS a major success, MGM quickly laid plans for a sequel using much the same talent. STRIKE UP THE BAND was the result. Jam-packed with youthful energy, the film once again proved Mickey Rooney to be a performer beyond comparison - singing, dancing, playing musical instruments, mugging - dominating every minute he's on the screen. Judy Garland is the perfect partner for him - demure and appealing in her acting, beautifully effective in her singing. The film contained a new song OUR LOVE AFFAIR which was to become one of Judy's standards. STRIKE UP THE BAND is a showcase for the effervescent Rooney and the dynamic Garland. The finale is built around the title song, a natural and logical piece for this picture, with the cast singing and marching through an elaborate Berkeley military routine.

I love the music!
Strike Up The Band is a great movie with a great story and great music! I like the story of this film. The way the students just get up and play ispired me!

Inspiring Movie!
Of all the Rooney-Garland movies i think this is the best! With 4 of the same cast from "Babes in Arms" it had everything a musical should have. With adorable songs like "Our Love Affair" "I Ain't got Nobody", "The La Conga!" "The Drummer Boy" it had that effect of all their movies together. Judy plays Mary, who is in love with Jimmy, (Mickey Rooney) and of cours he's the head strong, determained guy who dosn't realize it until she's mad at him! full of laughs, songs, and a cute storyline! this is a gotta-see!

Strike Up The Music!
Forget about Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, the best movie team of the 1930s was Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. The duo had such vitality and energy, that one can not help but feel energized when one of their movies come on. Even though the put on a show in a barn story has worn thin to new millenium audiences, the story and movie in general harks back to a much better time in history.

The music and dance numbers are great, staged by Busby Berkeley. The number "LaConga" is an over the top production number, showcasing the singing ability of 19 year old Judy Garland and the unending energy of 20 year old Mickey Rooney. The number "Drumming Man", which Gene Krupa made famous on records, was introduced here by Rooney. It looks as if Mickey is actually doing his own drum work. Rounding out the bill is the fabulous orchestra of Paul Whiteman, which was the starting band for Bing Crosby,the Dorsey Brothers, and many others.

The most touching moment is not the patriotic ending with the title song, but the unending love and devotion Mickey Rooney had for his mother. I watched the movie with my mother, and we were both touched. Yes, this movie may be sentimental, but there's nothing wrong with that. Do yourself a favor and watch this movie, it'll have you striking up the band... ... Read more

Amazon.com

The promise of "One Hundred Beautiful Girls on Horseback" and a personalappearance by the Tommy Dorsey orchestra are among the enticements of this 1943MGM musical, a typical installment in the Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland let's-put-on-a-show genre. Not typical is the quality of the songbook, which trots outsome sublime George and Ira Gershwin tunes: "Embraceable You," "FascinatingRhythm," and a meltingly plaintive Garland solo on "But Not for Me." The plothas rich kid Rooney, energized as usual, sent away to a boys' school in the WildWest as a way of containing his mania (see title). The only gal in town isJudy, the granddaughter of the school's dean. The stars are affectionatelymatched, and musical fans will enjoy the young June Allyson belting out a spunky"Treat Me Rough." Rooney's comedy routine, imitating various radio personalities(including boxing champ Joe Louis), is one of those topical bits that willalmost certainly puzzle viewers today. The director is Norman Taurog, an MGMworkhorse who would later helm many of Elvis Presley's desultory vehicles. BusbyBerkeley staged the rave-up finale to "I Got Rhythm," but the most beguilingproduction number is "Bidin' My Time," sung by Garland and some cowpokes--adroll performance with surrealistic flourishes. Girl Crazy seems nobetter or worse than the average musical of the era, but it was a huge hit, andRooney would never reach this pinnacle of box-office success again. --RobertHorton ... Read more

Reviews (10)

FAST AND FUNNY
In GIRL CRAZY, Rooney and Garland finally grow up, despite the best intentions of a formula which saw them as kids on stage in film after film. Judy plays Ginger Gray, the daughter of a college president. The character Garland once described as "Dorothy Adorable", once given free rein in BABES ON BROADWAY (1941), BABES IN ARMS (1939) or the Andy Hardy movies, has, however, grown more complex. Ginger Gray shows the contradictory and ironic charm of the latter Garland characters, both vulnerable and quick to laugh at herself in a way that the roles as "Dorothy Adorable" hardly suggest. Berkeley films such as BABES IN ARMS & BABES ON BROADWAY had used the familiar "let's put a show on" theme as a glorious excuse for Garland, Rooney and dozens of other chorus folk to concoct variety shows. Although Norman Taurog's (he was Jackie Cooper's uncle) direction and staging of the musical numbers reflected the beginnings of a new style in film musicals, the plot of GIRL CRAZY is completely conventional. Not only are Rooney and Garland featured in virtually every scene, but they usually dominate the frame in Taurog's composition. Tommy Dorsey's orchestra provides the swingy ambience and the musical score is outstanding: "But Not for Me", "I Got Rhythm" "Embraceable You" "Fascinating Rhythm" and "Bidin' My Time" along with 7 others!

Isn't this great!!!!
This CD just came in the mail today. Just popped it in the player and I love it already! Judy's major numbers on this disc are featured on several of her Decca studio recordings, which is where I heard them first. But the original soundtrack performances, as heard here, are the best yet! This is, without a doubt, the best recording of the fabulous Gershwin score (although the 1952 Mary Martin cast album, now the only version in print, is good too). Garland and Rooney always worked so well together. The sound on the disc is wonderful - you'd never know it was made in 1943! All selections are in STEREO (except the Main Title, in monaural), thanks to the (as always) wonderful remastering and remixing job by Rhino/Turner. Unfortunately this disc is out of print, and its a shame that it is (I got my copy via Ebay). Keep an eye open for it, though. No faults with this one; it's great! As another reviewer states, these are quite possibly some of the greatest numbers ever put on film and disc!

One song in particular makes this movie special
I'm giving this film 5 stars based on one particular song in the film: "Bidin' my time". This performance by Judy just knocked my socks off when I caught it some time ago on late-night television. The rest of the film is fine too, but I'm a nut about music (all music from classical to rock) and after hearing this particular rendition I just had to own it. There's something different about how she and her group perform this song. I don't quite know how to describe it but it caught my interest immediately. It seems somehow ahead of its time. Anyway, that particular performance is just a joy to watch. I noticed that the commercial review had also picked up on this particular song.

Some of the best musical numbers ever put on film are here
I ignored this movie for years thinking it was just another over-exuberant essay in the over-abundant MGM collection of sappy adolescent musicals. I'm glad that listening to an English revival of the original musical finally motivated me to watch it, because some of the best musical numbers ever put on film are here. Busby Berkeley started as the director but was replaced for supposedly tyrannical behavior. His production numbers appear at the end and are quite amazing, choreographing "I've Got Rhythm" with guns and bullwhips. All the numbers on this movie are quite exceptional, in particular "Biding My Time" one of the Gershwin brothers' finest and most surprising tunes, but also "Treat Me Rough" and "Could You Use Me". And the arrangements are some of the best I've ever heard, anticipating the harmonies of the Hi-Los and the Four Freshmen by a decade and a half. Judy has never looked prettier nor sung as purely and Mickey pulls out all the stops without (well, almost) going over the top. He even plays a terrific piano solo, with Tommy Dorsey! I never get tired of watching this movie. It's an explosion of pure pleasure.

The fun never stops...
This is Mickey and Judy's best film together. They play off each other wonderfully and Judy's laughter is infectious. But it's the GREAT musical score that makes "Girl Crazy" a movie to go crazy about. This was their last starring feature together (she went on to bigger things in the years following) so get it, tuck it away and keep it for a rainy day when you need a reminder of how talented this screen duo was. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The first film directed by Vincente Minnelli (who directed the original Broadway version), this musical offers its pleasures, but also may make you squirm at the racial stereotypes that were considered both acceptable and entertaining in 1943. A story of the struggle between good and evil for the soul of a man named Little Joe (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson), the film plays with the same kind of racial notions that made Stepin Fetchit a star. Still, there's much to recommend it, particularly performances by some of the greatest musical stars of the day: Lena Horne, Ethel Waters, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington, among others. The film also includes a terrific score, a combination effort by Ellington, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, and E.Y. Harburg that includes the song"Taking a Chance on Love." --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Great music, great cast, Ethel Waters at her best
This is a delightful film. The Broadway score, already one of the finer scores for its time, with the classics "Taking a chance on love" and "Cabin in the sky", was further improved with the addition of "Happiness is just a thing called Joe". There are several other wonderful numbers, including the Duke Ellington number with some great dancing, and "Bubbles" singing "Shine". The cast was the finest black talent of the day, and the movie demonstrates why Ethel Waters was considered the greatest singer and entertainer of her day. In this movie, she also demonstrates that she is a fine actress and a fine dancer. It's a pity that the racial climate of the time didn't allow her more films - she's as magical on screen as she was, by all reports, in person. The remainder of the cast includes a stunning young Lena Horne, surely one of the most beautiful women ever to appear on screen, and who is here allowed to be smolderingly sexy, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, who's an endearing Little Joe, Rex Ingram as Lucifer Jr, and smaller but memorable appearances by Louis Armstrong, Butterfly McQueen, and "Bubbles" of Buck and Bubbles. Seeing Waters sing "Taking a chance on love", "cabin in the sky", "Happiness is just a thing called Joe" and her wicked reprise of "Honey in the honeycomb", complete with some dance steps that will floor you, is more than enough to recommend the movie, but all performances are delightful, and the songs and background music are great. If we take it as a "fable", as we are counseled to do at the beginning, then I don't see it as a racist or dated film. The characters are almost all well delineated and believable within the "fable" context, and are no more stereotypical in this context than numerous films of white people at the time that were also fantasies.

It's a pleasure to watch from beginning to end - clearly a timeless classic, especially valuable for archiving for all time the classic Waters performance and the superb acting, singing, dancing and comedic skills of some of the greatest black talent pre-World War II.

A TOUR-DE-FORCE OF TALENT FROM AN AMAZING CAST
In these enlightened times, a movie such as Cabin in the Sky - which is heavily laden with racial stereotypes - seems awkwardly out of place. However, before we all jump on the political correctness bandwagon, it's worth remembering that the movie was made during WW2, and that Civil Rights Movements were some 20 or so years in the future.

Much has been written about the plot, so I won't focus on that. I will say, however, that this movie is a tour-de-force of talent. It marked Vincent Minelli's directorial debut, and it's clear that he did a fine job. Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Lena Horne and Ethel Waters all play their parts brilliantly. If there was any animosity between Lena and Ethel, it was easy to understand. Ethel fought tough and nail to climb the showbiz ladder, whereas Lena was the first African-American actress to be groomed specially for Hollywood. Ms Horne had specially designed gowns and mingled with the upper echelons of MGM. The moviemakers even created a special make up range for her in an effort to pass her off as an exotic Latin American belle. Lena refused to disrespect her race by denying her heritage.

Anyway, back to the film. It's Ethel Water's character, Petunia, that I warm to the most. She may have been downtrodden, and reduced to scrubbing floors. However, there's a down-to-earth warmth that radiates from her. Her rendition of "Happiness is a Thing Called Joe" is superb. The late Waters was a remarkable, versatile performer, and it's a shame that she's not as well known among the masses like Lena.

As for Lena's Georgia Brown, she's nothing short of breathtakingly beautiful. Ms Horne was something of a WW2 pin-up, and it's easy to see why. She tempts the viewers (and the censors, no doubt!) with her sexy lingerie, and isn't shy to show off a good bit of thigh! The only other African American woman who showed this much flesh was Josephine Baker, but she was doing her thing in Paris!

The songs by Duke Ellington are great. Also look out for a young Louis Armstrong - he plays one of Lucifer's hilarious angels!

Cabin in the Sky is fine musical - a classic, and it's high time is was released in the UK! However, us Brits will have to do with imports for the time being. As with all US video tapes, you'll need a VCR with NTSC playback to watch this movie.

Good Movie Fo Sho
Vincente Minnelli, who directed the film, Cabin in the Sky (1943), composed this 'race movie' with an all African American cast. What makes this film extraordinary is that Vincente Minnelli is a white director who filmed this picture with an all black cast. Around the early 1940's, mainstream production studios (Hollywood) noticed that these 'race movies' which consisted of African American directors/producers/casts, were producing huge sums of money. In an attempt to tap this newly discovered source of money, the mainstream film industry began to produce these race films which consisted of white directors/producers, but included an all African American cast. In Cabin in the Sky, Minnelli includes many social issues that black America faced during this time. A major issue that black America faced back in the 1940's and still today which Minnelli included in this film is obtaining identity/home.
An example of obtaining home can be explained by the scene where the character Little Joe (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson) dies and rises out of his body only to awake to the presence of Lucifer Jr. (Rex Ingram). As Lucifer Jr. describes to Little Joe all of the evil things that will come to him in Hell, Little Joe screams out, "I don't want to die, I just wanna' go back home to Petunia." In this scene, Little Joe identifies home as Earth, all the physical objects in which he can interact with (the absence of the spiritual world). Another example of home can be identified with the character Petunia (Ethel Waters) in the scene where she sits beside Little Joe next to him in his bed. Petunia preys to God to not take Little Joe home yet. In this scene, home is identified as the spiritual world, in which all the sins of the corrupt physical world would not exist. So in Petunias case, home is a pure spiritual world. In Little Joe's case, Earth is a testing ground to determine if a person should ascend to heaven or descend to hell. If a person lives a righteous life on Earth, then God will open the gates of heaven to that person. On the other hand, if a person lives a sinful life on Earth, the devil will open the gates of hell to that person. The moral of the film is that one must choose their path wisely while they live on the battleground between heaven and hell.
The film's title also has great significance. The title, Cabin in the Sky makes a huge statement saying that home is identified as heaven. A lack of home which is Earth, creates a void in which that void must be filled. If one can't obtain home physically, then one will obtain it spiritually. As in many of the scenes where Petunia preys to God prove that one will obtain home spiritually.
Overall, this film was excellent. It is a rare occasion to see pictures of a black heaven, in which many of the angels consisted of neatly dressed African American men in trimly white uniforms. Also, the gate keepers of heaven were young black angels, sitting valiantly on pedestals. The music by Ethel Waters and Duke Ellington with his band was phenomenal. I would recommend this movie to viewers who want to see how music and dance evolved from the old genre of 'race movies' to the new genre of 'race movies'.

Cabin in the Sky !!!!Fo Sho Baby!!!!!
Vincente Minnelli, who directed the film, Cabin in the Sky (1943), composed this 'race movie' with an all African American cast. What makes this film extraordinary is that Vincente Minnelli is a white director who filmed this picture with an all black cast. Around the early 1940's, mainstream production studios (Hollywood) noticed that these 'race movies' which consisted of African American directors/producers/casts, were producing huge sums of money. In an attempt to tap this newly discovered source of money, the mainstream film industry began to produce these race films which consisted of white directors/producers, but included an all African American cast. In Cabin in the Sky, Minnelli includes many social issues that black America faced during this time. A major issue that black America faced back in the 1940's and still today which Minnelli included in this film is obtaining identity/home.
An example of obtaining home can be explained by the scene where the character Little Joe (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson) dies and rises out of his body only to awake to the presence of Lucifer Jr. (Rex Ingram). As Lucifer Jr. describes to Little Joe all of the evil things that will come to him in Hell, Little Joe screams out, "I don't want to die, I just wanna' go back home to Petunia." In this scene, Little Joe identifies home as Earth, all the physical objects in which he can interact with (the absence of the spiritual world). Another example of home can be identified with the character Petunia (Ethel Waters) in the scene where she sits beside Little Joe next to him in his bed. Petunia preys to God to not take Little Joe home yet. In this scene, home is identified as the spiritual world, in which all the sins of the corrupt physical world would not exist. So in Petunias case, home is a pure spiritual world. In Little Joe's case, Earth is a testing ground to determine if a person should ascend to heaven or descend to hell. If a person lives a righteous life on Earth, then God will open the gates of heaven to that person. On the other hand, if a person lives a sinful life on Earth, the devil will open the gates of hell to that person. The moral of the film is that one must choose their path wisely while they live on the battleground between heaven and hell.
The film's title also has great significance. The title, Cabin in the Sky makes a huge statement saying that home is identified as heaven. A lack of home which is Earth, creates a void in which that void must be filled. If one can't obtain home physically, then one will obtain it spiritually. As in many of the scenes where Petunia preys to God prove that one will obtain home spiritually.
Overall, this film was excellent. It is a rare occasion to see pictures of a black heaven, in which many of the angels consisted of neatly dressed African American men in trimly white uniforms. Also, the gate keepers of heaven were young black angels, sitting valiantly on pedestals. The music by Ethel Waters and Duke Ellington with his band was phenomenal. I would recommend this movie to viewers who want to see how music and dance evolved from the old genre of 'race movies' to the new genre of 'race movies'.

Great music...
Great performances.Duke Ellington,Ethel Waters,Lena Horne.Doesn't get any better than that. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Who Needs LSD?
This Busby Berkeley movie -- along with "Footlight Parade" and a couple others -- should be controlled by the FDA. Jack Webb could have made a great "Dragnet" episode decrying the menace of this ULTRA-PSYCHEDELIC entertainment upon the minds of youth -- and he'd be right. Like a black-and-white "Yellow Submarine," this ostensible song-and-dance movie packs a potent lysergic punch. DO NOT DRIVE OR OPERATE HEAVY MACHINERY UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THIS HIGHLY INVENTIVE MUSICAL.

GOOD VINTAGE FUN
A millionaire with fanatically religious beliefs tries to stop the opening of a Broadway show. By far, the most memorable item in DAMES is the song and routine, I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU. One of the best songs ever written for a film, it's sung by Dick Powell and beautifully staged by Busby Berkeley. The finale of the film is another all-girl array for the title song. Here is a fascinating rhythmic formation. A hundred girls in white blouses and black tights configurate, fragmenting here and there into abstract designs. Berkeley moves above for his celebrated overhead shot and the effect becomes a startlingly kaleidoscopic cacophony of geometric and floral mosaics. In the last of the grand budget-breaking spectacles before the "Production Code" came into being, distinguished Busby Berkeley took his imagination to the limit: watch for the dancing clothes on the ironing board and a giant puzzle pieces attached to dancing girls which form the face of Ruby Keeler.

Outstanding dance musical from Busky Berkeley.
This is probably one of the best movies ever made. Ignore the silly plot regarding the reformation of morals. Focus on the beautiful dance routines and graphics. Producer Berkeley is a master. I highly recommend his other movies as well. Once you've absorbed "Dames," start working your way through the Golddiggers series. If you like musicals, you won't be disappointed. END ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Some Pretty Good Music
Pretty much long forgotten. Came out in 39 with a whole host of great movies including Wizard of Oz and Gone W the Wind. Very old fashioned and stagey. Some of the music is pretty hummable. The story is ordinary lets put on a show. Incredibly offensive blackface scene. Difficult to sit through. A few of the songs were reprised in the infinitely better Singing in the Rain. Good for Garland and Rooney fans and missible for everyone else.

Excellent Mickey and Judy!
This classic film stars Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland as teenagers living in Seaport, Long Island, NY just before the Great Depression struck. Vaudeville is dying; thus Rooney's family business as show biz perfomers is very much at stake. When the older folks leave Seaport to put on a show and prove to the world that Vaudeville is not dead yet; they leave the younger folks behind. What to do? Put on a show! Rooney's character trys to woo some fading child star so she can put up the money for the show and bumps Garland from the lead. She inevitably retakes the lead in the show and everything ends happily ever after when out of nowhere some hot-shot producer likes what he saw in the barn show scene. (By the way, one cautionary note: the barn show scene includes a minstrel show; although typical of that era it is not only dated but potentially ofensive to some viewers.) The viewer also gets an extra treat: Margaret Hamilton has a small role as the nasty old lady who runs welfare in the town and wants to send the kids off to a vocational school. All in all, this really is a very goood movie and great fun to watch. I would add that this is an obvious must-have for any Garland or Rooney fan. A BUY!

An Essential for Rooney-Garland Fans
In the 1939 Mickey Rooney was among the top box office draws in the world. Judy Garland had appeared as a supporting player in two Rooney films, and the two had significant chemistry--more over, Garland had just completed photography for THE WIZARD OF OZ--a film that MGM rightly expected would launch her to international stardom. The time was right to costar the two, and MGM did it with BABES IN ARMS.

The film was released not long after OZ and was an immediate and major hit, becoming one of the most admired musicals of the year. But time has a way of changing our perspective. Seen today, BABES IN ARMS feels a little strange, a little strained, and at times just downright, well, ODD.

BABES IN ARMS was originally a Rogers and Hart show that proved a smash on the New York stage--a slightly satirical script with one of the most powerful scores of the 1930s. MGM specifically purchased the property for Rooney and Garland and then promptly threw out the script, most of the score, and transformed the thing into the tale of young teenagers who decide to put on a show in a barn.

Although well performed, the songs that replaced the original score simply do not measure up to the play's original score, and viewers are likely to be startled by a minstrel show number that find Mickey and Judy romping in blackface. In justice to the film, it should be remembered that while minstrel shows had their heyday in the late 1800s and early 1900s, they remained popular well into the 1950s, and such great stars as Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor performed in full blackface well into the 1930s. While the number is stereotypical, that was in fact the essence of minstrel show; it is not meanspirited, and if nothing else it offers a glimpse into a now dead theatrical tradition.

But weirdest of all is the grand finale "In God's Country," a strange mixture of Hollywood ballyhoo, patriotism, and fear of the European war that would soon engulf the world. In its original form, the number also included Rooney and Garland doing a take off of FDR and Eleanor; although cleverly performed and quite mild in content, this was later cut in re-release, for MGM worried it might be construed as disrespectful during wartime.

The film also has a number of distinct flaws. Director Busby Berkley was most at home with big-budget musicals that had scope for the elaborate dance numbers he favored--he's something of a fish out of water with this more intimate material, and his approach feels heavy handed. Although much admired at the time (he actually received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for this film), Mickey Rooney's performance is absurdly manic by modern standards, and Garland's more natural performance is too often overshadowed by his excesses. The script is as weak as the score, few of the supporting performers are memorable (Margaret Hamilton is an exception), and the whole thing has a awkward quality to it.

Even so, it's still possible to see what all the fuss was about. The film does capture an inkling of the famous Rooney-Garland chemistry--a chemistry that would fuel three more "let's put on a show!" musicals, each one more more effective than the last. It is there in every musical number the two perform, in every line, in every scene, a very real and very powerful thing. While casual viewers would do better to select either BABES ON BROADWAY or GIRL CRAZY, in spite of all its flaws, Rooney-Garland fans will likely find BABES IN ARMS an essential.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Hurray for Mickey and Judy!
The plot is almost exactly like those in Mickey and Judy's other films together, eg "Strike up the Band." But still, it's better than the junky movies Hollywood makes today.
Margaret Hamilton once again is excellent as the villian, a rich, elegant woman who wants to see Mickey, Judy, and the other children sent to boarding school to get a "proper education." Like "Wizard of Oz" in which she played the Wicked Witch, she seems to be always there though she is only on screen for a matter of minutes.
All in all, this is a good family movie for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Dated, but charming.
I just saw it on TCM for only the second time in my life. I agree with most of the previous comments, but offer this anecdote. Indeed, much of the score from the stage BIA is not in the film, but that's not the ego of Freed, that's the ego of Hollywood. Hollywood has been tampering with the scores of stage musicals since the year 1. There's been stage-to-screen tampering done with SHOW BOAT, ON THE TOWN, BRIGADOON, GAY DIVORCE, SWEET CHARITY, and even A CHORUS LINE, to name a few. And Rodgers & Hart and Cole Porter were decidedly more sophisticated, adult composers; they had to endure the wrath of the puritanical Hollywood image back then. This is why I've always preferred musicals orignally created for the screen; no one looking for a stage predecessor would be offended. That was just the mentality of all film studios then. As it is, they did keep "The Lady is A Tramp" in the background and allowed "Where or When" to be performed in its entirety, albeit as part of a botched band rehearsal. But I loved the treatment of the title song (with its bonfire-rally choreography), and Judy Garland's torch solo "I Cried For You" is a stunning piece of poignancy which makes you forget that she is only 17 years old. As for the 'dated film' accusations: America just entered the war at the time of this release, and it's probably no coincidence that the film's finale "God's Country" is an especially long musical sequence. I mean, how ageless can it be with Mickey Rooney doing an impersonation of President Roosevelt?! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Great Song and Dance Fare -- Plus Richard Quine
This film featured some very clever song/dance routines by Mickey and Judy -- and if you watch carefully, you will conclude that he was a better dancer than she (though Judy won hands down in the song department).

This was one of the few movies starring Richard Quine (in a supporting role) before he reached his acting zenith (Brad Craig in 1943's "We've Never Been Licked"), and in was good to see this outstanding future director in FRONT of the camera.

Judy and Mickey Directed by Busby Berkeley
BABES ON BROADWAY is a lively musical featuring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland singing and dancing up a storm. Busby Berkeley directing these two in their prime is bound to produce an entertaining movie even if the plot is just a trite story about two young people trying to make it big in New York. The supporting cast includes Richard Quine, Fay Bainter, Virginia Weidler, Ray McDonald, Donald Meek and Alexander Woollcott.

Mickey does several impersonations such as one of the equally energetic Carmen Miranda. This film definitely deserves a better reputation and a release as a DVD except maybe for one infamous and politically incorrect scene.

BABES ON BROADWAY was nominated for an Academy Award in 1942 for Best Song ("How About You"). The winner in that category was "White Christmas" from HOLIDAY INN.

Busby Berkeley had a hand in creating several other great musicals including 42ND STREET.

lighten up people
I loved this movie it's a classic. But there is a scene in the end where the charicters come out in black face. Some people say that seeing that ruined the movie, and made them uncomfortable. But i say it just shows how innocent the time was. No one was worried about being politically correct in fact the notion didn't even exsist. This movie, like many other musicals of it's time, is not trying to make a statement, it's a celebration of all the things that make life worth living. So just sit back and relax and enjoy this movie for what it truely is. In this time in our life we could use somthing so innocent that's just pure fun and games. I loved it and I can't wait till my son is old enough(he's seven months old now)so i can show it to him.

Enjoyed it until the end
From the start of this musical, the perpetually hyper Rooney had me laughing and enjoying this film. The story follows Rooney and his friends "The 3 Balls of Fire" and their effort to raise money for a school trip ... by putting on a musical. Garland and Rooney make a great team as usual and all the songs were fantastic, but(the big but) the minstrel number at the end with a chorus of people in blackface disturbed me. I understand that back then exercises in really bad taste like said musical number were the norm on Broadway. Even taking that into consideration, it was still difficult to watch, as are any blackface numbers I've seen in old movies. That ending totally ruined what was up 'til then a happy, cheer-you-up movie I would have watched repeatedly. The rest of the movie gets 4 stars but the blackface makes it a 3 and gets no stars from me. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

FAST AND FUNNY
In GIRL CRAZY, Rooney and Garland finally grow up, despite the best intentions of a formula which saw them as kids on stage in film after film. Judy plays Ginger Gray, the daughter of a college president. The character Garland once described as "Dorothy Adorable", once given free rein in BABES ON BROADWAY (1941), BABES IN ARMS (1939) or the Andy Hardy movies, has, however, grown more complex. Ginger Gray shows the contradictory and ironic charm of the latter Garland characters, both vulnerable and quick to laugh at herself in a way that the roles as "Dorothy Adorable" hardly suggest. Berkeley films such as BABES IN ARMS & BABES ON BROADWAY had used the familiar "let's put a show on" theme as a glorious excuse for Garland, Rooney and dozens of other chorus folk to concoct variety shows. Although Norman Taurog's (he was Jackie Cooper's uncle) direction and staging of the musical numbers reflected the beginnings of a new style in film musicals, the plot of GIRL CRAZY is completely conventional. Not only are Rooney and Garland featured in virtually every scene, but they usually dominate the frame in Taurog's composition. Tommy Dorsey's orchestra provides the swingy ambience and the musical score is outstanding: "But Not for Me", "I Got Rhythm" "Embraceable You" "Fascinating Rhythm" and "Bidin' My Time" along with 7 others!

Isn't this great!!!!
This CD just came in the mail today. Just popped it in the player and I love it already! Judy's major numbers on this disc are featured on several of her Decca studio recordings, which is where I heard them first. But the original soundtrack performances, as heard here, are the best yet! This is, without a doubt, the best recording of the fabulous Gershwin score (although the 1952 Mary Martin cast album, now the only version in print, is good too). Garland and Rooney always worked so well together. The sound on the disc is wonderful - you'd never know it was made in 1943! All selections are in STEREO (except the Main Title, in monaural), thanks to the (as always) wonderful remastering and remixing job by Rhino/Turner. Unfortunately this disc is out of print, and its a shame that it is (I got my copy via Ebay). Keep an eye open for it, though. No faults with this one; it's great! As another reviewer states, these are quite possibly some of the greatest numbers ever put on film and disc!

One song in particular makes this movie special
I'm giving this film 5 stars based on one particular song in the film: "Bidin' my time". This performance by Judy just knocked my socks off when I caught it some time ago on late-night television. The rest of the film is fine too, but I'm a nut about music (all music from classical to rock) and after hearing this particular rendition I just had to own it. There's something different about how she and her group perform this song. I don't quite know how to describe it but it caught my interest immediately. It seems somehow ahead of its time. Anyway, that particular performance is just a joy to watch. I noticed that the commercial review had also picked up on this particular song.

Some of the best musical numbers ever put on film are here
I ignored this movie for years thinking it was just another over-exuberant essay in the over-abundant MGM collection of sappy adolescent musicals. I'm glad that listening to an English revival of the original musical finally motivated me to watch it, because some of the best musical numbers ever put on film are here. Busby Berkeley started as the director but was replaced for supposedly tyrannical behavior. His production numbers appear at the end and are quite amazing, choreographing "I've Got Rhythm" with guns and bullwhips. All the numbers on this movie are quite exceptional, in particular "Biding My Time" one of the Gershwin brothers' finest and most surprising tunes, but also "Treat Me Rough" and "Could You Use Me". And the arrangements are some of the best I've ever heard, anticipating the harmonies of the Hi-Los and the Four Freshmen by a decade and a half. Judy has never looked prettier nor sung as purely and Mickey pulls out all the stops without (well, almost) going over the top. He even plays a terrific piano solo, with Tommy Dorsey! I never get tired of watching this movie. It's an explosion of pure pleasure.

The fun never stops...
This is Mickey and Judy's best film together. They play off each other wonderfully and Judy's laughter is infectious. But it's the GREAT musical score that makes "Girl Crazy" a movie to go crazy about. This was their last starring feature together (she went on to bigger things in the years following) so get it, tuck it away and keep it for a rainy day when you need a reminder of how talented this screen duo was. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Great music, great cast, Ethel Waters at her best
This is a delightful film. The Broadway score, already one of the finer scores for its time, with the classics "Taking a chance on love" and "Cabin in the sky", was further improved with the addition of "Happiness is just a thing called Joe". There are several other wonderful numbers, including the Duke Ellington number with some great dancing, and "Bubbles" singing "Shine". The cast was the finest black talent of the day, and the movie demonstrates why Ethel Waters was considered the greatest singer and entertainer of her day. In this movie, she also demonstrates that she is a fine actress and a fine dancer. It's a pity that the racial climate of the time didn't allow her more films - she's as magical on screen as she was, by all reports, in person. The remainder of the cast includes a stunning young Lena Horne, surely one of the most beautiful women ever to appear on screen, and who is here allowed to be smolderingly sexy, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, who's an endearing Little Joe, Rex Ingram as Lucifer Jr, and smaller but memorable appearances by Louis Armstrong, Butterfly McQueen, and "Bubbles" of Buck and Bubbles. Seeing Waters sing "Taking a chance on love", "cabin in the sky", "Happiness is just a thing called Joe" and her wicked reprise of "Honey in the honeycomb", complete with some dance steps that will floor you, is more than enough to recommend the movie, but all performances are delightful, and the songs and background music are great. If we take it as a "fable", as we are counseled to do at the beginning, then I don't see it as a racist or dated film. The characters are almost all well delineated and believable within the "fable" context, and are no more stereotypical in this context than numerous films of white people at the time that were also fantasies.

It's a pleasure to watch from beginning to end - clearly a timeless classic, especially valuable for archiving for all time the classic Waters performance and the superb acting, singing, dancing and comedic skills of some of the greatest black talent pre-World War II.

A TOUR-DE-FORCE OF TALENT FROM AN AMAZING CAST
In these enlightened times, a movie such as Cabin in the Sky - which is heavily laden with racial stereotypes - seems awkwardly out of place. However, before we all jump on the political correctness bandwagon, it's worth remembering that the movie was made during WW2, and that Civil Rights Movements were some 20 or so years in the future.

Much has been written about the plot, so I won't focus on that. I will say, however, that this movie is a tour-de-force of talent. It marked Vincent Minelli's directorial debut, and it's clear that he did a fine job. Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Lena Horne and Ethel Waters all play their parts brilliantly. If there was any animosity between Lena and Ethel, it was easy to understand. Ethel fought tough and nail to climb the showbiz ladder, whereas Lena was the first African-American actress to be groomed specially for Hollywood. Ms Horne had specially designed gowns and mingled with the upper echelons of MGM. The moviemakers even created a special make up range for her in an effort to pass her off as an exotic Latin American belle. Lena refused to disrespect her race by denying her heritage.

Anyway, back to the film. It's Ethel Water's character, Petunia, that I warm to the most. She may have been downtrodden, and reduced to scrubbing floors. However, there's a down-to-earth warmth that radiates from her. Her rendition of "Happiness is a Thing Called Joe" is superb. The late Waters was a remarkable, versatile performer, and it's a shame that she's not as well known among the masses like Lena.

As for Lena's Georgia Brown, she's nothing short of breathtakingly beautiful. Ms Horne was something of a WW2 pin-up, and it's easy to see why. She tempts the viewers (and the censors, no doubt!) with her sexy lingerie, and isn't shy to show off a good bit of thigh! The only other African American woman who showed this much flesh was Josephine Baker, but she was doing her thing in Paris!

The songs by Duke Ellington are great. Also look out for a young Louis Armstrong - he plays one of Lucifer's hilarious angels!

Cabin in the Sky is fine musical - a classic, and it's high time is was released in the UK! However, us Brits will have to do with imports for the time being. As with all US video tapes, you'll need a VCR with NTSC playback to watch this movie.

Good Movie Fo Sho
Vincente Minnelli, who directed the film, Cabin in the Sky (1943), composed this 'race movie' with an all African American cast. What makes this film extraordinary is that Vincente Minnelli is a white director who filmed this picture with an all black cast. Around the early 1940's, mainstream production studios (Hollywood) noticed that these 'race movies' which consisted of African American directors/producers/casts, were producing huge sums of money. In an attempt to tap this newly discovered source of money, the mainstream film industry began to produce these race films which consisted of white directors/producers, but included an all African American cast. In Cabin in the Sky, Minnelli includes many social issues that black America faced during this time. A major issue that black America faced back in the 1940's and still today which Minnelli included in this film is obtaining identity/home.
An example of obtaining home can be explained by the scene where the character Little Joe (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson) dies and rises out of his body only to awake to the presence of Lucifer Jr. (Rex Ingram). As Lucifer Jr. describes to Little Joe all of the evil things that will come to him in Hell, Little Joe screams out, "I don't want to die, I just wanna' go back home to Petunia." In this scene, Little Joe identifies home as Earth, all the physical objects in which he can interact with (the absence of the spiritual world). Another example of home can be identified with the character Petunia (Ethel Waters) in the scene where she sits beside Little Joe next to him in his bed. Petunia preys to God to not take Little Joe home yet. In this scene, home is identified as the spiritual world, in which all the sins of the corrupt physical world would not exist. So in Petunias case, home is a pure spiritual world. In Little Joe's case, Earth is a testing ground to determine if a person should ascend to heaven or descend to hell. If a person lives a righteous life on Earth, then God will open the gates of heaven to that person. On the other hand, if a person lives a sinful life on Earth, the devil will open the gates of hell to that person. The moral of the film is that one must choose their path wisely while they live on the battleground between heaven and hell.
The film's title also has great significance. The title, Cabin in the Sky makes a huge statement saying that home is identified as heaven. A lack of home which is Earth, creates a void in which that void must be filled. If one can't obtain home physically, then one will obtain it spiritually. As in many of the scenes where Petunia preys to God prove that one will obtain home spiritually.
Overall, this film was excellent. It is a rare occasion to see pictures of a black heaven, in which many of the angels consisted of neatly dressed African American men in trimly white uniforms. Also, the gate keepers of heaven were young black angels, sitting valiantly on pedestals. The music by Ethel Waters and Duke Ellington with his band was phenomenal. I would recommend this movie to viewers who want to see how music and dance evolved from the old genre of 'race movies' to the new genre of 'race movies'.

Cabin in the Sky !!!!Fo Sho Baby!!!!!
Vincente Minnelli, who directed the film, Cabin in the Sky (1943), composed this 'race movie' with an all African American cast. What makes this film extraordinary is that Vincente Minnelli is a white director who filmed this picture with an all black cast. Around the early 1940's, mainstream production studios (Hollywood) noticed that these 'race movies' which consisted of African American directors/producers/casts, were producing huge sums of money. In an attempt to tap this newly discovered source of money, the mainstream film industry began to produce these race films which consisted of white directors/producers, but included an all African American cast. In Cabin in the Sky, Minnelli includes many social issues that black America faced during this time. A major issue that black America faced back in the 1940's and still today which Minnelli included in this film is obtaining identity/home.
An example of obtaining home can be explained by the scene where the character Little Joe (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson) dies and rises out of his body only to awake to the presence of Lucifer Jr. (Rex Ingram). As Lucifer Jr. describes to Little Joe all of the evil things that will come to him in Hell, Little Joe screams out, "I don't want to die, I just wanna' go back home to Petunia." In this scene, Little Joe identifies home as Earth, all the physical objects in which he can interact with (the absence of the spiritual world). Another example of home can be identified with the character Petunia (Ethel Waters) in the scene where she sits beside Little Joe next to him in his bed. Petunia preys to God to not take Little Joe home yet. In this scene, home is identified as the spiritual world, in which all the sins of the corrupt physical world would not exist. So in Petunias case, home is a pure spiritual world. In Little Joe's case, Earth is a testing ground to determine if a person should ascend to heaven or descend to hell. If a person lives a righteous life on Earth, then God will open the gates of heaven to that person. On the other hand, if a person lives a sinful life on Earth, the devil will open the gates of hell to that person. The moral of the film is that one must choose their path wisely while they live on the battleground between heaven and hell.
The film's title also has great significance. The title, Cabin in the Sky makes a huge statement saying that home is identified as heaven. A lack of home which is Earth, creates a void in which that void must be filled. If one can't obtain home physically, then one will obtain it spiritually. As in many of the scenes where Petunia preys to God prove that one will obtain home spiritually.
Overall, this film was excellent. It is a rare occasion to see pictures of a black heaven, in which many of the angels consisted of neatly dressed African American men in trimly white uniforms. Also, the gate keepers of heaven were young black angels, sitting valiantly on pedestals. The music by Ethel Waters and Duke Ellington with his band was phenomenal. I would recommend this movie to viewers who want to see how music and dance evolved from the old genre of 'race movies' to the new genre of 'race movies'.

Great music...
Great performances.Duke Ellington,Ethel Waters,Lena Horne.Doesn't get any better than that. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

The boys are working on a farm. Here comes John Garfield.
This is the forth Dead End Kids film. (Dead End [1937], Crime School [1938], Angeles With Dirty Faces [1938]). A boxer (John Garfield) has a little party after his fight. In a apartment, Johnnie trys to swing a punch at a nosy reporter, but he is so drunk he misses and ends-up passed out in a chair. Another man hits the reporter over the head with a whiskey bottle. The reporter McGee ends up dead. Later, they decide to make Johnnie take the fall. Johnnie is innocently drunk-sleep. The bad man and woman try to make there getaway, but with the police catching them, they go off the road and instantly die. They think it is Johnnie who is dead. But one detective is on the hunt. Johnnie runs away and he comes across a farm where the delinquent Dead End Kids (Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, Bernard Punsly) have been sent to work. There he meets the boys who he trys to reform. Also a woman at the date farm, Peggy (Gloria Dickson), softens his heart too. Meanwhile a detective (Claude Rains) is close on the trail. This is a good film for Billy Halop, who practically steals the film. Great acting from Halop. Good performances by May Robson who played the Grandma on the farm. Filmed at Palm Desert, California. Great ending. Get a hankercheif. On this DVD version, Alpha Video only offers an "index" which is a chapter selection. Very good print of film.

John Garfield meets the Dead End Kids
Future supersta