jarrodmcdonald-1 This MGM film benefits from strong casting and sincere dialogue, especially in the parent-child scenes. Don't miss the younger actors (especially Elizabeth Taylor and Scotty Beckett) who put real honest emotion into their parts. If only all young performers did such a great job, most of our movies would be so much better today.Jane Powell is the female lead in this picture, and as always, she is appealing. Of course, so are the other leads, Wallace Beery and Carmen Miranda. In fact, Miss Miranda nearly steals the show with her rumba lessons. But most impressive is Leon Ames, as an out- of-touch dad who realizes before it is too late, that his kids need him. I think this is his best performance.

MartinHafer Jane Powell plays Judy--a kooky teenager who can sing like a bird but who has difficulty picking friends. That's because her best friend, Carol (Elizabeth Taylor) is a rich, meddling, spoiled jerk--yet Judy doesn't seem to recognize this. And throughout the film, Carol does her best to make Judy's life miserable. For no particular reason, Carol drives a wedge between her brother, Oogie, and Judy--who are sweethearts. However, this backfires when Judy ends up with a much handsomer and older man, Stephen (Robert Stack). Now, jealous, Carol is determined to take Stephen for herself. But Stephen is no dummy--he sees that Carol is gorgeous but also lets her know that he can see right through her and her wiles.In a smaller side story, Judy's father (Wallace Beery) is a nice guy--but a nice guy who is embarrassed that he doesn't know how to dance. With his anniversary coming up, he decides to secretly take dance lessons (with Carmen Miranda) but due to Carol's meddling, people begin to think that he and Carmen are in love! SO, Judy decides the best way to fight this is to make her father feel loved--and she and the family lay it on thick. Clearly this is Beery at his best--and he's easy to love (despite his very nasty personality off-screen).This is the sort of light family musical-comedy that MGM did best. Films like "On Moonlight Bay" and "Meet Me in St. Louis" are just a small sampling of the sort of genre that the studio made to perfection. They also made some non-musicals with similar plots that just can't be beat, such as "Life With Father", the Andy Hardy films and "Cheaper By the Dozen" (the original--not the new crappy version). These films aren't especially deep but are filled with pleasant plots, a bit of minor melodrama, some laughs and, most importantly, nice folks you'd like to meet. My only complaint is that although Powell has a good voice, her high-toned style and high pitch is NOT to my liking. It's far less simple and pleasant than Judy Garland ("Meet Me in St. Louis") or Doris Day ("By the Light of the Silvery Moon" and "On Moonlight Bay"). I am also not a huge Carmen Miranda fan, though when she wasn't singing, she was just fine. Overall, while not a great family musical comedy, it's a good one and well worth your time.

moonspinner55 Teenage girl in Southern California is in a quandary: could it be that her stodgy father is really having an affair with a spicy band singer? Jane Powell plays the suspicious kid, Wallace Beery is her pop, insane Carmen Miranda plays the colorful chanteuse. Modest sitcom, a featherweight piece of fluff, but perhaps an overlong one, with tired songs and not enough funny lines or gags. It's entirely slick and squeaky-clean, and might charm some with its nostalgia. Elizabeth Taylor easily steals the picture away from the others playing Jane's "progressive" pal--one who gets to wear false eyelashes to the prom! ** from ****

Nazi_Fighter_David In "A Date with Judy," Liz is fully the poor little rich girl, snobbish and out for trouble because her father's real attention is elsewhere, on making money… Unhappy at home, she stirs up trouble abroad, giving naive Jane Powell bad advice on how to handle boys, and stealing one of Jane's boyfriends right out from under her twitching nose… Very pre-Lolita, a Forties style teenaged sex kitten, this is the first version of the Taylor minx and she seems highly sophisticated for a small-town high school girl, even if she is rich..."A Date with Judy" is a pleasant musical, antiseptic and cheery, suggesting Hollywood's conception of high school Life in the Forties… Like "Cynthia," the film is very class conscious, contrasting Taylor's cold, upper class household with Jane Powell's comfortable middle-class home…Typically, Liz is rich, spoiled, and reserved, but typically, too, when all is said and done, she's not bad-mannered or troublesome one; she's a good kid who just needs a little love and attention… Taylor's character finally allowed her to use the sexiness that everyone had sensed since she rode that horse in "National Velvet."