JohnHowardReid Copyright 8 May 1937 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp. New York opening at the Rialto, 19 April 1937. U.S. release: 19 March 1937. 8 reels. 6,202 feet. 68 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Carvel, Idaho. Judge Hardy inflames his fellow townsmen when he issues an injunction stopping construction work on a major aqueducts project.NOTES: Aurania Rouverol's second stage play, "Skidding", won the Drama League Prize of Pasadena, California, in 1926. It opened on Broadway at the Bijou on 21 May 1928, with Carleton Macy, Clara Blandick, Louise Carter, Charles Eaton, Marguerite Churchill and Walter Abel in the parts of Judge Hardy, Mrs Hardy, Aunt Milly, Andy Hardy, Marian Hardy and Wayne Trent III (sic.), respectively. In addition, the play featured a Grandpa Hardy (Burr Caruth) and two married daughters, Estelle (Isabel Dawn) and Myra (Joan Madison). For the screen version, Grandpa was eliminated and the two married daughters combined. Despite not overly enthusiastic reviews, the play ran a mightily impressive 469 performances. The film rights were bought by MGM, re- titled "A Family Affair", and brought in under a strict budget by the studio's "B" unit, using a screenplay that considerably altered the plot, while retaining the philosophic emphases of the original. Thus was born the most successful series in movie history. Domestic (including Canadian) theater grosses up to 1946: a staggering $73 million.Academy Award to MGM for "its achievement in representing the American Way of Life". (Presented at the 1942 Awards.)COMMENT: The first installment of the Hardy family proves more watchable than some of the others, despite a spurious sub-plot about Joan, the judge's daughter, being left high and dry by her churlish husband. Would you believe, this verbally abused dishrag of a girl actually wants her boorish spouse to forgive her for allowing an admirer to steal a kiss during a meal at a roadhouse? And even more irritatingly unbelievable, the smarmy old male chauvinist judge doesn't sympathize with his browbeaten daughter at all. Instead, he puts in his two cracker-barrel cents for her bullying husband. The hypocritical old coot seems determined to antagonize not only the good citizens of Carvel, but the audience as well. Fortunately, he has more success with the main plot when it turns out that the town's savior developers are not the godsends they appear. Nonetheless, a man of balance and sense would have voiced his concerns from the very beginning. Instead, the judge is portrayed as an obstinate stickler/spoiler who sets out to justify his actions for no other reason than sheer cussedness. He happens to stumble across a "joker" in the contract by sheer chance — and an extremely outside chance at that. What would he have done if the developers hadn't over-reached themselves?For additional comments, see my review of "You're Only Young Once".

bkoganbing The Hardy Family made its debut for MGM in this film, A Family Affair. But to those who've seen other films of the series it looks like Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, and Sara Haden were all dropped into another family of Hardys in an alternate universe Carvel.Judge and Mrs. Hardy started out here as Lionel Barrymore and Spring Byington and they had another older daughter played by Julia Haydon. Haydon has marriage problems with her estranged husband Allen Vincent. Parker is quarreling with her boyfriend Eric Linden and Mickey Rooney is having his eternal problems with the opposite sex. All that however plays into the main plot line of this film, Judge Hardy's re-election is in peril over an injunction he issued against building a dam.That was the difference between this Hardy films and the rest to follow with Lewis Stone and Fay Holden as the Hardy parents. The kids even Mickey Rooney are clearly in support of Lionel Barrymore. That would not be the case in the rest of the series.Talk about judicial activism, when the man who originally brought the suit wants to the withdraw because he's been bribed, Barrymore throws him out on his ear. I can't think of another judge anywhere in the real world who wouldn't want to clear his docket if the parties settled out of court. He continues on and Barrymore's political opponents who have a vested and hidden interest in the dam played by Selmer Jackson and Charley Grapewin try to block his party from renominating him.Of course it all works out in the end as it always did. Lionel Barrymore was no less wise and no less honest than Lewis Stone in subsequent films.A Family Affair is certainly a tribute to the simpler times it was made in, but still nice viewing.

tavm Just watched this, the first film in the Hardy Family series. Lionel Barrymore, who I'll always first think of as Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life-my favorite movie, is the Judge Hardy character who's in it with threats of no renomination because of something he's against resulting in his offspring not liking him as well. Mickay Rooney is here as Andy Hardy. He was 16 at the time. Spring Byington is the mother. Both she and Barrymore would reunite for You Can't Take It With You a year later. Nice mix of drama and comedy throughout. Mickey is especially funny but there's also a turn by screen drunk Arthur Housman who I usually associate with Laurel & Hardy. So on that note, I highly recommend A Family Affair.

MartinHafer This is the first of the Hardy family movies from MGM. While Mickey Rooney starred in all of them, most of the family members (other than Cecilia Parker who appeared in most of the films) were replaced by other actors in the next installment of the series. Perhaps Lionel Barrymore and Spring Byington were considered too valuable to waste in this series and were needed by other projects--whatever the reason, this is the only film where you'll see them playing Andy's parents. He also has a sister in this film who doesn't appear in future films.The main theme of the film is Judge Hardy's job. It seems that when the Judge does his job according to the law, he ruffles some feathers and the town big-shots threaten to prevent his re-election. Despite repeated warnings, the ever-decent Judge is a man of the law and refuses to bend. This makes it hard on his family, as people who were once their friends begin to act like big dumb jerks.The secondary theme is the oldest Hardy daughter. It seems that her marriage is on the rocks and she's come back home to her parents. Later, in order to try to pressure the judge, this daughter is pulled into the fight--as innuendos and half-truths are tossed about by the town scum.As for Andy, he's really an ancillary character here--even though later films make him THE star. In fact, many of the later films have his name in the title due to his pre-eminence in the cast (such as "Love Finds Andy Hardy" and others). Because of this, the film is much more a film about Judge Hardy and is supported by his family.The overall package is excellent--especially since it is really a B-movie plot with an A-picture cast. Enjoyable and pleasant--I can see why this led to more films like it.