gkeith_1 Dance movies I like. You know that. Here, there is some signature Busby, but not enough. He ties up the ending of the show, in a good way. I understand that his services were only minimally appreciated. Loss of one point.Posters show Mickey and Judy dancing, but there was not as much as I had thought that there would be. They were arguing in the beginning. Just figure Tracy and Hepburn, who would make up before the end.Black and white. Ugh for a musical. How revolting. This is no film noir 1940s detective show. It needs color, and there is none. Watching the black and white tried my patience, but I actually watched the whole thing. Loses another point out of ten.Made during World War Two. Mickey, in real life, was in that war. When Mickey came home, he found that his film services were less wanted than previously. Wondering if he was in the military before or after this film was made.Were the tons of male actors-singers-dancers in this film rejects from World War Two? Had they already served? Were some of them soon to go into combat?Missing Lewis Stone as Mickey's father. Will let that go. The father figure looked like George Raft. I thought, some great tap dancing. But no. The father was portrayed by a different actor, however.Judy the next year would be in Meet Me in St. Louis, yearning for The Boy Next Door. Just four years before, Judy was decked out as an adolescent dancing with scarecrow and co. in The Wizard of Oz.Not enough Nancy Walker. Granted, she was no Rodeo Queen material, but the quals included beauteous and Nancy was just the comic relief. That's too bad. I think that she had bigger parts in other films. Was she in Best Foot Forward, or Good News? Hey Church. How's your steeple? Hahahahahaha.Mickey was very athletic. He was a short little squirt, and I marveled while watching this that he was married in real life a total of nine times. ???? That little guy really got around.Have been waiting to see this for a long time. It is actually quite satisfying, despite all of my critiquing.Eight out of ten.

Steven Torrey Fricke in his DVD comment says this is the best of the four produced by Arthur Freed of the Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland films. Which to my way of thinking--this was the least annoying of the four films. Granted the Gershwin words and music is a draw; Tommy Dorsey's orchestra playing the tunes is a draw; Judy Garland's rendition of the tunes is a draw, and about as good a reason as any to see the movie. The weakest link in the film was Mickey Rooney. Not to take away from his talent in dancing, in miming--he has got to be the most annoying actor in Hollywood. How he was ever rated as a top draw player is anyone's guess--apparently, he outdrew the likes of Clark Gable. But for my taste, he detracts from the films. And these films are so flimsy, so shallow, such an embarrassment--they need all the help they can get--and Mickey Rooney is of no help.And yet, having written that, I can't imagine another actor working with Judy Garland. He is so annoying, and by contrast, she is excellent.Even by the standards of films made in the 1930s--I can think of dozens that are better than this; Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers never descended into the bathos the Rooney Garland films seem to delight. The Rooney Garland films are not films that demand replaying--they tire with one viewing. While one never tires of anything Rogers & Hammerstein, never tires of "My Fair Lady", "The Music Man", "Gigi", Astaire & Rogers, "Three Penny Opera", even the Busby Berkeley films are never tiresome in the way these four Rooney Garland vehicles are tiresome. And fortunately, Judy Garland was to go on and produce excellence as she grew older. The Gershwin tunes are the best they had produced; Judy Garland's rendition of the tunes was excellent; Tommy Dorsey was excellent. But all that excellence cannot make a flimsy and silly story into a great film, not even a mediocre film--just a tolerable film. And when one of the major actors is so annoying, nothing can overcome that level of annoyance.

SimonJack Of the four musical comedies MGM made with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, "Girl Crazy" and "Strike Up the Band" stand out. This film may have a slight edge over the other. "Girl Crazy" is the only one of the four that isn't in a musical revue format. Instead of a story about young performers putting on a show with the musical numbers, this is a regular story in which the music is interspersed. Songs fit into the plot here and there. That's called a musical play format – the type that Rodgers and Hammerstein would perfect in their big blockbuster stage and then movie productions in the 1950s and 60s. (Think "Oklahoma," "South Pacific," "The King and I," "The Sound of Music," etc.)The entertainment industry often alludes to the talented Garland, and properly so for her great singing voice. Rooney doesn't usually get the same attention today, because his career took a down turn after his youthful years. Yet that young actor of short physical stature (5 feet, 2 inches) was a giant of talent. He could sing, dance, play excellent piano and other instruments, and act. He was particularly adept at impersonations and other comedic skills, though these were exhibited sparingly. Rooney has one such hilarious scene in "Girl Crazy" where he uses a standing microphone to rattle off several imitations of broadcasters and announcers one after another. This film also has some other great pluses. The full musical score was done by George and Ira Gershwin. It includes hit songs from their 1930s Broadway hit by the same name, including "Embraceable You," and "I Got Rhythm." Another plus is Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra doing the music. Rooney gets to showcase his considerable piano talent when he accompanies the Dorsey band on the ivories in "I Got Rhythm." The dance numbers are also excellent, with Busby Berkley's touch quite evident. A subtle humorous aside in the film has to do with Cheyenne and Wyoming, where much of the film takes place. The state's scant population and scarcity of buildings is carried to an exaggerated level. One scene has the stars heading for the capitol in an old jalopy. A sign points to Cheyenne just a few miles ahead. But they are still on a two-wheel track dirt road with sagebrush and treeless desert all around them. "Girl Crazy" holds up well with time, and anyone who enjoys great music, comedy or just plain entertainment should like this film.

TxMike The DVD has an introduction by Mickey Rooney, filmed in 2007, and he chokes up remembering Judy Garland, and he says his greatest thrill is that she considered him her favorite movie partner.This entertaining movie is about the actors, Rooney and Garland, doing their thing, plus the great Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra playing Gershwin songs. Dorsey isn't simply providing music, he becomes a character in the film, of course playing himself.Mickey Rooney was 22 here, playing Danny Churchill, Jr., son of a wealthy New York publisher. In the movie's opening we see Danny Jr. out on the town, and the next morning the publicity of his antics are not well received by dad. So Danny Boy gets sent to Cody College, "out west." Cody College is populated by young cowboys, and is in somewhat of a bind, student enrollment is dropping and may have to be closed down. One of the first people Danny meets is Judy Garland as Ginger Gray, under her US Mail delivery car in the desert, trying to get it running. Eventually they do, and she gives Danny a ride to the college. It turns out her grandfather is the dean of the school.Much of the movie has two thrusts ... Danny falling in love with Ginger, and convincing her he is sincere. And Danny figuring out a way to help keep the college open. In the end they hit upon an idea and it results in a flood of letters of application ... from female students.The music and singing are great, and Mickey Rooney displays his many talents, and even has a piano number with the Dorsey band. The last scene is a very nice 7-minute production number. Very nice movie from 1943, two years before I was born.