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Girl Crazy (1943) More at IMDbPro »

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15 comments in total

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8 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
The Best Gerswhin score is given the MGM treatment, 3 July 2005

Author: marknyc from New York

Put aside any preconceptions about "Mickey and Judy" movies. In fact, put aside the film entirely. It's watchable, but who cares? The reason to see this film is for the fantastic arrangements of some of Gershwin's best songs.

Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine, soon to be famous for their score for "Meet Me in St. Louis," gave the Gershwins' score (their best show), the five-star treatment with fantastic vocal arrangements - though I'm sure Roger Edens also had a hand in there.

What you get are versions that make these great songs sound even better. "Bidin' My Time," which can be a sleeper if done badly, turns into a rich counterpoint between Judy and a male quartet. "Embraceable You" is given an easy, lightly swinging full choral arrangement after Judy has her turn, and "I Got Rhythm" is taken over the top with Tommy Dorsey and the "Six Hits and A Miss" backing Judy perfectly.

But the piece de resistance is Dorsey's arrangement of "Fascinatin' Rhythm," presented first as a typical swing arrangement (and a great one at that), and then with Mickey playing (appearing to play, actually), a piano solo a la Gershwin's "Variations on I Got Rhythm," complete with hand-crossing and all George's piano tricks - fantastic! Add to this Judy's painfully tender version of "But Not For Me," June Allyson's debut performance of "Treat Me Rough," and you have one of the best film scores ever. ("Bronco Busters," unfortunately cut from the film, is available on CD - in stereo, as are all the tracks.)

If you are a Gershwin fan, this film is a treasure. Thank god they didn't throw out the best songs, as was done a few years earlier when Rodgers & Hart's equally impressive score for "Babes In Arms" was butchered for that film. I guess you had to be dead before your work was treated with respect in Hollywood!

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7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Garland and Rooney, Who Could Ask For Anything More???, 20 January 2005

Author: Tracey from Philly

Forget the plot, in my opinion, this is the best of the Garland/Rooney films.

Mickey is a delight especially in their duet Could You Use Me?

Even better is Judy who steals the show. Her songs from "Embraceable You", "But Not For Me", and "Bidin My Time" are spectacular.

She also looks absolutely beautiful throughout the movie.

The highlight of the film is Judy singing the outstanding "I Got Rhythm". The vocal strength shows why she was the best singer of her era!!

An absolutely must see film!!

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
romantic / comedy musical, 29 March 2001

Author: Don from U.S.

This was the highest grossing movie in 1943 and nominated for an academy award . If you like old romantic /comedies , you're sure to like this film . It has 2 of my favorite stars Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. The movie takes place on a western university . Throw in a spoiled city brat taking a shine to deans daughter and the university about to be closed ( due to lack of funds ) adds up to a funny and delightful movie. You get a little of everything in this movie - great songs , dancing , comedy , romance , cowboys/cowgirls - go out and rope in this movie and enjoy it tonight.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Easily one of the best Garland/Rooney musicals, 18 October 2004

Author: Wayne Malin (wwaayynnee51@hotmail.com) from United States

The plot is virtually the same as in all the other Garland/Rooney movies: Rooney is a ladies man (stop laughing!)and, to tame him, is sent to a dude ranch out west. There he meets mail carrier and (it seems) cook Judy Garland. She hates him, he loves her and after all the predictable complications occur they fall in love leading to the big, elaborate number.

The plot is predictable but the movie is still a lot fun. The script is sharp and quite funny; Garland and Rooney always played off good against each other; a very young Nancy Walker has a bit role and is hilarious whenever she's on screen and it moves fairly quick.

Also seeing Rooney and Garland so young and full of life is always great and the songs are good. There are no real bad ones but "Embracble You" and "I Got Rhythm" are standouts. And the final number is just incredible (although I question the cowboys shooting off round after round of ammunition).

A great little musical. Worth seeing.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Some of the best musical numbers ever put on film are here..., 25 January 2000

Author: inframan from the lower depths

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.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Mickey and Judy's best!, 16 January 2006

Author: C.K. Dexter Haven from BC

Mickey Rooney is hilarious, Judy Garland charms your socks off with her incredible talent, Busby Berkely adds his genius, Norman Taurog is in top form, and Tommy Dorsey swings the joint with his big band in this exceptional MGM wartime Musical. Top it off with a superb Gershwin's score, Rags Ragland, Nancy Walker and June Allyson in solid supporting roles and you have one helluva entertaining songfest.

What more can you ask for? If this one doesn't make you laugh and tap your toes nothing will. Sure it's fluff but oh what good fluff! Escapist fun in 1943 and just as good now. Judy and Mickey were always great together and made some decent musicals, but this is the best I've seen. A thorough delight from start to finish.

What talent Hollywood once had that is gone forever. There's more entertainment value in the first 25 minutes of this picture than in most current films I've seen lately combined.

See it. It's a gem.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
'puttin' on a show' with Gershwin, 19 May 2004
Author: didi-5 from United Kingdom

This Gershwin musical, first staged in 1930 (and filmed, not altogether successfully from a musical point of view, by RKO in 1932) gets another movie version, this time tailored for the talents of MGM's two top young stars, Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.

The original story gets ditched and in place we get the usual 'kids putting on a show' stuff that Judy and Mickey did in all their collaborations during the 1930s/40s. The songs are done very well - Judy sings 'But Not For Me' and it is absolutely stunning, the way she is photographed during this sequence really complementing the beautiful melody of the song. 'Embraceable You', an unforgivable omission from the '32 version (it was filmed but then scrapped on the wisdom of David Selznick) is back. So Judy is great, while Mickey does the same bubbly act as always but he certainly had talent.

Perhaps one day we'll see a version which does justice to both the original plot as staged *and* the score. Neither the '32 or '43 versions quite got there - but both are worth your time, if only for quite different reasons.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Busby Berkeley, 30 December 2005
Author: Stanley Krute from United States

The plot's ridiculous. Garland and Rooney are young and magical. Seeing Tommy Dorsey's orchestra at work is wonderful.

The movie's finale is a musical number, "I Got Rhythm", directed by Busby Berkeley. As with all the great Berkeley musical scenes, it's a unique vision. The camera moves and staging are masterful. Transcendent, even. I'd love to be a fly on the wall while this scene was being thought up and worked on.

Something I haven't seen commented on: Rooney's radio impressions, given while he and Garland wait to see the governor. Kinda fun. Mickey channels his inner Robin Williams.

Despite the plot absence, put this on your must-see list if you're serious about developing cinematic literacy.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Commendable film, 16 February 2001

Author: xidax

This is the only Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney musical I actually like. Their previous three had sappy plots and sometimes so-so songs, but this film rarely gets sentimental, and when it does it works. The music is the best of any of their movies, by far, and the presentation of it is fine, often more than that. It doesn't adhere to the play it's based on much, but so what; I don't know if the stage version would have translated well to film anyway. The two stars give their usual skillful performances, with unusually likeable characters and sprightly dialogue to base them on. And then there's those nice sunny REAL desert backgrounds - how often did musicals of that era get so far away from the studios? It isn't perfect - for one thing, am I the only one who finds Rags Ragland a bit annoying? - but it's still pretty inspired.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
A fabulous songfest, 8 June 1999
Author: Dreamer-36 from California

Judy and Mickey, one of the best team-ups in the history of motion pictures, team up again in this rather fun musical. With Tommy Dorsey and his band there, and with Gershwin-composed songs, really, what more can you ask? I consider Judy's rendition of "But Not For Me" to be one of her best songs.

He's (Danny Churchill Jr. - Mickey Rooney) the playboy, who fools around with girls too much and is sent out west to a "all boys college- Cody College- to reform" He did not even reach there yet when he saw two legs sticking out of a stalled car. Even in jeans, they could be none other's than Ginger Gray, the granddaughter of the dean of Cody. He tries to get her hand in love, but to no avail. She's just laughing at the way he is trying to adjust to western life. He can't ride a horse correctly, and looks ....well, weird in Western clothing. When Danny finally wants to quit, Ginger drives him to the train station. He tries, for one last time, to convince her in a song, but she rejects him continuing the song. When she drops him in the station, he decides to walk back because of his love for Ginger. As the two fall in love, the college receives news that it is closing down. Should Danny stay to save both Ginger and the college? Or should he take Ginger and run back to New York and his former college, Yale? Find out in this exciting video.

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