Summer Stock (1950)

A small-town farmer, down on her luck, finds her homestead invaded by a theatrical troupe invited to stay by her ne'er-do-well sister.

Director:

Charles Walters

Writers:

George Wells (screenplay), Sy Gomberg (screenplay)

Stars:

Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Judy Garland	...	Jane Falbury
Gene Kelly	...	Joe D. Ross
Eddie Bracken	...	Orville Wingait
Gloria DeHaven	...	Abigail Falbury (as Gloria De Haven)
Marjorie Main	...	Esme
Phil Silvers	...	Herb Blake
Ray Collins	...	Jasper G. Wingait
Nita Bieber	...	Sarah Higgins
Carleton Carpenter	...	Artie
Hans Conried	...	Harrison I. Keath

Storyline

As a favor to her actress sister Abigail, New England farmer Jane Falbury allows a group of actors use her barn as a theater for their play. In return, the cast and crew have to help her with the farm chores. During rehearsals, Jane finds herself falling for the show's director, Joe Ross, who also happens to be engaged to the show's leading lady-- Abigail.

---

Plot Keywords:

farm | barn | actress | actor | female protagonist | 

---

Taglines:

Judy and Gene

---

Genres:

Musical | Romance

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 January 1951 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Casa, Comida e Carinho

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite the obvious difficulties Judy Garland was experiencing during the making of this film, her professionalism shines through as she matches Gene Kelly tap for tap in the challenging "Portland Fancy" dance sequence.

---

Goofs

When Abigail and Orville are rushing back to the farm, the backdrop is of an open road. When Abigail shouts for Orville to look out, the camera pans out to reveal that they were driving through a town.

---

Quotes

Joe D. Ross: And then they dance. A nice easy dance. It's a nice easy song.

---

Connections

Featured in American Masters: Judy Garland: By Myself (2004)

---

Soundtracks

Portland Fancy
(uncredited)
Traditional New England contra dance tune
Played and danced to by the townspeople at the social
Swing version danced to by the stock company members, then by Gene Kelly and Judy Garland

User Reviews

A Great Pairing (Again!!!)

Judy & Gene...what a wonderful Hollywood combination! It's great to see two all-around entertainers working together. Great movie, great songs and dance numbers. Plot was a little weak, but a great musical covers a multitude of sins. I had trouble in seeing Judy as a farmgirl from the country. She had already played this role, sort of, in "Wizard Of Oz", but she was younger then. Like I said.. a good musical makes it all okay. Marjorie Mains was great as always. She had done the "Ma Kettle" role so well for so long that she had taken to playing various versions of it the rest of her life. Eddie Braken as Orville, Judy's fiancee in the movie was good casting. Phil Silvers steals the show in scenes he is in but can be a little grating at times with his silliness here. It all leads up to Judy's performance in "Get happy" though, doesn't it? I mean, you see this glorious performance and the movie suddenly goes from good to "classic". "Get Happy" would soon become one of Judy's signature songs. It's very obvious that 1949-50 were hard times for Judy. Her weight was yo-yoing (Compare the scenes in the beginning where she is in overalls to her singing "Get Happy"), in a few scenes she does not seem fully present or focused. But as another writer here has said, she could do more on her bad days then most everyone else could do on their best. She seemed happiest when she was singing. Always.