jacobs-greenwood Directed by George B. Seitz, with a screenplay by William Ludwig, this slightly above average family comedy-drama sprinkled with innocent teenage romance marks the fourth in the (Andy Hardy) series based on Aurania Rouverol's play (Skidding), which began with A Family Affair (1937).Mickey Rooney plays the titled character, a rambunctious 17 year old, and Lewis Stone plays his wise, caring father (and) Judge Hardy. Cecilia Parker plays Andy's, frequently separated from her husband, married older sister. Fay Holden, who plays Andy's mother in the series, is absent for most of this film's story as is Aunt Millie, played by Betty Ross Clarke, who took Sara Haden's place in a couple of these films. 'Mother' has gone to see and stay with her mother, who'd just had a stroke, and Millie goes too. Ann Rutherford plays Andy's girlfriend Polly Benedict, as usual, but the story in this one features some conflicts in their relationship:Andy's friend 'Beezy' (George Breakston) asks him to 'keep' (by dating) his girlfriend Cynthia Potter (Lana Turner, in her fifth film) away from the other boys while he's out of town during Christmas break. Since Polly is also to be away for the Christmas holiday, and Beezy is willing to pay Andy the eight dollars he needs to buy a car (he'd already paid $12), Andy agrees ... though kissing is the only thing she (Lana Turner!) wants to do and, inexplicably, this becomes tiresome for him.Simultaneously, Betsy Booth (16 year old Judy Garland, in only her second pairing with Rooney, playing a 13 year old) comes to visit her family, that lives next door to the Hardys, for Christmas. Naturally, she (sings and) soon meets Andy and develops a crush on him. At first, this further complicates Andy's love life; but later, she helps him out of a couple of inevitable jams:Beezy meets another girl while away (in Chicago?) and tells Andy that he can have Cynthia AND Polly returns home early, in time to attend a Christmas Eve dance to which, unbeknownst to her, Andy had already promised to take Cynthia.Throughout the film, Judge Hardy listens to the problems of his children and gives sage advice and/or comfort. For his part, Rooney is particularly animated as Andy, swinging between the exuberant highs of teenage dating and the doldrums of adolescence.

Michael_Elliott Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) *** (out of 4) Andy (Mickey Rooney) catches a break when girlfriend Polly (Ann Rutherford) must head out of town because this leaves him able to earn $8 for a car he wants to buy. All he has to do is date his best friend's girlfriend (Lana Turner) while he's out of town as he doesn't want her going around with any other boys. Things don't go as planned but at least Andy has his new neighbor (Judy Garland) who just happens to have a few plans of her own. This fourth film in the series is often considered by man to be the best but I'm not certain I'd go that far. If someone is looking for pure laughs there are funnier films in the series but at the same time it's easy to see why this one would get so much attention due to the terrific cast. I guess you could say Andy is the luckiest guy in the world if his biggest problem is dating women like Garland, Turner and Rutherford but that's the major of the film's storyline. There are a few minor subplots dealing with Judge (Lewis Stone) having to take care of the fort when his wife (Fay Holden) leaves to take care of her ill mother. I'm guessing mom was pretty much written out of this one simply because you had so many other characters that needed attention. Apparently this film was shot in just 19 days and was released to theaters less than two months after it was given the green light. It's hard to imagine any movie being written, shot and shown in such a short period of time but I guess you have to give the MGM factory credit for this. Even though I wouldn't name this the best of the series there are still enough good moments to make it a must see. The majority of the charm comes from Rooney and his energy as he tries to get through all these situations while at the same time learning various life lessons. It's hard to imagine anyone else in the role of Andy Hardy as Rooney is pitch perfect for it and he matches well with the three females. He and Rutherford always had that great charm in each film but the real shock was seeing how good he was with Turner. The two really seem to have great chemistry and this comes across during a terrific scene in the woods where they kiss and Rooney lets out a scream of pleasure to which Turner then laughs in hysterics. Garland certainly gets the majority of the screen time and she does a fine job as well. She also gets to sing three songs, which she does a good job with even though none of the songs are all that memorable. It goes without saying but Lewis Stone is at the top of his game as normal. LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY is certainly a flick that any film buff should see simply because of the great cast. It's hard to think of a film with more young talent but they all deliver the goods and make this an entertaining little gem.

TxMike It was the late 1930s and the US had not entered the world war yet. This movie features many of the upcoming stars that were still teenagers.Mickey Rooney is Andy Hardy, always up to something. This time he has decided he needs a car for the upcoming Christmas dance and finds a real fixer-upper for all of $20. But he only has $12 and doesn't want to ask dad for money, so he arranges for the salesman to hold the car with a promise to pay the other $8 by December 23rd. His girl, Ann Rutherford as Polly Benedict, is going out of town for the holidays.Fortunately a guy friend of Andy's is also going out of town with his family and asks Andy to "watch his girl", a teenage Lana Turner as Cynthia Potter, while he is gone, and Andy agrees for $8. But later when the friends finds a new girl out of town, and welches on the deal, Andy is left scrambling.Meanwhile Judy Garland as Betsy Booth is visiting next door for the holidays. Since Betsy is only "13 or 14" (she really was 14 or 15) Andy didn't pay too much attention to the "kid." But Betsy had her sights set on Andy.Garland had been performing for several years already, and in this movie is the daughter of an entertainer, and at the Christmas dance Betsy gets on stage to sing a couple of songs, much to the enjoyment of Andy who was her date for the evening.A very cute, entertaining movie. Especially when we consider what all those teenage actors grew up to become in the entertainment world.

lacy_lou_92 This has gotta be one of my all time favorite movies ever! It takes you back to simpler times, when cars were only $20 and makes you wish life could be like that now. Judy Garland is radiant in this movie, she absolutely steals every scene she is in! The movie is filled with an all star cast, including Mickey Rooney (well Hugh) Judy Garland (another duh) Lana Turner and others. It's basically a story about Andy Hardy (played by Mickey Rooney) who gets into some girl trouble, and is helped by his neighbors granddaughter (Judy Garland) who is staying for Christmas. Judy sings some wonderful songs in this movie, especially "In-Between" it's such a believable song for a young girl to sing. They try to pass Judy off as a 12 year old, but she does look older. other than that, it's perfect! Just Watch It.