Steven Torrey Despite the excellence of dance, music, singing, acting--though one always suspects the combination of Rooney / Garland was more being themselves than acting--the movie cannot transcend its severe limitations. The movies sound exactly what they were--high school kids putting on a performance and such acting is exactly that-high school kids putting on a performance. Despite Freed, Busby Berkeley, Paul Whitman, and the singing and dancing of Rooney & Garland-- the movie fails. I can watch "The Music Man', "My Fair Lady', "Gigi", Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers--and never get tired; while these four movies wear thin after first viewing.

Neil Doyle Of all the Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland musicals, this one does the least to effectively showcase their musical talent. Mickey is allowed to conduct a band as if his life depended on it, even though he's shown to be an extremely talented guy with drums and other musical instruments.And the story is strictly '40s corn about a talented youth who wants to achieve success with his own band and succeeds in attracting the attention of Paul Whiteman who wants him for a big radio show contest.The songs are given short shrift in favor of a creaky melodramatic skit that is allowed to run far too long in the middle of the picture. Only a couple of songs are given fair treatment by Judy and Mickey.A good script was badly needed to show these two performers at their best. This was not the case here. Too much time expended on letting Mickey's extravagant enthusiasm overshadow his more effective quieter moments.Summing up: A disappointing and manipulative show, especially when it comes to those tear-jerker sentimental moments.

mark.waltz Right after the credits end, the camera moves across an obvious teen-aged band where the boys are obviously bored playing the official theme of the Air Force. All of a sudden, the drummer adds a bit of boogie woogie into his one track beat and the teacher reminds him that they are not playing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy". The drummer boy is of course Mickey Rooney who even today is still drummin' out small appearances in movies. When all of a sudden Judy Garland appears, they start talking about putting together their own dance band with Judy as the vocalist and Mick as the conductor. Everything seems to be falling into place for them. It's a piece of cake. In fact, that cake, with a bunch of fruit ends up an orchestra of its own playing "Our Love Affair" in one of the most imaginative sequences on film. Its up there with Gene Kelly and Jerry the Mouse dancing in "Anchors Aweigh" as what made MGM musicals so imaginative.But things don't go smoothly of course. They need $200 to get to Chicago to audition for Paul Whiteman, but miraculously, Whiteman shows up in town to play at flirtatious June Preisser's birthday party. Mickey, Judy and the gang take over. After earlier dancing to the "La Conga" (where some of the high school dance band members appear to be a bit older), they now perform "Drummer Boy", and knock Whiteman's socks off. Whiteman wants them on his show regardless for a contest of all the high school bands but when their pal Larry Nunn all of a sudden needs an operation for a broken arm, there goes to $200. Ann Shoemaker steps in for Mickey's "Andy Hardy" ma Fay Holden as the wise mother who guides Mickey's conscience (she's more like a female Judge Hardy), and the diminutive Francis Pierlot is the kindly principal.This has nothing to do with the 1930 Broadway musical other than the title song. It's 1940's jitterbug all the way, and Mickey and Judy give it their all. It's easy to see why they were the hottest team on the MGM lot and the most popular teens in America. Mickey can grate on occasion with energy but when he's serious, he's at his best. In fact, those sequences are often more touching than the comic sequences are amusing. As for Judy, she gets another "plain jane" song ("I Ain't Got Nobody") which is one of the most obscure "list songs" in history, even dropping the names of Judy's bosses, MGM, within the list. Those bosses must have been blind to really see how lovely she was, funny considering that half the movie, Judy is trying to wake Mickey up to see her for who she is over the rather obnoxious Preisser. The recent TV movie about Judy Garland had director Busby Berkley demanding to see Judy's eyes, and she really shows them here.Most famous of course is the duet of "Our Love Affair", but the over-the-top finale even outdoes the one of "Babes in Arms". Like many Broadway musicals, it even features reprises of most of the movies' songs. Even more outrageous is the cheezy melodramatic spoof, "Nell of New Rochelle" that the teens put together seemingly in hours. "Strike Up the Band!" is worth repeat viewings even if it isn't something one thinks how teenagers really were back in 1940.

B&W-2 I can't help it, I love Mickey and Judy, and this is their best film together. It has fun songs ("Our Love Affair" and "Do the La Conga" especially), good Busby Berkeley productions (both the aforementioned, especially the fruit-as-orchestra dream sequence!), but more importantly, it perfectly evokes the ideal small middle-American town, complete with understanding mothers and principals, swell fellas and gals, and a comforting everything's going to be just fine feeling. I can't help yearning for this never-never land of rebellious but polite youths and understanding old-timers!