There's a light that is shining on this film, because it is the first time since "Little Nellie Kelly" where Judy Garland is the focus. No Mickey Rooney hamming it up, and no newcomer Gene Kelly to get the spotlight on him in his initial screen dance sequences. This delightful version of a Booth Tarkington novel has Judy at her merriest, her funniest, her most wide-eyed, and certainly looking more attractive than those "Let's put a show on in our barn!" musicals she did with Rooney while directed by the bullying Busby Berkeley. She's one of those stage struck youths determined to make it onto the stage, so yes, this does have that aspect in common with those "Babes!" musicals of just a few years prior. But there's no song about how unattractive she feels or some teenage nymphette to go out their way to try to steal the attention away from her. Yes, there is Marta Eggerth, but she plays the already established musical stage star who finds Judy the threat, not the other way around.
There's no way that Garland and Eggerth could actually play the same type of parts anyway. The same year that this was released, Eggerth was on Broadway in a very successful revival of "The Merry Widow", so she is closer to opera while Judy is much closer to jazz. Their differences are explored in their big production numbers, with the choreography in Eggerth's sequences closer to George Ballanchine, while Garland's sequences have the oomph and razzle dazzle of Gower Champion. The only other rivalry they share is over Van Heflin, a stage producer from Garland's midwestern hometown who has made it on Broadway, and whose mother (Faye Bainter) Garland has known for years. In fact, it is revealed that Garland's mom (Spring Byington) has been making hats for Bainter for years, which sets up the very first seen where Garland delivers one for her (with an extremely long feather!) simply so she can inquire about any parts Bainter's son might be trying to cast. When she overhears that one character from his newest play is going to be killed off in the first act, Garland requests she not be considered for that one. It's funny and an innocent fantasy for Garland to have, setting up some great moments of Garland stalking Van for much of the first quarter of the film, like Doris Day did with movie producer Bill Goodwin in the later Warner Brothers musical "It's a Great Feeling".
This is the one chance to see Garland attempt Shakespeare, and here, she is pulling a Dame Judith Anderson in trying to be Lady MacBeth. Unlike Dame Judith, however, she burlesques it, coming off as closer to Dame Edna than the great Australian actress. It's when Judy sings that she finds her niche, and that occurs when she is chased around by Van at a party Bainter is throwing and ends up singing "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" in a very jazzy way. Van's initial irritation actually covers his amusement at her determination, and by the time she gets a walk-on part in one of his plays (as Eggerth's maid), he's entranced by her appearance singing in a nightclub where Eggerth stews (politely) as Van gets more enthusiastic over her appearance. Eggerth walks out on her show and Van decides to give Judy the chance, but she's not ready, a great lesson in show business that Garland herself had to repeat in the opposite manner when she played Marilyn Miller in "Till the Clouds Roll By" (also with Van!) and had to explain the facts of the theatrical life to Lucille Bremer who had been promised a number that she simply couldn't handle.
The question arises as to whether or not Garland will have the grace to return to her small part, and somehow, the audience already knows. It is a lesson that every potential great actor must face, that the performing arts are all about the show as a whole, not one person's ego or fragility in not being good enough to be cast or continue in a part, and that the sun shines brightest and makes the biggest stars of those who are truly ready. Garland's big finale, "Where There's Music" (mixed with a bit of "Broadway Melody"), is as luxurious as anything she did with Busby Berkeley, but as choreographed by Charles Walters, you can tell that Judy is in safer, saner hands. The direction by Norman Taurog helps the film avoid lagging in dramatic sequences, and when Garland gets together with stage cleaning woman Connie Gilchrist for the moving "Every Little Movement Has a Meaning All It's Own", I suggest you keep a box of Kleenex nearby. I had to chuckle at the Brooklyn born Gilchrist indicating that she too was from the midwest, and even if the singer (Mary Kent) dubbing her seems a bit more Irish than the urban Gilchrist, it is one of the top dramatic musical moments in any movie musical. It is obvious that Judy was very happy in making this film which presented her the way that any rising 21 year old legend would want to be seen on screen, and 75 years later, this forgotten musical is by far one of her biggest gems.
There's no way that Garland and Eggerth could actually play the same type of parts anyway. The same year that this was released, Eggerth was on Broadway in a very successful revival of "The Merry Widow", so she is closer to opera while Judy is much closer to jazz. Their differences are explored in their big production numbers, with the choreography in Eggerth's sequences closer to George Ballanchine, while Garland's sequences have the oomph and razzle dazzle of Gower Champion. The only other rivalry they share is over Van Heflin, a stage producer from Garland's midwestern hometown who has made it on Broadway, and whose mother (Faye Bainter) Garland has known for years. In fact, it is revealed that Garland's mom (Spring Byington) has been making hats for Bainter for years, which sets up the very first seen where Garland delivers one for her (with an extremely long feather!) simply so she can inquire about any parts Bainter's son might be trying to cast. When she overhears that one character from his newest play is going to be killed off in the first act, Garland requests she not be considered for that one. It's funny and an innocent fantasy for Garland to have, setting up some great moments of Garland stalking Van for much of the first quarter of the film, like Doris Day did with movie producer Bill Goodwin in the later Warner Brothers musical "It's a Great Feeling".
This is the one chance to see Garland attempt Shakespeare, and here, she is pulling a Dame Judith Anderson in trying to be Lady MacBeth. Unlike Dame Judith, however, she burlesques it, coming off as closer to Dame Edna than the great Australian actress. It's when Judy sings that she finds her niche, and that occurs when she is chased around by Van at a party Bainter is throwing and ends up singing "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" in a very jazzy way. Van's initial irritation actually covers his amusement at her determination, and by the time she gets a walk-on part in one of his plays (as Eggerth's maid), he's entranced by her appearance singing in a nightclub where Eggerth stews (politely) as Van gets more enthusiastic over her appearance. Eggerth walks out on her show and Van decides to give Judy the chance, but she's not ready, a great lesson in show business that Garland herself had to repeat in the opposite manner when she played Marilyn Miller in "Till the Clouds Roll By" (also with Van!) and had to explain the facts of the theatrical life to Lucille Bremer who had been promised a number that she simply couldn't handle.
The question arises as to whether or not Garland will have the grace to return to her small part, and somehow, the audience already knows. It is a lesson that every potential great actor must face, that the performing arts are all about the show as a whole, not one person's ego or fragility in not being good enough to be cast or continue in a part, and that the sun shines brightest and makes the biggest stars of those who are truly ready. Garland's big finale, "Where There's Music" (mixed with a bit of "Broadway Melody"), is as luxurious as anything she did with Busby Berkeley, but as choreographed by Charles Walters, you can tell that Judy is in safer, saner hands. The direction by Norman Taurog helps the film avoid lagging in dramatic sequences, and when Garland gets together with stage cleaning woman Connie Gilchrist for the moving "Every Little Movement Has a Meaning All It's Own", I suggest you keep a box of Kleenex nearby. I had to chuckle at the Brooklyn born Gilchrist indicating that she too was from the midwest, and even if the singer (Mary Kent) dubbing her seems a bit more Irish than the urban Gilchrist, it is one of the top dramatic musical moments in any movie musical. It is obvious that Judy was very happy in making this film which presented her the way that any rising 21 year old legend would want to be seen on screen, and 75 years later, this forgotten musical is by far one of her biggest gems.