Crappy film

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

"Babes on Broadway" was a very popular film and was just one of several similar Mickey Rooney films of the day. However, while wildly popular in the day, this sort of movie has not aged well and I found it very tough to finish the picture.Tommy Williams (Rooney) is a member of a young trio that sings and dances. He exudes confidence and knows they'll make it big on Broadway...but for much of the film his plans keep falling short. So, without any other options, he agrees to put on a show with his new pal, Penny (Judy Garland), as well as other young people with loads of talent but not much in the way of work. But, just before this big performance Tommy gets news that he's got a job...but can't do it AND the benefit performance. What's he to do?The biggest problem with this film is that there is hardly any plot and instead it consists of one musical number after another after another. Additionally, with several very, very similar other films starring the same duo and with similar plots, it's hard to take this very seriously or care about the characters. All in all, it's a film that tries too hard. Less singing and dancing and more heart...that would have improved this film tremendously...at least for audiences in the 21st century.

Very famous dances and dancers. 'Hoe Down'. Judy a great dancer; she had very smooth and well timed technique. Mickey as type of Carmen Miranda, swaying and sashaying. Minstrelsy spectacular had great dancing, even though racist by today's standards. I loved all the front row men tap dancing while sitting in chairs. Minstrelsy was big in real life in around the 1880s, and I feel that some of the routines were respectful to African Americans -- yet some character dialogues were just a little too stereotypical. Maybe the minstrelsy part could not be made today.Ray McDonald had fabulous dancing. He always did, including in "Till the Clouds Roll By" with June Allyson. I guess there was not enough room in the movie dancing field for his talents, what with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and the later blossoming of Bob Fosse, Bobby Van, Tommy Rall, et al. In early 1941, the U.S. had not yet entered World War Two, but 'Fritz' was bothering the Europeans. The Great Depression was ending (and maybe studio budgets were now higher), but it seems that great dancers had to make room for the greatest superstars. Even Frank Sinatra was taught to tap dance.In a similar vein, Judy Garland IMO took the place of Deanna Durbin and Shirley Temple, regarding singing and dancing. There was not enough room in the superstar heaven for all three, and Judy always won out. If they all three helped take the U.S. through the Depression, and helped make big money for the studios, in the end only one major star (Judy, I feel) was affordable. Mickey Rooney (RIP) always felt Judy was used and abused, and yet Durbin and Temple must have always felt cheated because their careers were short-circuited. Remember that Temple was supposed to be Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz". It seems that after that, her career downslided, World War Two was coming, and Judy was left to carry the 1940s musicals a lot. I don't remember Shirley singing and dancing in "Fort Apache".Look again at Mickey Rooney. He went into the war. When he came out, his career had to be kickstarted again. Gee-Gosh-Dad-Andy-Hardy was a thing of the past. Mickey managed to stay within the entertainment industry in one way or another, and later acted in character parts. I saw him in "Night at the Museum", and I thought that he was excellent.Mickey and Judy in "Babes on Broadway" were fabulous. They always seemed to play well against and with each other. Their costuming was wonderful and at times hilarious. I especially liked the 'ghost sequences' in this movie, where they portrayed Richard Mansfield, Fay Templeton, Sir Harry Lauder, Sarah Bernhardt, George M. Cohan, et al.10/10

This movie has great singing and dancing by Judy, Mickey, and their friends.Actually, my favorite number is "Waiting For The Robert E. Lee"--one of those bouncy tunes with a rhythm that Judy makes so infectious you're bobbing your head as she sings.But that number is part of the minstrel show at the end, and I had to stop and think about whether it really spoiled the movie, or not.Personally, I think Mickey's blackface routine was somewhat racist and Judy's wasn't. Judy does not seem to engage in a caricature when she does her minstrel numbers. Her eyes are wide open when she sings FDR Jones, sure--but Busby Berkeley made her open her eyes wide all the time; that was one of her complaints about him. And the content/lyrics of "FDR Jones" is good-natured.At any rate, this minstrel show isn't as racist as, say, Fred Astaire's "With a Shine On Your Shoes" number from Easter Parade. Or some of the scenes from "Birth of a Nation," as far as that goes.All in all, it's a great Mickey/Judy musical. I give it an 8.5

Ahh, musicals. A tough genre; mostly unwatchable except for certain show-stopping individual numbers (which is the reason compilation films like 'That's Entertainment' are so much more enjoyable). Obviously a minstrel finale is in itself cringe-worthy, but this movie has so much more to cringe about. There's that, now comically risible, putting-on-a-show-in-our-backyard story line; and of all people to direct such a set-up you get Busby Berkeley. The "kids" have no money and pull strings right and left to get that show they just got to put on (sure, it's for orphans and rickets and whatnot, but the sweaty desperation of the would-be talent is all about the need to show off in front of an audience) and when they do put on the show it is GIGANTIC with what looks like a hundred hoofers and singers, all tightly choreographed in that elaborately tricky Berkeley style. And, in the hope-you-ignore-it category, these poor kids somehow manage to scrape together hundreds of matching costumes for every number (I guess that old theatre they have access to is a treasure trove of perfect fit, mint-edition clothing, from hoe-down jeans to tuxedos). Sure, it's all fantasy, and the plot is mostly non-existent, but the writers could have tried a little harder considering the enormous amount of energy on screen... or should I say the enormous amount of Mickey Rooney on screen. Woo-wee! The young Rooney has a dynamo inside his dynamo! He all but comes out at you in 3-D to grab your throat and demand that you be impressed. It's a nitro of prodigious talent and a glycerin of overwhelming ego that nearly explodes the film to Rooney-flavored smithereens. And so only a giant talent like Judy Garland can compete with him, and that's possibly why they appear together so often in films. She looks great, sounds great and charms in her usual wistful manner. She wears well, unlike Rooney, who captivated audiences at the time with his ham-fisted theatrics but now repels for the most part. But the film does contain some notable features: like the first appearance of the truly talented Margaret O'Brien, all of age four, and on camera for all of one minute. There's also a young Donna Reed in a bit part, and even Rooney's father, Joe Yule, gets a bit as James Gleason's assistant. It also features future director Richard Quine ('Bell, Book and Candle', etc.) in a rare, though colorless, acting role as a part of Rooney's performing team. And once-famed popular culture critic Alexander Woollcott, part of the famous Algonquin Round Table, has a bit at the beginning. Garland sings "How About You" which became a hit song in 1942 (for Tommy Dorsey, not Garland). It was written by Harburg & Lane, who had only recently worked together. In 1947 they would create the smash musical 'Finian's Rainbow' on Broadway (which coincidentally, has racist components to it that also makes it hard for audiences today to take, much like the minstrel stuff in 'Babes on Broadway'). So, there are some things to gather from this otherwise dated hash. And dated doesn't just mean the story line or minstrel theatrics, but also the heavy dose of British wartime material, including a number extolling their prideful "stiff upper lip" attitude and presented with re-settled English children crying into the camera. And with Garland crying and Virginia Weidler crying and Rooney always ready to burst into tears, this film almost suffers from dehydration!