Awesome Movie

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

"Ah, Wilderness!" should make a great musical--in fact, it made a very good one on Broadway, as "Take Me Along" in 1959--and this Freed Unit special has some greatness in it, which keeps being undercut. It's beautifully cast, the Technicolor is extraordinary, and the director, the always underrated Rouben Mamoulian, shows a lot of feel for the small-town turn-of-the-century setting and the small crises in the Miller family. But it was a troubled production, and it suffered some ruinous cuts. The editing's frankly sloppy, and misguided things happen that you don't expect to happen in MGM musicals. Mickey Rooney (10 years too old for the part, but he hides it well, and not doing those Mickey Rooney overacting things that often annoy me) and Gloria De Haven (lovely, with a lovely voice) dance fetchingly to "Afraid to Be in Love" on an emerald park lawn, and the number just fades out, no payoff, no resolution. Rooney gets drunk with Marilyn Maxwell in a cheap saloon, and there's supposed to be an Omar Khayam dream ballet (there are production stills), but it doesn't happen, and that scene, too, just fades out. The always-exemplary Walter Huston, who's charming here, rolls up the movie with the curtain line, "Well, spring isn't everything, is it, Essie?", and it's supposed to resonate because he was supposed to sing "Spring Isn't Everything," a sweet ballad similar to the "September Song" Huston introduced in "Knickerbocker Holiday," but that, too, has been cut, so it just seems an odd way to fade out. What's left of the Harry Warren-Ralph Blane score isn't great, but it's quite integrated into the action, and well performed. I caught this again on TCM recently and it's better than I remembered, but I keep wanting it to be better still.

The rather dull plot seems like an attempt to wed "Andy Hardy" to "Meet Me in St. Louis". But with an over-aged Rooney as the male teen star,a poor screen play, and without the memorable musical scores and charm of the latter film, it doesn't really work very well, except perhaps as a portrait of ideal Americana of that period.The rather abundant Harry Warren-Ralph Blane songs are OK, but not really memorable the way Berlin could make memorable songs.The first half of the film flaunts conservative Victorian outward mores, as practiced by well off small townies of the early 20th century, countered only by Rooney's occasional espousal of French Revolution-derived socialist arguments.It also includes some romantic dabblings between Rooney and costar Gloria DeHaven in lush outdoor settings. Rooney's long-winded high school graduation speech was as boring for the film audience as it was for the graduation participants. The last portion of the film turns dark with, thus far, seemingly model son Rooney being led into an implied one-night stand with an exploitive chorus girl(played by Marilyn Maxwell), who sings some of her monologues. This has dire repercussions for his romantic relationship with prim Gloria, which is unrepaired when the film unexpectedly ends.The last portion of the film seems hurried and truncated, as if the producer recognized that it was already too long for its interest level. Even in '46, when this was made, not all MGM musicals were shot in color. Thus, we are treated to some colorful outdoor scenes and sometimes to colorful period outfits. Gloria had a good singing voice and a made a good looking girl next door, but she lacked Judy Garland's screen charisma as an actress, thus comes across as somewhat bland, in comparison. As MGM executives apparently feared, the film didn't do well at the box office when it was finally released in '48, losing money. I guess audiences preferred the likes of "Easter Parade", released the same year.

I cannot imagine the conversations that must have gone on in the Freed offices during the development of this property! It is so completely unlike anything that the Freed Unit had ever done, reflecting a more dissonant period of American history (during the making of this film). This is an extraordinary reflection on the MGM Everyman (especially Andy Hardy grown up). How did they get this past Louis B. Mayer? In my mind the history of MGM's innocence is resolved in this picture. When Andy Hardy/Mickey Rooney stands outside the family home, at the end of the picture, looking into the darkness that his future might bring it completes the Series that was so loved by MGM. I must believe Mamoulian really understood the dark journey he was taking his characters into and the dark post war future the American audience would soon face. A remarkable historical document that doesn't always work. Well worth viewing with a perspective on it's origins (Ah, Wilderness!). This film should be viewed as an original. Roy H. Wagner ASC Director of Photography

I love Mickey Rooney in this movie. The people who have said he overacts in this film are not correct. Rooney never overacts. He puts his whole heart and soul into a picture. What's wrong with that?? Anyhow, this film is very nice. Mickey does and excellent job. The color and the set up are beautiful. This is truly another great MGM musicals. I personally like this movie better than Ah Wilderness because it showcases more of Mickey. I'm a Mickey Rooney fan and I think he was one of the most talented actors of Hollywood. I truly enjoy his work and appreciate his talent!