BABES IN ARMS

Babes in Arms
MGM, 1939, B/W, 91 minutes, ***
Released October, 1939

Vaudeville is dying; moving pictures are taking over. Mickey must put on a show to raise money for the vaudeville families so the kids won't be sent to the state work school. The only trouble is, he doesn't have the money to mount the production, so he has to get an "angel." Baby Rosalie to the rescue! A former child star being groomed for a comeback, Baby Rosalie offers to fund the production so long as she can play the lead - the part that Mickey has written specially for Patsy!

Babes in Arms was the first of four Mickey / Judy "backyard musicals" directed by the legendary Busby Berkeley. June Preisser made her MGM debut in this film as Baby Rosalie - a bit of a spoof of Shirley Temple. She refers to two of her films, "The Baby General" (Shirley's The Little Colonel) and "The Queen's Little Daughter" (Shirley's The Little Princess).

Mickey has dinner with Baby Rosalie to discuss the production with hilarious results - probably the funniest scene in the movie. Judy sings "I Cried for You" with a tongue-in-cheek monologue written by Roger Edens. Judy also sings "Figaro" and "Good Morning" (with Mickey Rooney) - a song that would turn up again in the 1952 production of Singin' in the Rain. Babes in Arms was on the exhibitor's top ten list for 1939, and Mickey Rooney was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award. The film was based on the Rodgers and Hart stage play of the same name, but bore very little resemblance to the play.

Produced by: Arthur Freed
Directed by: Busby Berkeley
Screen Play by: Jack McGowan and Kay Van Riper
Based on the Play by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
Musical Program: "Babes in Arms," "Where or When," (by) Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart; "Good Morning" (by) Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed; "God's Country" (by) Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg
Musical Adaptation: Roger Edens
Musical Director: George Stoll
Orchestral Arrangements: Leo Arnaud and George Bassman
Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
Associate: Merrill Pye
Set Decorations: Edwin B. Willis
Wardrobe by: Dolly Tree
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Director of Photography: Ray June
Film Editor: Frank Sullivan

Awards: Academy Award nominations for Best Actor (Mickey Rooney) and Best Score (Roger Edens and George Stoll)

Cast: Mickey Rooney [Mickey Moran], Judy Garland [Patsy Barton], Charles Winninger [Joe Moran], Guy Kibbee [Judge Black], June Preisser [Rosalie Essex], Grace Hayes [Florrie Moran], Betty Jaynes [Molly Moran], Douglas McPhail [Don Brice], Rand Brooks [Jeff Steele], Leni Lynn [Dody Martini], John Sheffield [Bobs], Henry Hull [Madox], Barnett Parker [William], Ann Shoemaker [Mrs. Barton], Margaret Hamilton [Martha Steele], Joseph Crehan [Mr. Essex], George McKay [Brice], Henry Roquemore [Shaw], Lelah Tyler [Mrs. Brice], Additional Cast: Sidney Miller [Sid], Lon McCallister [Boy], Charles Smith [Boy], Crinoline Choir [vocals]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:01] Ja-Da (excerpt played on trombone by Charles Winninger); [0:07] Good Morning (sung by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney); [0:15] Opera vs. Jazz, Part 1 (sung by Judy Garland and Betty Jaynes); [0:17] Opera vs. Jazz, Part 2: You Are My Lucky Star (operatic arrangement sung by Betty Jaynes); [0:18] Opera vs. Jazz, Part 3: Figaro ("hot" arrangement sung by Judy Garland); [0:20] Opera vs. Jazz, Part 4: Broadway Rhythm (sung by Judy Garland and Betty Jaynes); [0:23] Babes in Arms (sung and marched by Doug McPhail, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland and Ensemble); [0:37] Where or When (sung by Doug McPhail and Betty Jaynes with a little help from Judy Garland); [1:00] I Cried for You (sung by Judy Garland with spoken interlude); [1:10] Minstrel Show, Part 1: My Daddy Was a Minstrel Man (sung by Judy Garland); [1:11] De Camptown Races / Old Folks at Home / Oh! Susannah (medley / montage sung and danced by Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland and the Crinoline Choir); [1:13] Minstrel Show, Part 2: Mr. Tambo and Mr. Bones (sung by Doug McPhail, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland and The Crinoline Choir); [1:15] Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider / (On) Moonlight Bay (sung by Mickey Rooney and the Crinoline Choir, danced by Mickey Rooney); [1:16] I'm Just Wild About Harry (sung and danced by Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, The Crinoline Choir and the MGM Studio Chorus); [1:28] God's Country (sung by Principals, Ensemble and Chorus)