LISTEN DARLING

Listen, Darling
MGM, 1938, B/W, 75 minutes, ***
Released October, 1938

Pinkie's (Judy Garland) mother Dottie (Mary Astor) has had trouble making ends meet since Pinkie's father died. He didn't believe in insurance, and he left them with nothing. Concerned for her children's welfare, Dottie decides to accept a marriage proposal from the town banker (Gene Lockhart), even though she doesn't really love him. But Pinkie senses her mother's unhappiness with the situation and has a chat with her pal Buzz (Freddie Bartholomew) who knows all the answers. Buzz suggests that they kidnap Dottie and take her to the country in their camping trailer so that she can't marry the banker. So that's what they do! Of course, Dottie is furious with them, but when she hears the reasoning behind their actions she forgives them, and they all decide to stay in the country for a short holiday.

In the meantime, Pinkie and Buzz make plans to find a husband for Dottie. Someone who is not improvident and who believes in insurance! About this time, Richard Thurlow (Walter Pidgeon) shows up, and they decide he's the one. Buzz pays him a visit and cross-examines him, much to Thurlow's delight. However, Billie's (Scotty Beckett) not-so-accidental encounter with a skunk, which he is convinced is a striped beaver, results in a heated argument when Buzz and Pinkie attempt to bury his Daniel Boone suit to rid him of the smell. The commotion is heard by J.J. Slattery (Alan Hale) who lives nearby, and he comes to investigate. He takes the children back to his home to bathe Billie and give him a new Chief Bald Eagle outfit.

It turns out that Slattery not only believes in insurance, but actually owns an insurance company! Buzz is convinced that Slattery is the man for Dottie, but Pinkie is not so sure. She has seen how much fun Dottie has been having with Thurlow. So the competition is on - who will become the next head of the Wingate family?

Produced by: Jack Cummings
Directed by: Edwin L. Marin
Screen Play by: Elaine Ryan and Anne Morrison Chapin
From the Story by: Katherine Brush
Musical Program:
"On the Bumpy Road to Love" (by) Al Hoffman, Al Lewis and Murray Mencher
"Ten Pins in the Sky" (by) Joseph McCarthy and Milton Ager
"Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" (by) James F. Hanley
Musical Score by: Dr. William Axt
Musical Director: Georgie Stoll
Musical Arrangements by: Roger Edens
Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
Associates: Harry McAfee, Edwin B. Willis
Wardrobe by: Dolly Tree
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Photographed by: Charles Lawton, Jr.
Film Editor: Blanche Sewell

Cast: Judy Garland ["Pinkie" Wingate], Freddie Bartholomew ["Buzz" Mitchell], Mary Astor [Dottie Wingate], Walter Pidgeon [Richard Thurlow], Alan Hale [J.J. Slattery], Scotty Beckett [Billie Wingate], Barnett Parker [Abercrombie], Gene Lockhart [Mr. Drubbs], Charley Grapewin [Uncle Joe], Additional Cast: Edgar Dearing [Motorcycle Policeman]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:04] Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart (sung by Judy Garland), [0:22} On the Bumpy Road to Love (sung by Judy Garland with Scotty Beckett, Freddie Bartholomew and Mary Astor), [0:55] Ten Pins in the Sky (sung by Judy Garland); [0:59] Ten Pins in the Sky (reprised by Walter Pidgeon, Mary Astor and Judy Garland); [1:14] On the Bumpy Road to Love (reprised by Walter Pidgeon, Judy Garland and Chorus)