Herb Kane
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Love Finds Andy Hardy
Studio: Warner Brothers
Year: 1938
Rated: Not Rated
Film Length: 92 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: DD Mono
Color/B&W: B&W
Languages: English & French
Subtitles: English, French & Spanish
MSRP: $19.98
Package: Snap Case
The Feature:
On April 6th, Warner Bros. released Love Finds Andy Hardy, another Judy Garland MGM film in what would be her first of three appearances in the long running Andy Hardy film series. The film was the fourth installment of fifteen that ran from 1937 – 1946 (not including the 1958 film Andy Hardy Comes Home). In addition to the feature film, also released on the same day were For Me And My Gal, In The Good Old Summertime and Ziegfeld Girl, as well as the celebrated 60th Anniversary release of Meet Me In St. Louis released as one of Warner’s coveted Two Disc Special Editions.
With the Christmas Eve dance fast approaching, Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) has a problem. He’s put a deposit down on a new car to take his date to the dance and needs to come up with some fast cash to pay the remaining amount owing. He can’t ask his father, Judge Hardy (played by Lewis Stone), because he’s already informed him that he doesn’t want him buying a car. So, what’s a boy to do?
Now, unfortunately for Andy, his girl is going away and won’t be able to attend the dance with him. However, this turns into a money making proposition when Andy’s best pal Beezy asks him to “date up” his girl Cynthia (played by a very young Lana Turner) while he’s away for the holidays. Andy makes a deal to take her to the dance and keep her otherwise occupied for the tidy sum of money he needs to purchase the car. Things become complicated when Andy’s real girl, Polly (Ann Rutherford), returns unexpectedly for the dance giving Andy two dates.
Help comes from an unexpected source when Andy’s next door neighbor’s young granddaughter, Betsy Booth (Judy Garland), arrives to stay for the holidays. Can Betsy help Andy straighten out his dating woes and get an invitation to the Christmas Dance? You have to watch the wonderful film to find out…
Video:
First off, before you break out into a cold sweat, the details on the back of the box erroneously describe this film as being in “color”. Relax, it is not.
The black levels were very good and contrasted nicely were the whites. The film has a decent level of contrast which affords a better than average level of grayscale. There is a moderate and appropriate amount of fine film grain. While the level of image detail is somewhat on the soft side with occasional instances of sharpness, the overall image is very pleasing.
There were many vertical scratches as well as some light shimmer but overall, I found this transfer to be cleaner than I anticipated. Thankfully, there were no problems with to respect to compression or haloing etc.
Remember, this film is almost 70 years old. Considering and comparing it to films that have been released recently from a similar era, I give this video transfer a pretty good grade. Very nice job.
Audio:
The audio portion of this disc is just as impressive. Not to say it’s flashy – it’s not, but it does perform flawlessly. There is no hiss or problematic popping or rumbling.
Dialogue was always bold, clear and intelligible. The track is as we would expect - rather thin, so there is very little to speak of in terms of any dynamics.
A track that does what it needs to.
Special Features:
This disc has a couple of special features starting with:
[*] An Introduction By John Fricke. This is a solid little intro by the thorough Garland biographer which gives us a pretty detailed and historical account of the Hardy series. It goes into great detail as to the different actors and actresses who played the various characters through the years as well as offering up many trivia tidbits relating to the films. The feature was obviously made for the newly released DVD. Solid little intro. Duration: 4:51 minutes.
[*] Leo Is On The Air Radio Promo starts with the film’s music and is a 15 minute radio broadcast by MGM which advertises several MGM films but focuses on the feature film. It also includes audio clips from the film. Interesting.
[*] The last feature is a group of Andy Hardy Theatrical Trailers which starts with a Hardy Family Christmas promotional trailer. Duration: 2:56 minutes. Love Finds Andy Hardy. Duration 2:59 minutes and Life Begins For Andy Hardy. Duration: 3:04 minutes. All of the trailers are in slightly rough condition.
Final Thoughts:
While the Andy Hardy franchise had a very long and successful run, Love Finds Andy Hardy is thought to be by many, the best entry film to the series. This is a solid little romantic comedy from the period which offers up some great performances from Rooney, Garland, Stone and an early appearance from Lana Turner.
Even though the disc might not be inundated with special features, WB has included an informative introduction and has offered up a solid presentation that should leave fans of the film more than satisfied.
Release Date: April 6th, 2004
Can't wait to pick up Meet Me In St. Louis and the box set containing this film!
