Girl Crazy (1943)

A wealthy young playboy (Mickey Rooney) seems more interested in nightclubs and girls rather than his Yale studies. His frustrated father (Henry O'Neill) decides to send him to an all male agricultural college in the West in the hopes he'll grow up. Once there, the son becomes infatuated with the local post mistress (Judy Garland). Based on the hit 1930 George and Ira Gershwin Broadway musical (that made stars of Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman), the plot has been slightly rearranged to resemble the typical Rooney & Garland MGM musicals. Not that that's a bad thing. The show's original plot was a simplistic narrative designed to showcase the great Gershwin score with terrific songs like I Got Rhythm, But Not For Me, Embraceable You and Bidin' My Time. Garland comes off slightly better than Rooney mainly because Rooney's allowed to indulge in his usual schtick that doesn't play well today. Directed by Norman Taurog (BLUE HAWAII) with future director Charles Walters doing the choreography (he does a lovely dance with Garland to Embraceable You. But Busby Berkeley was brought in to choreograph the big finale I Got Rhythm. With June Allyson (MGM hadn't quite figured out what to do with her yet, here she seems to be groomed as MGM's answer to Betty Hutton), Nancy Walker, Peter Lawford, Rags Ragland, Guy Kibbee, Frances Rafferty and Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra.