A Date With Judy (1948)

A young 16 year old girl (Jane Powell) becomes infatuated with an "older" young man (Robert Stack) recently out of the service and working as a soda jerk to pay his way through college. Problems arise when her snooty best friend (Elizabeth Taylor) also finds the young man to her liking. Based on a popular radio show and directed by Richard Thorpe (IVANHOE). This frothy musical fluff doesn't take itself too seriously and neither should you. Just enjoy the vivid Technicolor and melodic songs (including It's A Most Unusual Day and Love Is Where You Find It) and the appealing performers. There's the gruff Wallace Beery in a rare paternal role taking rhumba lessons from Carmen Miranda fracturing the English language ("His bite is worse than his bark") as usual, Xavier Cugat shows up with his Chihuahua but most of all, the film is a showcase for its two young stars, Powell and Taylor. The 18 year old Powell is all bubbly and girlish while the 16 year old Taylor is elegant and vampish (the next year, she'd be playing wife roles). 1948 audiences lapped this stuff up and the film was a hit and solidified Powell and Taylor's positions at MGM. With Selena Royle, Scotty Beckett, Leon Ames, Clinton Sundberg and Lillian Yarbo.