Andy Hardy's Double Life

The thirteenth in the series of Andy Hardy films, "Andy Hardy's Double Life" follows the formula faithfully, with Andy (Mickey Rooney) trying to juggle the attentions of two women while dealing with other issues, like jalopies and finances.

Meanwhile, Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) has a perplexing court case on his mind. Andy lends a hand.

But the real meat of this episode (and the reliable tearjerker) is the drama surrounding Andy's upcoming departure for college. This milepost is the beginning of Andy's manhood and Andy has to have a (real) man-to-man talk with Dad, effectively telling the Judge that the first four letters in father are also the first four letters in fathead.

The real reason for seeing this Andy Hardy installment is the film debut of Esther Williams, whose on-screen charms are immediately apparent. In short order she will have her own series of aqua-musicals to dominate the box office.

Andy Hardy's Double Life finds Andy planning to go off to Wainwright College which was the Judge's alma mater. Interesting that in 1942 the war apparently had not yet come to Carvel. I would have thought that Andy would be worried about the draft at this time.

But Mickey Rooney has his usual girl trouble and I swear I never did understand why Ann Rutherford as Polly Benedict just didn't give this guy the heave ho. It seemed like every film he was getting involved with some other girl, usually an MGM starlet the studio was trying to showcase.

In this case it was quite the showcase as Esther Williams who played a college coed and guest of Ann Rutherford decides to do some psychological research on the American male. Guess who she decides will be her guinea pig?

Cecilia Parker as Rooney's sister is also having troubles with William Lundigan who is a drinker and is before Lewis Stone for driving while intoxicated. As this hits close to home, Stone is looking for a root cause of the alcoholism as opposed to just tossing Lundigan in the clink.

In an even briefer role at the very end of the film is another MGM showcase Susan Peters. She plays a young woman off to Wainwright College and she will be the first in a class of coeds as the venerable institution is admitting girls for the first time. That gets Rooney's attention real fast.

Peters would have too brief a career, falling victim to a hunting accident that caused paralysis. She was a lovely talented young lady, probably best known as Ronald Colman's niece in Random Harvest.

Andy Hardy's Double Life is an average entry in the series and will satisfy the fans of the eternal Mick.

Before leaving for Wainwright College, Andy (Mickey Rooney) has time for another romance set in his Carvel hometown. This time it's MGM's future swimming sensation Esther Williams (as Sheila Brooks). Introduced in this film as a psych major, Ms. Williams quickly became a major star. Inspiring half (or all) of the film's title, she is very beautiful. In their most memorable scene, Williams and Andy share an underwater swimming pool kiss. Meanwhile, Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) gets involved in a dispute involving mischievous preteen Bobby (Robert) Blake (as "Tooky").

This episode's main storyline is that Andy doesn't want Judge Hardy to appear with him at college, which gives the two actors a nice generational conflict...

"Double Life" featured the last appearance of Andy's off-and-on Carvel girlfriend Polly Benedict (Ann Rutherford) in the movie series. She was eventually asked back, but declined. After this feature, Mr. Rooney's "Andy" finally did go to college. He spent the last several films preparing. It seemed like MGM was reluctant to change the setting. They probably should have tried to do so earlier, because the series had become very tired; ironically, the scenes with the older Mr. Stone are the acting highlights. In a couple of scenes, Rooney has an obvious lip ailment (possibly a "cold sore").

**** Andy Hardy's Double Life (12/42) George B. Seitz ~ Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Esther Williams, Ann Rutherford

I agree with the other reviewers,Its not the best in the series,but still is fun to watch.If you have any partiality towards Andy Hardy,it's still a must see.It feels like a continuation from the previous movie "The Courtship Of Andy Hardy". There is Andy getting ready to go to college,plus another subplot involving one of the Judges court cases.And as usual, girl trouble.And what Girls they are!I am in love with both Esther Williams and Ann Rutherford in this one.Both are very beautiful,and the HD version of this flick I saw,brings their beauty more to life.I very much enjoyed it.Although in HD it can tell Andy has a cut lip in some scenes,and not in others.I mean it was as clear as day.I wonder what that was all about.Has to be some back story to that somewhere.

Despite having graduated from high school three movies ago, Andy Hardy has still not started college. And he won't start it in this movie, either! That comes in the next entry, Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble. Here, though, we have Andy selling his jalopy to get the money to retrieve his convertible from storage in New York. The problem is the boys he's sold it to keep stalling on paying him and Andy's already written a check that will bounce if he can't get the money in time. Andy's also dealing with his usual drama with the opposite sex as well as trying to help his sister Marian and father Judge Hardy with their problems. Marian's still in love with her beau Jeff, the drunk driver. Judge Hardy is bending over backwards to prove a lumber company truck was responsible for an accident with a little boy (Robert Blake).

This one's notable for being the feature film debut of Esther Williams. Esther plays a psychology student who teams up with Ann Rutherford's Polly Benedict to teach Andy a lesson. Have no fear, Esther fans, she does get into a bathing suit for one scene. Gorgeous as always, Esther also showcases her romantic comedy potential. Her scenes with Mickey are some of the movie's highlights. This is also, sadly, the last of the Hardy films with Ann Rutherford. She left the series after this and never returned. Rutherford was one of my favorite parts of these movies. She was always adorable beyond words with great comic timing and wonderful chemistry with Mickey Rooney. Cecilia Parker gets more to do as Marian than she has in awhile. She was a larger presence in the early films in the series. If I'm to be honest, she was never a favorite part for me. She might appeal more to many viewers as Marian is a slightly more modern (i.e. flawed) character. This would be her last appearance in the Hardy series until the attempted reboot in the '50s. Lewis Stone is perfect, of course. Judge Hardy was often the highlight of these movies, even when Andy was the focus. Here Stone gets a little comedy to work with but the best parts of the movie are his father-son scenes with Mickey Rooney. For his part Rooney is excellent, handling both comedy and drama with ease. Fay Holden gets few scenes as Mrs. Hardy but makes the most of them, stealing the picture each time she's on screen.

This is one of the best Andy Hardy movies. A delightful mix of comedy and light drama. I smiled through the whole thing. I happen to love the Andy Hardy movies, corn and all. Your mileage may vary, though. If you're too cynical to enjoy these innocent movies with their sentimentalism and old-fashioned values, then spare yourself the trouble of watching. Also spare the rest of us as the world has enough snarky cynics as it is.