Out West with the Hardys

Out West with the Hardys (1938)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Fine entry in the MGM series has Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) taking the family to a ranch in Arizona where he hopes to help his old friends who have gotten into some trouble with their land and water. Out on the ranch Marian (Cecilia Parker) falls for yet another guy while Andy (Mickey Rooney) must learn the hard way that he's got a lot of learning to do before he can call himself a man. While this fifth entry is certainly a step down from the past couple entries this is still a pretty entertaining film thanks in large part to the terrific cast who have no trouble getting into their parts. Considering this was the third film in the series within 1938 alone you can understand how the product felt somewhat rushed. The movie has a fairly good story overall but at the same time everything seemed a tad bit too rushed and there isn't nearly as many funny moments as some of the earlier entries. I think the best stuff in the movie happen between Andy and the 8-year-old Jake (Virginia Weidler) who starts to have a crush on him. There's a lot of heart between the two as they start off not liking one another but quickly she ends up teaching Andy quite a few things. As you'd expect there's a lot more drama between Judge and Andy as the older, wiser dad must teach his son several lessons about life. As usual Stone and Rooney are downright terrific in their roles so they have no problem pulling off the father-son relationship. Hearing the two of them talk together comes off so real that I could listen to them speak for hours at a time. The supporting cast offers up some strong work with Parker, Ann Rutherford and Fay Holden fitting back into their roles with no trouble. Sara Haden is back as Aunt Milly after being MIA in the previous two films. Weidler is very charming in her role but I later learned she walked away from showbiz at the age of 17 and sadly ended up dying at the age of 42 from a heart attack. While there's no question this is a step down from some of the previous films, OUT WEST WITH THE HARDYS at least has the terrific cast and they make this worth sitting through.

Lewis Stone as Judge James Hardy is not one ever to not answer the plea of an old friend, in this case an old friend he might have been romantically involved with back in the day. Nana Bryant has written to Stone from Arizona where she and husband Ralph Morgan own a ranch they're about to lose because their neighbor Thurston Hall won't renew their water rights without a hefty price interest that would break them. So the nuclear family Hardys, Stone, Fay Holden, Mickey Rooney, and Cecilia Parker go off Out West With The Hardys.

Coincidentally enough it's at a time where both Hardy children are having some romantic difficulties. When are they ever not in this series? But Parker is taking a liking to widower ranch foreman Gordon Jones while his daughter Virginia Weidler show Rooney there's a lot more to being a cowboy than dressing the part.

Although this Hardy family film has a lot of good points to it. It's bogged down by the fact Mickey really acts like a jerk in this one. As usual trying to show off. This is one time a father and son talk just was not the answer, the Mick needed a trip to the woodshed.

As it always does everything works out between Mickey finding a solution to the mess he makes, Parker deciding that maybe she's a city girl after all, and Fay Holden of all people coming up with the solution to the problems of her husband's old girl friend.

Not the best of the Hardy series, but all right.

The fifth entry in the Hardy family series is set out west on a ranch and uses a lot of fish-out-of-water comedy that many films employ when they involve city folks being placed out west. Mickey Rooney dresses up in chaps and even tries to walk bow-legged when he sees a ranch hand walk that way; Cecilia Parker is suckered into boiling Gordon Jones' boots and polishing them with molasses by Jones' jealous daughter, Virginia Weidler; and even Lewis Stone wears a cowboy hat. Unfortunately, most of the comedy is predictable, especially if you've seen City Slickers (1991) and other films of that type. The comedy is intermixed with some drama (Rooney causing Weidler's horse to break a leg, for example) and suspense.

I enjoyed the story and the resolution of all the problems that arose. Mickey Rooney seems to mug a bit more than usual, but he's fun to watch. Lewis Stone gives his usual fine performance dispensing his sage advice and Virginia Weidler is very good as the precocious eight-year old who out-slickers Rooney and Parker. If you're into the Hardy series, you'll enjoy the film.

Judge Hardy and his family take off for Arizona when one of dad's close friends runs into some legal trouble and may lose her ranch. The elder daughter Marian falls for a foreman at the ranch (Gordon Jones), whose 8-year-old tomboy daughter "Jake" starts to get a crush of sorts on Andy Hardy. This wasn't an exceptional entry but it has its moments of comedy (Jake tries to sabotage Marian's efforts to impress the girl's father) and drama (Andy unintentionally causes Jake's favorite horse to break its leg). I am beginning to become aware already that Mickey Rooney mugs to wild extremes as Andy Hardy.

**1/2 out of ****

In this entry of the popular series, the Hardys visit a ranch in Arizona.

Judge Hardy gets a letter from an old friend, Dora Northcote, who owns a ranch in Arizona along with her husband Bill. She is having a problem with water rights to her land that may lead to her and her husband having to sell out to a neighboring landowner who has designs on the property. The complicating factor is that years ago, in his single days, the Judge and Dora got lost after a picnic and caused a minor scandal. The judge says this one secret is one he wants to continue to keep from Mrs. Hardy.

In a separate subplot, Andy Hardy has recently gotten a letter in high school basketball, and it's given him a swelled head, making him think for some reason that his opinion, time, and general athletic prowess are above that of everyone else. Judge Hardy decides that going to the ranch would be a fine vacation for the family, plus it would give him a chance to look into the water rights problem firsthand, so off they go.

This entry gives the characters the opportunity to have many humorous "fish out of water" moments. MGM contract child actress Virginia Weidler plays Jake, the daughter of the Northcote ranch's foreman, who has some humorous moments outsmarting and outdoing Andy Hardy who goes around dressed in a ridiculous western outfit complete with chaps. I wonder if he even knows what the chaps are for? Weidler was always a cut above most child actors of the time, being genuinely engaging and not participating in so much of the cornball sicky sweet stuff that child actors did during the early production code era.

Also note that in the opening scene Judge Hardy is sentencing a well-groomed young man - obviously not a hooligan - for acting precisely like a hooligan. That unapologetic young man is played by Tom Neal in his screen debut. Unfortunately, Neal's screen career was cut short for actually acting like a hooligan.

If you like the Andy Hardy series and like the characters you will like this entry.