A Date with Judy

Sweet comedy, a time capsule of teen-hood in the movies in the 40's with wonderful music courtesy of Xavier Cugat and his band.

Jane Powell is charmingly pert, full of youthful exuberance something she excelled at. According to her autobiography though that very spryness became a type of prison limiting her casting and when musicals declined in popularity made it impossible for her to transition to other types of pictures.

Someone who certainly didn't suffer the same issue is Elizabeth Taylor, very young and very beautiful, this was one of her first roles that flirted with adulthood.

The doomed Scotty Beckett, a major child star throughout his youth, plays Jane's gangly boyfriend, the unfortunately named Oogie, struggling with puberty in one of the roles attempting to ease him into adult roles. He couldn't make the leap and within the year started the long slide into trouble with the law and drug addiction that ended in his suicide two decades later at 38.

In one of his last roles Wallace Beery is full of warm understanding as Jane's father in a departure from his usual bluster, he and Selena Royale at well matched as a long married couple.

Lastly Carmen Miranda is a delight as always, her clothes and hats are outlandish, take special note of her shoes and wonder how she could possibly walk in them! One quibble, the Technicolor is unusually garish and at times the cast practically glows orange.

As somebody who would see anything with Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Powell in it, and who has gotten a lot of pleasure out of Carmen Miranda, 'A Date With Judy' was quite the treat. It is an utterly charming film with much to like and difficult to hate.

It may feel overlong and twee by today's standards for some, both feelings understandable. Personally thought that there was very little to dislike about 'A Date With Judy', and its flaws are just a couple actually and very minor. It does to me go on a little longer than necessary for a story that is relatively slight, so a couple of parts lose momentum just a tad. Robert Stack, while handsome, is also a little too stiff for my liking.

However, 'A Date With Judy' is a lovely-looking film, lovingly shot in glorious Technicolor (that clearly loves Taylor and Powell, not quite so kind to Wallace Beery, often seen in black and white and towards the end of his life, though) and elegant and cosy production and costume design. While not unforgettable or timeless as such, the music and songs are still very good. "Love is Where You Find It" is heart-warming and heartfelt, and it is similarly easy to see why "A Most Unusual Day" was such a hit.

The script warms and touches the heart, and the storytelling while slight is warm, touching and amusing, losing very little if any of its appeal so long after the film was made and released. Richard Thorpe's direction never undermines the film's tone, which is always clear, and there is the sense that he knew what to do with the film and how to do it and that his heart was in it.

Stack aside, the cast are on point. Cute as a button and exuberantly youthful Powell effortlessly charms the viewer and her singing is divine. Taylor in one of her earliest roles is so beautiful here (if not quite as much as in 'Ivanhoe' and 'Cat On a Hot Tin Roof') one can't take her eyes off her, she had a character that could easily annoy but she makes the role endearing. Scotty Beckett is amusing, while Leon Ames is movingly dignified and George Cleveland is a memorable grandfather figure.

Carmen Miranda is quite the Brazilian bombshell and a definite scene stealer. A big surprise was a more restrained and sympathetic than usual Wallace Beery, who tended to be in larger-than-life and large-slice-of-ham roles, this side to him was done remarkably by him and his learning of the rumba with Miranda stays with one forever, very sweet and moving.

Overall, an utterly charming film. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The music is nice and the acting is excellent. While I like Jane Powell and Elizabeth Taylor was positively gorgeous, I'm a huge fan of Wallace Beery. When we look back and consider great actors, he is very underrated. It offers a look back at the family unit of the time compared to what exists now.

1948 produced some of MGM's top teenagers to movie audiences. Put them in a gorgeous technicolor musical comedy, add some veteran adults and you have one of the best of it's time.

Jane Powell, lovely voice and all, plays Judy. Her best friend is the now-sophisticated Elizabeth Taylor, all of 15 years old, looking absolutely lovely that you know she's headed for glamorous grownup roles down the road. The camera loved her. Then there's Scotty Beckett, having started his career at the age of four, now in the awkward teens, doing one of his best performances as Judy's date. Sad he died such a tragic death at an early age.

Scatter many film veterans to the likes of Wallace Berry and Selena Royale as Judy's parents, Robert Stack, young and handsome as Elizabeth's love interest, Leon Ames as Elizabeth and Scotty's dad, Clinton Sundberg as the butler to Ames, Xavier Cugat and his band with Carmen Miranda his star attraction, and one of her last films, and George Cleveland as Judy's Grandpa.

A trivia note: watch the scene with Judy waiting to be picked up for the prom. Early in the picture. Grandpa enters and actually kicks the dog to make his entrance. I had to rewind to believe what I saw. The dog also yelped when he did. And this is the guy who later played all those "Lassie" TV programs. Shame on you George!

All in all a charming and lighthearted film with the beauty of Taylor, the voice of Powell and the comedy of Beckett. Jane sings "A Most Unusual Day" and "Love Is Where You Find It".

This film is a real riot of charm, song, wit and dazzling color. This kind of movie-making has been dead for a very long time, to my everlasting regret. Scotty Beckett and Jane Powell stand out. Unfortunately, Carmen Miranda is made to sing Hollywood's version of Brazilian songs, rather than the authentic stuff. It is disappointing that foreigners should so often be the object of amusement in American films. They are not allowed any dignity. However, Miranda makes the best of what she is given, and shines like a star.

The fun is wholesome, but not too wholesome. The plot involves suspected adultery by a venerable father!!! Plots and subplots are gloriously interwoven. Every time I see this film I am reassured that there IS such a thing as perfection.