Andy Hardy Comes Home

As a way to tie up the loose ends of the series this average entry is a passable movie but the old spark is gone. Easy to see why this was the final film of the run.

The clips hearkening back to previous Hardy adventures (really just an excuse to remind the viewer that Judy Garland, Lana Turner and Esther Williams had appeared in the films) only emphasizes how modest this one is. Nothing against the actress who plays Andy's wife but it is too bad that they couldn't convince Ann Rutherford to return as Polly Benedict as Mrs. Hardy which any fan of the series expected.

For series fans a nice piece of nostalgia but that's about it.

Like another person who commented, I feel this film leaves too many unanswered questions as to what happened in the years between 1947 and 1958. It was fun to see a few of the original characters (Fay Holden, as Mrs. Hardy, had aged very well!), but the original flavor of the Hardy series was completely lost. The film does come to a satisfying conclusion, however.

One comment regarding archive footage used in the film: I've seen it said repeatedly that the footage of Mickey and Judy was from "Love Finds Andy Hardy", when actually the footage was taken from "Babes in Arms" and adapted with "dubbed-over" names. The footage seems to indicate that Andy and Betsy Booth were more romantically involved than they were in the earlier Hardy films. However, Mickey and Judy are always a treat to watch, whatever the film clip.

Although this film provides some closure, it seems it was intended to begin a new generation of Andy Hardy films; thankfully, film makers left well enough alone after this entry.

In his autobiography, Mickey Rooney indicated he had high hopes for this movie but really hated what it turned out to be. He didn't say why, but I have to agree with his sentiments. It's a downer.

The Andy Hardy films of the '30s and '40s had an abundance of humor, or at least good humor. And a lot of the magic was the town of Carvel itself. It was an earlier version of TV's Mayberry -- a gentle, peaceful place that anyone would love to call home. In this movie, however, Carvel is a gloomy little backwater, left behind by postwar prosperity. You can't blame Andy for wanting to rescue it, even if his plan for accomplishing that is dubious.

If you're an Andy Hardy fan, you'll want to see this film out of a certain kind of loyalty. But don't expect it to be fun.

ANDY HARDY COMES HOME (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1958), a Fryman Enterprise Production directed by Howard Koch, returns Mickey Rooney to his iconic role of Andy Hardy and home studio of MGM. In a title role he originated in A FAMILY AFFAIR (MGM, 1937) starring Lionel Barrymore and Spring Byington, followed by fifteen subsequent comedy-dramas through 1946 featuring the recast Lewis Stone and Fay Holden, this latest installment not only resumes the outlook of the Hardy family for the first time since LOVE LAUGHS AT ANDY HARDY (1946), but an attempt to revive the movie series which actually put an end to it.

After receiving a telegram from her son, Andy, that he is coming home for a visit, his mother, Emily (Fay Holden), Aunt Milly Forrest (Sara Haden), sister Marian, Marion (Cecilia Parker) and his nephew, Jimmy (Johnny Weissmulelr Jr.) arrive at Carval Municipal Airport for a family greeting. Andy (Mickey Rooney), a popular teenager in his day, now married with two children living in Santa Monica, California, is a top executive in legal department for the Gordon Aircraft Corporation. As a favor to Mr. Gordon (Sydney Smith), the company president, Andy returns to Carvel seeking for undeveloped property for a proposed missile factory site, something that could have Carvel grow and prosper with plenty of employment. With the assistance of courthouse clerk Betty Wilson (Pat Crawley), he proposes buying land belonging to Thomas Chandler (Vaughn Taylor), offering him a set price. However, Chandler goes back on his promise with a higher selling price. With the help of his best friend, "Beezy" Anderson (Joey Foreman), he offers to sell him his Puddle Creek property at a lower cost. When news gets out, a petition is used to stop the deal by rezoning the property. Complications develop when Betty's jealous boyfriend, Jack Bailey (William Leslie) misinterprets her spending too much business time with Andy. With the arrival of his wife, Jane (Patricia Breslin) and his children, Andy Jr. (Teddy Rooney) and Marian, better known as "Cricket" (Gina Gillespie), for moral support, Andy feels betrayed by his friends, let alone the possibility of still being employed. For this production, four songs, written by Mickey Rooney and Harold Spina, are credited, including the opening theme song of "Lady Summer Night," "Ugotia Soda," "Unk WInk" and "The Octavian Song." Also in the cast are Jerry Colonna ("Doc"); Frank Ferguson (Mayor Benson); and Tommy Duggan (Councilman Warren).

With movie and later television reunions seldom doing well, ANDY HARDY COMES HOME is no exception. Yet for those who have become accustomed to the series at its prime (1937-1946), would view this reunion for nostalgic reasons, especially through film clips of MGM starlets who later prospered as major leading ladies as Judy Garland as Betsy Booth (who appeared in three entries in the series), Esther Williams's underwater kissing sequence with Andy from ANDY HARDY'S DOUBLE LIFE (1942), and Lana Turner from LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY (1938), all featuring upscale 1950s style underscoring not used in the movie originals.

While Fay Holden, Sara Haden and Cecilia Parker retained their original roles, only the Beezy Anderson character earlier portrayed by Georgie Breakstone, was recast and enacted by Joey Forman. The now deceased Lewis Stone, as Andy's father, Judge James K. Hardy, is presented through a still photograph placed in the family study. It is through his photograph that Andy seeks guidance and strength to do what he thinks is right. Interestingly, for Andy's sister, Marian, her character is rather undeveloped. Now a mother to a giant-size teenage son (played by son of Tarzan screen legend, Johnny Weissmuller) there is no mention about her husband to whether she is a widow or divorced. Naturally there hasn't been any mention about Andy's older sister, Jane (Julie Hayden), since the series introduction of A FAMILY AFFAIR. It would be natural having Mickey's own son, Teddy, as Andy Hardy Jr., and wanting to have a man-to-man talk with him in the similar manner between Judge Hardy and son. Sadly, Teddy's performance, along with Jeanne Baird as Beezy's wife, Sally, somewhat weakens the proceedings through their lackluster acting. Gina Gillespie as Andy's daughter is very cute, however. Patricia Breslin was satisfactory as Andy's wife, Jane, but many familiar with the series would have preferred Ann Rutherford's Polly Benedict, Andy's girlfriend, to have returned and assumed her role of Mrs. Hardy instead.

While ANDY HARDY COMES HOME at 83 minutes is done in the style and tradition of television family shows (minus laugh track) as "Father Knows Best," it appears much of this dramedy with updates showing the Hardys watching television, for instance, along with new teenagers/characters just didn't jell in 1958 as it might have in 1948. Though this installment isn't really all that bad, it was probably best watching the older Hardy Family movies on late night television instead, indicating the sixteenth and final installment that nothing really stays the same. Never distributed on video cassette, ANDY HARDY COMES HOME has become available on DVD and occasional broadcasts on Turner Classic Movies cable channel. (**1/2)

I finally managed to watch this movie. I had seen every other movie in the Hardy family series and this would, fittingly I thought, close out the series for me.

I must admit I was disappointed in the movie. Perhaps I missed it, but I thought that a little more background should have been provided. There were a few people that were noticeably absent, particularly Andy's father, James Hardy (Lewis Stone). His long-time flame, Polly Benedict (played by Ann Rutherford) was also given little mention beyond seeing her in a clip and seeing her picture.

The Hardy movies made me feel like a part of the family. However in the 12 years since the previous film a lot had obviously happened and there was little or no recap. How did Judge Hardy die? What happened to Marion's husband? How did Marion and Jimmy come to live in the Hardy house? Where was Polly Benedict?

To me the movie seemed to not know whether to stand on its own or to be simply a nostalgia picture. It tries to capitalize on the past movies but is content to introduce several major new characters with little or no explanation. I would have loved to know where he'd met Jane, or how he came to go to California. A theme that seemed to run through the movie was Andy turning into his father: he is asked by his son for "a man to man talk", Andy doesn't understand the new "buzzwords" of his nephew Jimmy's generation. Andy is now a part of the awkward older generation.

I suspect that this movie was intended to relaunch Mickey Rooney's career. That is only my guess, however at the conclusion the words "To Be Continued" seemed pretty obvious that there were to be additional sequels - sequels never made. I imagine when this movie came out movie audiences no longer felt the chemistry that had existed with the original Hardy family. Andy had been the main focus of most of the earlier Hardy movies but now he was the anachronism. He was no longer an idol for younger, hipper audiences. At the same time the supporting cast wasn't up to carrying the lead. Like so many remakes that never really re-capture the magic of the original, Andy Hardy Comes Home just made me appreciate that the producers had been able to capture magic in a bottle in the original movies.

In short, this is the last movie in the series. It doesn't completely close out the series and leaves a lot of questions unanswered, however for Hardy fans, it is still a film worth seeking out. It will make the original movies all that much more special.