You're Only Young Once

Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) takes his family on vacation to Catalina Island where his kids have romantic troubles. Andy's fallen for a more experienced girl (Eleanor Lynn) and Marian's gotten involved with a married lifeguard. Looks like it's time for some of those patented Judge Hardy talks (a series staple). There's also a plot continuing from the last film that sees the Hardys in danger of losing everything. This series had pretty good continuity for the time and was good about tying the events of one film into the next.

The cast is excellent, with Lewis Stone, Fay Holden, and the adorable Ann Rutherford joining the series in this sophomore entry. Eleanor Lynn is a pretty and lively bad influence on poor Andy. A fine movie in a terrific series with healthy doses of comedy along with the drama. There's a touching scene late in the film where Fay Holden talks about the loss of their first child on the same night she was born. A beautiful scene that exemplifies the kind of heartfelt drama this series did so well.

The Hardy family is going on a summer vacation to Catalina Island in California. Each member has their own misadventures. Father is obsessed with catching a swordfish. Marian falls for a married local. Andy is taken with a fast girl. The Judge is told that his business deal threatens everything including their home.

There is some recasting. Lewis Stone is a capable old actor. Luckily for the series, Mickey Rooney does return. This is all wholesome lessons about bad romances. It's a lot of father knows best. It's light comedy and family friendly. It's another era. It must also be a good time for Catalina tourism.

You're Only Young Once (1937)

*** (out of 4)

Second film in MGM's Hardy series has Judge (Lewis Stone) taking the family to Catalina Island where his daughter gets involved with a marriage man and Andy (Mickey Rooney) gets involved with a girl (Eleanor Lynn) who certainly doesn't have his best interest in mind. Judge tries to settle their problems while trying to catch a swordfish but not knowing the trouble that awaits them when they get home. Even though this was the second film in the series, in many ways it was the first as this is when Lewis joined the cast and it's rather amazing at how wonderful he was for the part. I love Lionel Barrymore as an actor but he simply wasn't right for the role so it's good that he left the series after A FAMILY AFFAIR and that Stone stepped in. The way he plays Judge as the wise, stern but fair father is certainly one of the most memorable roles from this era in Hollywood. Sure, the film and the subject matters are all way too "friendly" and "clean" but that just adds to the fun nature of the messages. As expected, Rooney is certainly full of energy and he makes for some more good times as his relationship with Lynn is quite fresh and rather romantic. If her birth date on IMDb is correct, then Lynn was probably around 11-years-old when she filmed this, which is somewhat troubling in a few of the scenes where she's smoking and pretty much throwing herself on Andy. I'm not sure what her real age is but she certainly looked and acted much older here. Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden, Frank Craven and Ann Rutherford are all good in their roles as well. I thought the film, naturally, went for a lot of laughs but the highlights for me were the more dramatic moments. I thought the moments where Judge has to make the decision to educate his children without being too preachy was handled extremely well and I thought the moments were quite tender and refreshing. There's a sequence where his daughter comes in drunk after Judge has learned that the man is married and the way this scene plays out is certainly the best part of the film. I thought the final ten-minutes were somewhat of a drag when the family left the island but this is still a pleasant little film that fans will enjoy.

You're Only Young Once is the second Andy Hardy movie, but it's the first to try out the pseudo-new cast. Mickey Rooney and Sara Haden stay, but the parents have been replaced by Lewis Stone and Fay Holden. The sister is Cecilia Parker, and while her romantic troubles of the first movie are referenced, and while some of Judge Hardy's business ventures from the first movie with Lionel Barrymore are also incorporated into the plot, this is treated like the start of the franchise. Just as the first Dr. Kildare movie is generally forgotten about once the rest of the series was given a regular cast, A Family Affair is usually swept under the carpet when people watch the Andy Hardy movies.

In this one, Lewis Stone, the new Judge Hardy, takes his family on a vacation to Catalina Island for the summer. He has dreams of catching a swordfish, but he soon finds himself fixing his kids' problems instead, like he did during the first movie. Mickey gets involved with a fast floozy, and Cecilia gets involved with a married man. Lewis knows the way to handle his kids, and even though you might miss Lionel Barrymore if you're watching these in order, you should give him a fair shot. Lewis's most famous role is Judge Hardy, and after fifteen movies, it's easy to see why. He's the upstanding citizen with moral fiber, patience, understanding, and wisdom. Before Donna Reed fixed her kids' problems with milk and cookies, and before Robert Young knew best, there was Lewis Stone. After watching You're Only Young Once, you'll understand why. This one is one of my favorites of the series, so if you've seen them out of order and think they're silly, rent this one for a refreshing take.

There was a previous film about this family -"A Family Affair" - made also in 1937. That starred Lionel Barrymore as Judge Hardy and Spring Byington as Mrs. Hardy. Also the Hardy's daughter is married, and her marital problems figure into the plot in a major way. Mickey Rooney is very much a supporting character at that point.

This film changes everything. Lionel Barrymore had health and mobility problems, so Lewis Stone takes over the role of Judge Hardy and very much makes it his own. Spring Byington was not under contract to MGM, so she is not in this film or any other Hardy pictures as Mrs. Hardy. The rest of the supporting cast remains the same, except now Judge Hardy's daughter Marion is now magically single, never married, because more interesting situations can come about that way.

This film takes the family to Catalina Island for a vacation - a long way from Carville. No one family member takes center stage. Instead, both Marion and Andy have romantic problems and learn a few lessons. Lewis Stone as Judge Hardy is probably the central figure if anybody is. And Judge Hardy, before leaving for vacation, takes a chance that could leave the family bankrupt if things don't go his way. And he never even bothered to talk to his wife about it UNTIL it becomes a problem!

MGM apparently correctly judged they had a winning formula in the Hardys, since Lewis Stone appears in a rare epilogue to talk about how this will be a series. It turned out that the series is a good representative of MGM's output prewar and probably American values and outlooks pre war as well. WWII changed everything, and though the series had installments after WWII, it was never quite the same.

This is a good introduction to the Hardy family as it existed in every film but the first one. And that first one is worth watching on its own terms.