A group of vaudevillians struggling to compete with talkies hits the road hoping for a comeback. Frustrated to be left behind, all of their kids put on a show themselves to raise money for t... Read allA group of vaudevillians struggling to compete with talkies hits the road hoping for a comeback. Frustrated to be left behind, all of their kids put on a show themselves to raise money for the families and to prove they've got talent, too.A group of vaudevillians struggling to compete with talkies hits the road hoping for a comeback. Frustrated to be left behind, all of their kids put on a show themselves to raise money for the families and to prove they've got talent, too.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 2 nominations total
- Bobs
- (as John Sheffield)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMGM Studio's biggest money grosser of 1939, surpassing The Wizard of Oz (1939) for that production year.
- GoofsMickey is handed a cigar by the butler during the dinner party with Rosalie. Just before he gets up from the dinner table, he puts the cigar down but in the next shot he still has the cigar in his hand and has to put it down again.
- Quotes
Mickey Moran: [singing] Here we are together, a couple of stayer-uppers / Our day is done at breakfast time and starts it with our suppers / Here we are together, ah, but the best of friends must part-y / So let me sing this parting song from the bottom of my heart-y.
- Alternate versionsOlder TV prints (and early video releases) of "Babes In Arms" run 91 minutes, and exclude the "My Day" segment of the finale, with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland spoofing Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. This segment was deleted for a 1948 reissue. "My Day" was restored in the 1990's by Ted Turner, and is included in current prints.
- ConnectionsEdited into Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972)
- SoundtracksBabes in Arms
(1937)
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Played during the opening credits
Sung by Douglas McPhail (uncredited), Mickey Rooney (uncredited), Judy Garland (uncredited) and chorus
BABES IN ARMS was originally a Rogers and Hart show that proved a smash on the New York stage--a slightly satirical script with one of the most powerful scores of the 1930s. MGM specifically purchased the property for Rooney and Garland and then promptly threw out the script, most of the score, and transformed the thing into the tale of young teenagers who decide to put on a show in a barn.
Although well performed, the songs that replaced the original score simply do not measure up to the play's original score, and viewers are likely to be startled by a minstrel show number that finds Mickey and Judy romping in blackface. In justice to the film, it should be remembered that while minstrel shows remained popular well into the 1950s, and such great stars as Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor performed in full blackface well into the 1930s. While the number is stereotypical, it is not meanspirited, and if nothing else it offers a glimpse into a now dead theatrical tradition.
But weirdest of all is the grand finale "In God's Country," a strange mixture of Hollywood ballyhoo, patriotism, and fear of the European war that would soon engulf the world. In its original form, the number also included Rooney and Garland doing a take off of FDR and Eleanor; although cleverly performed and quite mild in content, this was later cut in re-release, for MGM worried it might be construed as disrespectful during wartime.
The film has a number of distinct flaws. Director Busby Berkley was most at home with big-budget musicals that had scope for the elaborate dance numbers he favored--he's something of a fish out of water with this more intimate material, and his approach feels heavy handed. Although much admired at the time (he actually received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for this film), Mickey Rooney's performance is absurdly manic by modern standards, and Garland's more natural performance is too often overshadowed by his excesses. The script is as weak as the score, few of the supporting performers are memorable (Margaret Hamilton is an exception), and the whole thing has a awkward quality to it.
Even so, it's still possible to see what all the fuss was about. The film does capture an inkling of the famous Rooney-Garland chemistry--a chemistry that would fuel three more "let's put on a show!" musicals, each one more more effective than the last. It is there in every musical number the two perform, in every line, in every scene, a very real and very powerful thing. While casual viewers would do better to select either BABES ON Broadway or GIRL CRAZY, in spite of all its flaws, Rooney-Garland fans will likely find BABES IN ARMS an essential.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Vi charmörer
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $748,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1