Andy Hardy In the Big City

We are family…

Few families were as quintessential to the nineteen-thirties and forties as the Hardys, with the focal point, being, of course, Andy Hardy. Between 1937 and 1946, movie audiences could expect to see at least one Andy Hardy film from MGM a year. Since they used mostly existing sets, they were not only quick and relatively inexpensive to make, but were always sure profits for Leo the Lion and Company. 1941 saw two of these films released, the second being Life Begins For Andy Hardy.

The movie picks up where Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary left off. Andy (Mickey Rooney) has just graduated from Carvel High School, he and Polly Benedict (Ann Rutherford) have broken up because they’re going to separate colleges, and Andy’s eager to make his own way in the world. The faithful Betsy Booth (Judy Garland) is in town, hoping that Andy has finally moved on from Polly and ready to see her as a love interest.

Andy should be signing up to go to Wainwright College like his dad, Judge James Hardy (Lewis Stone), where he’s a shoo-in for a full scholarship, but Andy is restless. He cooks up a plan to go to New York City with Betsy and see if he can’t get a job instead.

A few days later Andy drives off with Betsy in his new car while an anxious Dad, Mom Emily (Fay Holden) and Aunt Millie (Sara Haden) wave them off. “Today I am a man,” he declares.

However, New York City isn’t Carvel. Andy checks himself into City House, which doesn’t allow women above its ground floor, and almost immediately he meets Jimmy Frobisher (Ray McDonald) an aspiring dancer who just quit his job as an office boy at a stockbroker’s to go back into dancing.

Andy rushes down to Jimmy’s former office with Betsy to see about the job, but he has to wait for the boss, Mr. Maddox (Lester Matthews), to come back from dinner. He doesn’t mind too much, though, because the pretty operator, Jennitt Hicks (Patricia Dane) is still on the job and she asks Andy to take over the switchboard for her while she gets ready for a date. Long story short, Andy buys her some perfume at the drugstore and escorts her home via cab.

And no, he doesn’t have the job. Andy starts pounding the pavement and things look more and more bleak. New York isn’t what he expects and even people he thinks are trustworthy turn out to be less so. I’m probably not spoiling much when I say that Jennitt is a condescending, gold-digging barracuda who deserves what’s coming to her.

Good thing Betsy is incredibly patient, although not a milquetoast, and ready and willing to exploit a few of the secrets of her hometown. She regularly informs Judge Hardy of Andy’s goings-on, although it’s kept on the down-low so Emily doesn’t worry too much. Now if only Andy would get a clue.

Life Begins For Andy Hardy is a surprisingly sober entry in the Andy Hardy series, because it shows Andy getting a taste of real life and learning some lessons the hard way. While previous movies always had at least a veneer of unfailing optimism and idealism, Life showed the worst happening and things not quite working out as planned, even delving into the “Forgotten Man” trope that was all too common during the Great Depression. Andy’s not a kid anymore and the series began to reflect it on some level.

Amazingly enough, the story had to be tweaked to keep the folks at the Hays Office happy; one character’s suicide was changed to a heart defect although Andy fears the former when he discovers his friend in the bathroom at City House. Andy’s dalliance with Jennitt is mostly innocent but again, her unsavory morals are very much in evidence. All of these issues brought the ire of the Catholic League of Decency because its members didn’t think the film was very family-friendly.

The reviews, of course, tended to caution viewers of this in case they were parents of young children, but they were generally complimentary. “Andy Hardy Goes Adult” said the August 16, 1941 issue of Motion Picture Herald. The August 11, 1941 issue of Motion Picture Daily got downright spoiler-y. The September 6, 1941 issue of Film Bulletin quipped, “Young Andy is growing up (in every respect except height) and Mickey Rooney keeps in step with his favorite character by giving a more serious portrayal which dispenses with the mugging while retaining his naturalness.”

Things might have gotten more serious, but that’s not to say there isn’t trademark Andy Hardy-type fun to be had. Andy and Betsy have their usual banter, although Andy is still a little slow to realize Betsy isn’t twelve anymore. It’s also pretty funny to see Andy learn how to navigate his way around an office and acclimate himself to a city that’s as strange to him as another planet. He also has a mishap with a stack of carbon paper and a meet-up with an old friend of the mechanical variety.

For all the rumblings about the film’s apparent raciness and somberness, Life Begins For Andy Hardy was a smashing success, bringing in thousands of dollars at every engagement and ultimately placing forty-ninth in 1941 rankings, grossing $177M in today’s money.

It might seem hard to believe to us today, what with easily-accessible shows on every streaming service but an Andy Hardy movie was a big event once upon a time, with theaters being encouraged by the trade papers to not only promote the film as another welcome visit with beloved characters, but as a great way to beat the heat in a nice, air-conditioned theater. It was also generally and loudly acknowledged that Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney were huge stars and that Life was “the biggest Hardy hit yet.” To be fair, though, the media usually said that about every Hardy movie.

My one reservation about Life Begins For Andy Hardy, as watchable as it is, is that it’s probably not the best Hardy film for the uninitiated to begin on. While it breaks out of the series’ usual formula, it doesn’t give the best first impression because what made the series so popular isn’t as apparent. Personally, I would recommend easing into things with Love Finds Andy Hardy and then going on from there.

For more of the Familyathon, please see Sally at 18 Cinema Lane. Thanks for hosting this, Sally–it was a blast! Thanks for reading, all, and I hope to see you Saturday for what I hope is a delectable review that will leave you hungry. Cryptic, I know, but it will all become clear, of course. Have a good one…

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Life Begins For Andy Hardy is available on DVD from Amazon.

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