One of Judy Garland's biggest early song hits was a jazzy rendition of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart". If "Dear Mr. Gable (You Made Me Love You") established her as the top young vocalist of the late 1930's, then this song confirmed it, and when she sings it in this movie, it is obvious then that a future star was in the making, and even if she had never taken on the role of Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz", something else would have come for her to do that job.
Judy is aghast here that her widowed mother (Mary Astor) would dare to marry a man she doesn't like (Gene Lockhart), so what does she scheme to do with her pal Freddie Bartholomew? Kidnap mom, of course, and find a man she does approve of! That man turns out to be Walter Pidgeon, and after some hedging, the possibility that mom and Mr. Right will hit it off does seem a likely bet.
This is early Judy at her perkiest, and while the plot may be fluff and the gags corny, it is certainly entertaining, and Judy never fails to disappoint. Mary Astor could go from kindly mom to deadly dame with no blinks in her eye, and here, she is as apple pie as her femme fatale in "The Maltese Falcon" was dangerous. Judy's future "Uncle Henry" (Charley Grapewin) is her "Uncle Joe" here, and watch his expressions as Judy sings, first imitating Bartholomew's love-starved look, then his disgust with Gene Lockhart sitting next to him. Judy gets another song, too, the bouncy "On the Bumpy Road to Love". There would be no bumps in the road on her career in the next few years, rising straight to the top. Judy, you know you made us love you.
Judy is aghast here that her widowed mother (Mary Astor) would dare to marry a man she doesn't like (Gene Lockhart), so what does she scheme to do with her pal Freddie Bartholomew? Kidnap mom, of course, and find a man she does approve of! That man turns out to be Walter Pidgeon, and after some hedging, the possibility that mom and Mr. Right will hit it off does seem a likely bet.
This is early Judy at her perkiest, and while the plot may be fluff and the gags corny, it is certainly entertaining, and Judy never fails to disappoint. Mary Astor could go from kindly mom to deadly dame with no blinks in her eye, and here, she is as apple pie as her femme fatale in "The Maltese Falcon" was dangerous. Judy's future "Uncle Henry" (Charley Grapewin) is her "Uncle Joe" here, and watch his expressions as Judy sings, first imitating Bartholomew's love-starved look, then his disgust with Gene Lockhart sitting next to him. Judy gets another song, too, the bouncy "On the Bumpy Road to Love". There would be no bumps in the road on her career in the next few years, rising straight to the top. Judy, you know you made us love you.