There are certain things pretty much all of the Hardy family series had (16 regular films in all): Andy having girl trouble; Andy having money trouble; and Andy getting support from his family, particularly his father.
But what's really good about this film is that it has the most interaction between Andy and Judge Hardy of all the films, as the title suggested. As a result, it is in this film that you see more of just how good a character actor Lewis Stone really was.
At first it may seem that the plot here wanders from Andy Hardy's money and girl problems, to an old couple losing their home, to Andy's mother being seriously ill, but in reality, all those pieces actually do come together. The scenes with the mother being seriously ill with pneumonia are really quite touching.
Mickey Rooney shines -- as usual -- as Andy Hardy. He really was quite the actor when he was young. Cecilia Parker has less screen time here than she did in some of the other Hardy films...as Andy's sister. Fay Holden is charming as Mother Hardy. Ann Rutherford is quite beautiful here as Polly Benedict. I usually enjoy Sara Haden as Aunt Mildred in these films, but her presence here is very brief; not sure why. Maria Ouspenskaya -- not a gypsy fortune teller here (thank goodness) has a small but key role in the film as the old mother about to lose her house (thank goodness...again...it's brief and only at the beginning of the film). Henry Hull -- rather sane here -- plays the family doctor.
If you were only going to watch one of the Andy Hardy films, this might be the one to pick.
But what's really good about this film is that it has the most interaction between Andy and Judge Hardy of all the films, as the title suggested. As a result, it is in this film that you see more of just how good a character actor Lewis Stone really was.
At first it may seem that the plot here wanders from Andy Hardy's money and girl problems, to an old couple losing their home, to Andy's mother being seriously ill, but in reality, all those pieces actually do come together. The scenes with the mother being seriously ill with pneumonia are really quite touching.
Mickey Rooney shines -- as usual -- as Andy Hardy. He really was quite the actor when he was young. Cecilia Parker has less screen time here than she did in some of the other Hardy films...as Andy's sister. Fay Holden is charming as Mother Hardy. Ann Rutherford is quite beautiful here as Polly Benedict. I usually enjoy Sara Haden as Aunt Mildred in these films, but her presence here is very brief; not sure why. Maria Ouspenskaya -- not a gypsy fortune teller here (thank goodness) has a small but key role in the film as the old mother about to lose her house (thank goodness...again...it's brief and only at the beginning of the film). Henry Hull -- rather sane here -- plays the family doctor.
If you were only going to watch one of the Andy Hardy films, this might be the one to pick.