Babes in Arms | |
---|---|
theatrical release poster
|
|
Directed by | Busby Berkeley |
Produced by | Arthur Freed |
Written by |
Uncredited: John Meehan Noel Langley Anita Loos Florence Ryerson Annalee Whitmore Edgar Allan Woolf |
Screenplay by |
Jack McGowan Kay Van Riper |
Based on |
Babes in Arms (1937 stage musical) by Richard Rogers & Lorenz Hart |
Starring |
Mickey Rooney Judy Garland |
Music by |
Songs: Arthur Freed (lyrics) & Nacio Herb Brown (music); Richard Rodgers (music) & Lorenz Hart (lyrics); Harold Arlen (music) & E. Y. Harburg (lyrics); Roger Edens (music & lyrics) et al. |
Cinematography | Ray June |
Edited by | Frank Sullivan |
Production
company |
|
Distributed by | Loew's Inc. |
Release date
|
|
Running time
|
93 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $745,341 |
Box office | $3,335,000 |
Babes in Arms is the 1939 American film version of the 1937 Broadway musical of the same name. The film version stars Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and features Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee, June Preisser, Grace Hayes and Betty Jaynes. The film concerns a group of youngsters trying to put on a show to prove their vaudevillian parents wrong and make it to Broadway. The original Broadway script was significantly revamped, restructured and rewritten to accommodate Hollywood's needs.
In 1921 vaudeville performer Joe Moran (Charles Winninger) announces the birth of a son; but after the advent of talking pictures in 1928, vaudeville fails. His son Mickey Moran (Mickey Rooney) writes songs, and Patsy Barton (Judy Garland) sings "Good Morning." Mickey sells the song for $100. He gives Patsy his pin and kisses her. Mickey learns that his parents Joe and Florrie (Grace Hayes) are going on the road without the children, and he disagrees. Patsy and Molly Moran (Betty Jaynes) sing "You Are My Lucky Star" and "Broadway Rhythm," but Joe says no to their going. So Mickey proposes the kids put on a show, and Don Brice (Douglas McPhail) sings "Babes in Arms" as they march and make a bonfire. Joe dismisses Mickey.
Martha Steele (Margaret Hamilton) and her son Jeff Steele (Rand Brooks) from military school complain to Judge Black (Guy Kibbee) about the Vaudeville kids, but he won't take them from their homes. In a drugstore Mickey and Patsy meet movie star Baby Rosalie Essex (June Preisser), but Mickey gets in a fight with Jeff. Mickey tells Judge Black that his parents' show flopped. The judge gives Mickey thirty days to pay damages. Don and Molly sing "Where or When" with an orchestra of children. Mickey has a date with Baby and dines in her house. Mickey wants Baby in the show, which needs $287. She offers to pay it. Mickey smokes a cigar and leaves sick.