BABES IN ARMS

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CREDITS

1939, 93 minutes, B&W.
Producer, Arthur Freed; Director, Busby Berkeley; Screenplay, Jack McGowan and Kay Van Riper; Cinematography, Ray June; Music Direction, George Stoll and Roger Edens; Choreography, Busby Berkeley.

CAST

Mickey Moran, Mickey Rooney; Patsy Barton, Judy Garland, Joe Moran, Charles Winninger; Judge Black, Guy Kibbee; Rosalie Essex, June Preisser; Florrie Moran, Grace Hayes; Molly Moran, Betty Jaynes; Don Brice, Douglas McPhail; Jeff Steele, Rand Brooks; Dody Martini, Leni Lynn; Bobs, John Sheffield; Madox, Henry Hull; William, Barnett Parker; Mrs. Barton, Ann Shoemaker; Margaret Steele, Margaret Hamilton; Mr. Essex, Joseph Crehan; Brice, George McKay; Shaw, Henry Roquemore; Mrs. Brice, Lelay Tyler.

SONGS

Babes in Arms; Where or When by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart; Broadway Rhythm; Good Morning; You Are My Lucky Star by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown; I Cried for You by Freed, Gus Arnheim and Abe Lyman; God's Country by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg; I Like Opera, I Like Swing; Figaro; My Daddy Was a Minstrel Man by Roger Edens; Oh! Susanna by Stephen Foster; Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider by Eddie Leonard and Eddie Munson; Moonlight Bay by Edward Madden and Percy Wenrich; I'm Just Wild About Harry by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake.

PLOT SYNOPSIS

"Rooney plays Mickey Moran, the multi-talented son of a famous vaudeville team. Learning that his parents are in financial straits - as are the other vaudeville families living in the community - he rounds up all the stage kids and puts on a lavish show to raise money. The future looks rosy until a sudden hurricane literally washes the whole enterprise away on opening night!"
- Liner Notes from MGM/UA Laserdisc

NOTES

"Brilliantly adapting to the MGM house-style, Berkeley was able to bring out the best in his stars. . .both of whom were given ample opportunity to display their multiple talents in a large-scale minstrel show, as well as in several more intimate songs."
- Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical

"A topflight filmusical entertainment. It will click mightily in the key deluxers, and roll up hefty profits for exhibits in the subsequent runs and smaller situations."
- Variety

"This version of the Rodgers and Hart Broadway musical didn't retain much of their material, but it starred Judy Garland. . .and Mickey Rooney as the children of vaudevillians, and it has great charm. . .the direction is likably naive, the choreography is primitive-surreal."
- Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights At The Movies

ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS:
Best Actor - Mickey Rooney
Scoring

Babes in Arms was director Busby Berkeley's full-length directorial debut at MGM; it was Arthur Freed's first film production.

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