Musica indiavolata

Overlong but fun Mickey & Judy "let's put on a show" musical, directed by the great Busby Berkeley. Drummer Jimmy (Mickey Rooney) and would-be girlfriend Mary (Judy Garland) try to make their high school band a success. Along the way they deal with little personal dramas like Jimmy's mother wanting him to be a doctor, a new girl in town who captures Jimmy's eye, and one of the band members needing an emergency operation. The musical numbers are good, if not particularly memorable. Mickey & Judy are terrific, as always. It's probably pretty corny stuff for those who aren't fans but, if you enjoy these types of movies, I'm sure you'll have a good time with this one.

I love the Mickey/Judy movies and this is a wonderful example of a superb one, but of the three "lets put on a show" type movies this is the worst. It's still fantastic don't get me wrong, but Babes in Arms and Babes on Broadway are much better! The songs are fantastic but not as catchy as the songs from the other movies. Judy is fantastic! It just tears your heart when she sings Nobody. It's a perfect blend of humor and music in this movie. Fantastic. If you like this one, I absolutely recommend Babes in Arms and Babes on Broadway. (Babes on Broadway is my favorite movie ever) It's great! you really should watch this movie!

No I don't care what anybody says Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland were excellent miss film both young actors at the time and the singing and the music was superb. Yeah I mean it was a film on a 1940 remember that! But I loved Judy Garland and always will

"Strike Up the Band" is another teaming of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland who are of course put in the position of putting on a show to save a band, a school program for children, a school from closing, etc. You name it. It could be any of those things. Of all the movie musicals that were made in their heyday, these were the most bizarre, meaning while enjoyable and with good music still somewhat beyond belief. They always seemed to defy the odds, getting what they want, albeit with some obstacles along the way. This outing though is not quite as good as others, due to some of the supporting actors' not so subtle acting. Less is more is not an adage used here. In fact, there's nothing subtle here. Ann Shoemaker does give good support as his mother, with a nice speech about being a great man. But the length, its feeling of self-importance, and some awkward moments of corniness hurt its effectiveness. It is very enjoyable with great musical numbers for Mickey and Judy; but there's just so much of everything here, making it two whole hours, including a over-the-top tongue-in-cheek save-the-damsel production in the middle of the movie, lasting 15 minutes itself. I'm sure you'll enjoy it for what it is, but afterwards, you'll feel like you had a workout.

It's another "let's put on a show!" movies starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland! I saw Strike Up the Band before Babes in Arms, and while I thought it was silly at the time, compared to the earlier flick, it's as epic as Gone With the Wind.

Mickey takes the lead as a high school student far more interested in his drum set than preparing to become a lawyer to fulfill his mother's dream. Judy's in love with him, but he doesn't care about girls, only music. A lowerclassman, Larry Nunn, is in love with Judy, and when June Preisser shows up batting her eyelashes at Mickey, it stars an extremely uninteresting love quadrangle. Mickey isn't really interested in June; he's just getting into the show's rehearsals. Judy isn't interested in Larry, even though he's clearly the better choice. Larry proposes marriage and promises to never go out with other girls, the same evening that Mickey's stood Judy up to go out with June. Larry's only thirteen and offers to wait until she's ready, and when she turns him down, it's heartbreaking to see his face. Why doesn't she just tell him to wait? By the time she's gotten Mickey out of her system, Larry will probably have grown up and gotten over his crush. No heartbreak necessary. Plus, compared to the disinterested, unreliable, pushover Mickey, Larry's a dream!

If you're going to watch this one, it's either because you love the silly Mickey-Judy movies or because you want to see another Busby Berkeley musical. Busby Berkeley movies have such a special feeling to them, that even though they're dated and the music isn't always great, you're going to see someone who put a lot of thought into his craft instead of just "Let's put on a show!" like the people in his movies. You'll get to see his classic angles and beautifully framed shots, but you might not like the rest of the movie. Both leads are in their super-hyper phases, and since we know what we know about how old Hollywood fed the kids drugs to give them pep, it's not really too much fun to see them bouncing off the walls. "Who's been feeding you vitamins?" Judy jokes when Mickey approaches her with particularly intense energy. It's just not funny to hear her say that, since everyone knows they weren't really vitamins. There's just so much energy a person can put into the conga line before someone notices he's not really normal.