Life Begins for Andy Hardy

Last updated
Life Begins for Andy Hardy
Life Begins 1941.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by George B. Seitz
Written by Agnes Christine Johnston
Aurania Rouverol
Produced byCarey Wilson
Starring Mickey Rooney
Lewis Stone
Judy Garland
Ann Rutherford
Fay Holden
Cinematography Lester White
Edited by Elmo Veron
Music by Georgie Stoll
Production
company
Distributed by Loew's Inc.
Release date
  • August 15, 1941 (1941-08-15)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$401,000 [1]
Box office$2,494,000 [1]

Life Begins for Andy Hardy is a 1941 American comedy film and the 11th installment of the 16 popular Andy Hardy movies. Directed by George B. Seitz, Life Begins for Andy Hardy was also the last Andy Hardy movie to feature Judy Garland.

Contents

Plot

With high school behind him, Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) decides that as an adult, it's time to start living his life on his own. Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) recommends that his son would go to college and study law, but Andy isn't sure that's what he wants to do so he heads off to New York City to find a job. With high spirits and a new car, he drives to New York City with his childhood friend Betsy Booth (Judy Garland).

Andy soon meets there another young man who had just been fired as an "office boy" at a midtown firm. When Betsy rushes Andy there unannounced to apply for the vacancy, Betsy patiently circles the congested streets for hours waiting for him to come out. She eventually runs out of fuel, and Andy does not land the job due to a family member acquiring it before him. Andy lives without a job for several weeks, too proud to accept financial help from well-to-do Betsy until the office receptionist visits his apartment to inform him the job is free, the nephew having lost the job. He even gets to repeatedly date the office receptionist, a more worldly woman who (in addition to the office staff) is amused at his naivete and sometimes clumsiness. He learns that daily expenses, including gifts and dates for his new girlfriend, quickly add up. He also mourns over the death of his new friend.

Andy is nearly fired after, due to drowsiness, he mixes up two outgoing letters in the office mail. Although ashamed to let his parents know of his difficulties, they hear of his circumstances from Betsy, and his father goes to bring him home. After facing these several lessons of life, Andy concludes that he may still have some growing up to do and gets a job at the car repair shop in his hometown, knowing he is knowledgeable about them.

Cast

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $1,684,000 in the US and Canada and $810,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $1,324,000. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Love Finds Andy Hardy</i> 1938 film by George B. Seitz

Love Finds Andy Hardy is a 1938 American romantic comedy film that tells the story of a teenage boy who becomes entangled with three different girls all at the same time. It stars Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Fay Holden, Cecilia Parker, Judy Garland, Lana Turner, Ann Rutherford, Mary Howard and Gene Reynolds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mickey Rooney</span> American actor (1920–2014)

Mickey Rooney was an American actor, producer, radio entertainer, and vaudevillian. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the silent-film era. He was the top box-office attraction from 1939 to 1941, and one of the best-paid actors of that era. At the height of a career marked by declines and comebacks, Rooney performed the role of Andy Hardy in a series of 16 films in the 1930s and 1940s that epitomized the mainstream United States self-image.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis Stone</span> American actor (1879–1953)

Lewis Shepard Stone was an American film actor. He spent 29 years as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was best known for his portrayal of Judge James Hardy in the studio's popular Andy Hardy film series. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1929 for his performance as Russian Count Pahlen in The Patriot. Stone was also cast in seven films with Greta Garbo, including in the role of Doctor Otternschlag in the 1932 drama Grand Hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Hardy</span> Fictional character played by Mickey Rooney

Andrew "Andy" Hardy is a fictional character best known for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer series of 16 films in which he was played by Mickey Rooney. The main film series was released from 1937 to 1946, with a final film made in 1958 in an unsuccessful attempt to continue the series. Hardy and other characters initially appeared in the 1928 play Skidding by Aurania Rouverol. Early films in the series were about the Hardy family as a whole, but later entries focused on the character of Andy Hardy. Rooney was the only member of the ensemble to appear in all 16 films. The Hardy films, which were enormously popular in their heyday, were sentimental comedies, celebrating ordinary American life.

<i>Babes in Arms</i> (film) 1939 film by Busby Berkeley

Babes in Arms is the 1939 American film version of the 1937 coming-of-age Broadway musical of the same title. Directed by Busby Berkeley, it stars Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and features Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee, June Preisser, Grace Hayes, and Betty Jaynes. It was Garland and Rooney's second film together as lead characters after their earlier successful pairing in the fourth of the Andy Hardy films. 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. Almost all of the Rodgers and Hart songs from the Broadway musical were discarded.

<i>Andy Hardy Meets Debutante</i> 1940 film by George B. Seitz

Andy Hardy Meets Debutante is a 1940 American romantic comedy film directed by George B. Seitz. The film stars Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden and Judy Garland. It is the ninth of the Andy Hardy full-length film series.

<i>Youre Only Young Once</i> 1937 film by George B. Seitz

You're Only Young Once is a 1937 American comedy film directed by George B. Seitz. Following A Family Affair, it is the second film of the Andy Hardy series. Lewis Stone replaces Lionel Barrymore as Judge Hardy while Fay Holden replaced Spring Byington as his wife since both Barrymore and Byington were too expensive for the sequel's modest budget. Mickey Rooney would repeat his role as Andy while Cecilia Parker, as his sister, and Sara Haden, as Aunt Milly, would also reprise their roles from the original film. They were the only original actors transferred to the series.

<i>Young Tom Edison</i> 1940 film by Norman Taurog

Young Tom Edison is a 1940 biographical film about the early life of inventor Thomas Edison directed by Norman Taurog and starring Mickey Rooney. The film was the first of a complementary pair of Edison biopics that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released in 1940. Edison, the Man, starring Spencer Tracy, followed two months later, completing the two-part story of Edison's life.

<i>Andy Hardys Private Secretary</i> 1941 film by George B. Seitz

Andy Hardy's Private Secretary is a 1941 American comedy film directed by George B. Seitz and starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Kathryn Grayson, Ann Rutherford and Fay Holden. It was the tenth of the 16-film Andy Hardy series. Marian Hardy does not appear in this film.

<i>A Family Affair</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by George B. Seitz

A Family Affair is a 1937 American comedy film directed by George B. Seitz. It was the first of 16 movies now known as the Andy Hardy series, though Andy Hardy, played by Mickey Rooney, did not become the main character in the series until a few more installments had been made. The movie features Lionel Barrymore as Judge Hardy and Spring Byington as his wife, who are Andy's parents. Barrymore and Byington were replaced in their roles by Lewis Stone and Fay Holden in the subsequent films.

<i>Love Laughs at Andy Hardy</i> 1946 film by Willis Goldbeck

Love Laughs at Andy Hardy is a 1946 American comedy film directed by Willis Goldbeck and starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone and Bonita Granville. It was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film is also known under its American promotional title Uncle Andy Hardy. This was the fifteenth, next-to-last Andy Hardy film produced. The final installment, Andy Hardy Comes Home, would be made 12 years later (1958) in a failed attempt to revive the franchise.

<i>Andy Hardys Blonde Trouble</i> 1944 film by George B. Seitz

Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble is a 1944 romantic comedy film directed by George B. Seitz. It is the fourteenth link starring Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy. In the film, Andy goes to college, but soon gets in trouble with some pretty female students.

<i>Andy Hardy Comes Home</i> 1958 film

Andy Hardy Comes Home is a 1958 American comedy film directed by Howard W. Koch. It is the 16th and final film in the Andy Hardy series, with Mickey Rooney reprising his signature role. It was produced 12 years after the previous Hardy film, and was an attempt to revive what had once been an enormously popular film series. Because the film fell short of box office projections, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer did not resume the series.

<i>Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever</i> 1939 film by W. S. Van Dyke

Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever is a 1939 American romantic comedy film directed by W. S. Van Dyke. The plot is about Andy Hardy having a crush on his high school drama teacher, Miss Rose Meredith. It is the seventh of sixteen Andy Hardy films starring Mickey Rooney.

<i>Andy Hardys Double Life</i> 1942 film

Andy Hardy's Double Life is a 1942 comedy film directed by George B. Seitz. It was the thirteenth installment of MGM's enormously popular Andy Hardy film series starring Mickey Rooney as the title character.

<i>The Courtship of Andy Hardy</i> 1942 film by George B. Seitz

The Courtship of Andy Hardy is a 1942 film, part of the Andy Hardy series. It gave an early role to Donna Reed although Mickey Rooney had lobbied for his then-wife Ava Gardner to have her part. Within a few months of the film's release, she filed for divorce.

<i>Judge Hardys Children</i> 1938 film by George B. Seitz

Judge Hardy's Children is a 1938 film in the Andy Hardy series. The plot involves the Hardys visiting Washington, DC, in this third entry in MGM's "Hardy Family" series.

<i>Out West with the Hardys</i> 1938 film by George B. Seitz

Out West with the Hardys is a 1938 American comedy film directed by George B. Seitz and the fifth film in the Andy Hardy series of sixteen films.

<i>The Hardys Ride High</i> 1939 film by George B. Seitz

The Hardys Ride High (1939) is the sixth film of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Andy Hardy series.

Judge Hardy and Son (1939) is the 8th film, of 16, in the Andy Hardy series. It is the last MGM film in the 1930s.

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.