Babes in Arms (1939)

My Review

“Babes in Arms” is the story of children of vaudevillians who decide to put on their own show to prove their talents and hopefully have a big hit on Broadway. Director Busby Berkeley (“Gold Diggers of 1937” 1936) put together a top-rate musical featuring pairing of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in their second film together and first as a musical team. Berkeley ensured high production values by assigning the screenplay to Jack McGowan and Kay Van Riper and the musical directing to George Stoll.

The cast includes Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee, and Margaret Hamilton, reunited with Garland from the cast of “The Wizard of Oz” (1939), the same year. The watchable “Babes in Arms” was the fourth highest grossing film of 1939 for producer Arthur Freed and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was filmed at the MGM Studios in Culver City, and received two Oscar nods for Best Actor (Rooney) and Best Musical Score (George Stoll and Roger Edens).