Babes in Arms (film)

Infobox Film
name = Babes in Arms


image_size = 250px
caption = Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland
director = Busby Berkeley
producer =
writer = Jack McGowan
Kay Van Riper
Annalee Whitmore
narrator =
starring = Mickey Rooney
Judy Garland
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released = 1939
runtime = 93 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0031066

"Babes in Arms" is the 1939 film version of the 1937 Broadway musical, "Babes in Arms". The film version stars Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee, June Preisser, Grace Hayes and Betty Jaynes.

The movie was written by Jack McGowan, Kay Van Riper and Annalee Whitmore (uncredited). It was directed by Busby Berkeley.

The original Broadway script was revamped to accommodate Hollywood standards. It concerns a group of youngsters trying to put on a show to prove their vaudevillian parents wrong and make it to Broadway to prove their point. Huge production numbers, romance troubles, and scoffing of producers are included.

Most of the Rodgers and Hart songs were cut, except for the title tune, "The Lady Is a Tramp" (used as background music during a dinner scene), and "Where or When". Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown wrote a new song for the film, "Good Morning" (later made famous in "Singin' in the Rain"). Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg (composer and lyricist for "The Wizard of Oz") wrote a new finale, called "God's Country".

Garland and Rooney later sang "I Wish I Were in Love Again" from the Broadway version of the show in the 1948 Rodgers and Hart biopic "Words and Music". Garland also sang "Johnny One Note" in the same picture.

The original release of the film included a segment during the finale in which Rooney and Garland lampoon Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt; this was edited from the film during a later reissue and not restored until the 1990s. In 1940, slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges would lampoon the title of the film with "Boobs in Arms".

It was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Mickey Rooney, who was 19 at the time) and Best Music, Scoring.

Filming of "Babes in Arms" began on May 12, 1939, soon after Garland had finished filming "The Wizard of Oz", and was completed on July 18, 1939. The film premiered on October 13, 1939.

Main cast and characters

Other cast members

Worldwide Release Dates

*Brazil: June 18, 1940
*Italy: October 14, 1941
*Japan: May 12, 1951
*Guatemala: September 14, 1958
*South Africa: June 14, 1963

DVD Release

"Babes in Arms" was released on DVD for the first time as part of Warner Bros. 5-disc DVD set The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection on September 25, 2007. The set contains "Babes in Arms", "Babes on Broadway", "Girl Crazy", and "Strike Up the Band", as well as a fifth disc containing bonus features on Rooney and Garland. [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection
work =
publisher =Amazon.com
date =
url =http://www.amazon.com/Mickey-Rooney-Garland-Collection-Broadway/dp/B000RT99FG/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-3573852-9060615?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1182367875&sr=1-1
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-01-04]

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0031066|title=Babes in Arms