If you're counting, "Love Finds Andy Hardy" is the fourth entry in the long-running Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Andy Hardy franchise which ran from 1937 until 1948 with 16 films. This time around our clean-scrubbed but calculating protagonist is bursting at the seams to buy himself a car so he can dress up in his tuxedo and drive a smashing dame to a Christmas dance. He finds himself torn between two girls while admired from afar by another one. Mickey Rooney played the youngster from a teenage bachelor to an adult father with a wife and children. These family-oriented films presents a strong, morally-stable family unit with Andy respecting his stern but indulgent dad, the venerable Judge James K. Hardy (Lewis Stone of "The Prisoner of Zenda"), and his mother Emily (Fay Holden of "Guns of the Pecos") while enduring a contentious relationship with his older sister, Marion Hardy (Cecilia Parker of "Riders of Destiny") who never misses an opportunity to take him to task for something. "Last of the Mohicans" director George B. Seitz helms this romantic comedy focuses on the predicament that Andy finds himself in when he puts down $12 dollars on a roadster but must still pay off the balance of the cost $8 dollars in time to take his girlfriend Polly Benedict (Ann Rutherford of "Gone with the Wind") to the Christmas dance. Meanwhile, Andy's mother Emily receives bad news from her own mother in Canada that she isn't feeling well. Naturally, Emily rushes to his mother's bedside while the Judge hires an experienced cook Augusta (Marie Blake of "The Best Man"), to take over cooking and cleaning duties when Marian cannot pass muster. The predicament that Andy's mom finds herself in constitutes the most dramatic thread in "Oklahoma!" scenarist William Ludwig's plot while Andy tries to extract himself from his own difficulties. The theme of responsibility and behaving like a grown-up pervades this adaptation of Vivien R. Bretherton's wholesome stories and characters. The action also involves Andy's temporary next door neighbor, Betsy Booth (Judy Garland of "Broadway Melody of 1938"), who is visiting Carvel while her mother rehearses for a musical comedy in Chicago. Predictably, Betsy falls head over heels for Andy. Andy tries to help another school pal, Francis Bacon Anderson (George P. Breakston of "Geisha Girl ") who learns that his parents plan to take him out of town for three weeks. The problem is that Beezy--as he is called--has just hooked up with a beautiful, but haughty girl, Cynthia Potter (Lana Turner of "They Won't Forget") and he wants Andy to date her until he can return. Beezy promises to pay Andy the amount of $8.50 for serving as his stand-in while he is gone. Andy learns to his chagrin that all Cynthia likes to do is kiss, kiss, and kiss some more. She is a afraid to play tennis for fear of developing unsightly muscles and afraid to swim because of what is will do to her coiffure. This quaint, old-fashioned entertainment provides a snapshot of American values during the late 1930s as World War II swept over the rest of the world. Of course, there is a happy ending in this sappy nonsense and all crisis are resolved.

It was the late 1930s and the US had not entered the world war yet. This movie features many of the upcoming stars that were still teenagers.Mickey Rooney is Andy Hardy, always up to something. This time he has decided he needs a car for the upcoming Christmas dance and finds a real fixer-upper for all of $20. But he only has $12 and doesn't want to ask dad for money, so he arranges for the salesman to hold the car with a promise to pay the other $8 by December 23rd. His girl, Ann Rutherford as Polly Benedict, is going out of town for the holidays.Fortunately a guy friend of Andy's is also going out of town with his family and asks Andy to "watch his girl", a teenage Lana Turner as Cynthia Potter, while he is gone, and Andy agrees for $8. But later when the friends finds a new girl out of town, and welches on the deal, Andy is left scrambling.Meanwhile Judy Garland as Betsy Booth is visiting next door for the holidays. Since Betsy is only "13 or 14" (she really was 14 or 15) Andy didn't pay too much attention to the "kid." But Betsy had her sights set on Andy.Garland had been performing for several years already, and in this movie is the daughter of an entertainer, and at the Christmas dance Betsy gets on stage to sing a couple of songs, much to the enjoyment of Andy who was her date for the evening.A very cute, entertaining movie. Especially when we consider what all those teenage actors grew up to become in the entertainment world.

Once again, MICKEY ROONEY is in all sorts of trouble and Judge Hardy is always there to get him out of it--or at least talk things over with him. And this time, the accent is on his girl troubles. It's kind of amusing just to see the pretty ANN RUTHERFORD and a very young LANA TURNER throwing themselves at Rooney the way they do--I mean, let's fact it, he was never a looker.Gone are the days when teens dressed like they do here--Rooney wearing a derby on a bright summer day and not a pair of jeans in sight. The script has Ann Rutherford's Polly going away on a Christmas visit to an aunt, which gives Rooney an excuse to discover Lana Turner's Cynthia at a swimming pool. She serves as his playmate for this particular Hardy story and it's easy to see why MGM kept her under contract for years to come.JUDY GARLAND is Betsy Booth, who announces right at the start that she's "going to be on the stage some day"--and was that a good prediction! She also gets to sing a few numbers in the now famous Garland style.The plot ambles along predictably and pleasantly, as most Hardy films do, and suffice it to say that Rooney's fling with Lana Turner is the most enjoyable aspect of the story and well played by both youngsters. But boy, could he mug! Yes, even then, he dispensed with some pretty extravagant bits of mugging that became more and more pronounced as the years went on. Some called it talent--others may have disagreed. Whatever it was, he was a very popular box-office star at the time this one was made.Summing up: Pleasant enough for Hardy fans, and certainly a reminder of how different times were for teens in the late '30s.

These low budget teen comedies practically carried MGM throughout the 30s and 40s. If they lost money on another movie, they would just invest in another Andy Hardy picture, and they would be guarantee a comfortable return on their investment. Out of all the Hardy films, this comedy of errors in the best. Mickey Rooney is in top shape as the girl crazy Andy Hardy, who winds up with more girls than he can handle. Ann Rutherford, Lana Turner and Judy Garland are all exceptional, and Judy busts out some memorable songs during this movie that will stick in your mind even when the movie is over. This movie is a reflection of more innocent times, the pre-WWII era of the world, where everyone was full of hope and dreams about what lay ahead in the world. Movies like this are rare and the people making contemporary teen comedies would do themselves a favour to watch this movie, amongst other Hardy pics, to see precisely what makes a good comedy. No foul language, no nudity, just a good solid story and great performers to carry it. Not to be missed. Now, I can only hope for an Andy Hardy box set on DVD.