Let me say at once that any movie featuring Dorothy Ford is a good movie. This said, however, "Love Laughs…" is otherwise a waste of time. Mickey Rooney sleepwalks through a lot of boringly familiar routines and the direction by a gent named Willis Goldbeck can only be described as stodgy, clumsy and even deliberately flat-footed. Atrociously photographed by Robert Planck, Lewis Stone doesn't look the least bit like Andy's father – or even his grandfather. His great grandfather, yes – and with corny dialogue to fit. Director Goldbeck's decision to use lots of close-ups whenever Stone is in the camera's sights can only be described as a cardinal error. I'm not at all comfortable seeing a fine actor struggling to read a lot of dopey, inconsequential lines off an idiot board. Aside from this error – and it's a cardinal one – the movie serves up familiar routines with a certain amount of dash – and even expense. As I said at the start, it's a must-have for Dorothy Ford fans and it's available on a very good Mill Creek DVD.

Mickey Rooney made about a dozen and a half Andy Hardy films--and this is among the very last. Because of this, it's certainly far from original and lacks the energy of the earlier entries. It's also oddly depressing at times.This installment finds Andy returning home from the war...and it was sure swell. However, instead of dealing with PTSD or the looming threat of international communism, Andy is in a daze--obsessed with his latest love, Kay Wilson (Bonita Granville). His plan is to go off to college using the GI Bill and marry Kay the co-ed. However, soon his plans fall apart, as it turns out that Kay has other plans. Additionally, although he goes to school, oddly, you never see him attend any classes! By the end, the audience is feeling a bit uneasy about his pain as well as a sense of déjà vu, as Andy is ALWAYS having girl trouble.Aside from a cute side story about Andy dating a gigantic lady, the film has little in the way of interesting content or originality. It's clearly a film for the die-hard Hardy groupies and is reasonably entertaining but nothing more. And, incidentally, it's in the public domain and may be copied and viewed for free following the links on IMDb...though I wouldn't necessarily rush to do this.

The problem with this Andy Hardy movie is that Andy is no longer in High School and has just arrived home from the war. The plot about Andy wanting to marry some girl is contrived, as are the dancing sequences. Mickey seems to be just going through the numbers, and the other performances are nothing to see the film for. There are a few funny sequences, and all the Hardy clichés are in place, from the man to man talk, and Mickey coming to his senses after the talking to with The Judge. The film feels flat without Ann Rutherford or Judy Garland in it, and the girls in it instead are simply there to elicit a few cheap laughs. Mickey Rooney certainly gives the script his best effort, but not even he can save it. It feels like MGM stopped caring about the quality of the script and just about the Hardy name. This is a cheap cash in on the usually outstanding Hardy series and cheapens their memory! The worst of all the Andy Hardy movies!

Andy arrives back in Carvel, tumbling off the back of an army truck in front of his folks. The family reunion in the middle of the main street, blocking the traffic flow to the amusement of all concerned, is the best scene in the movie. Andy's been separated (demobbed) from the Army and has but one thought on his mind, proposing to Kay Wilson who he'd met at college.'Kay Wilson' is played by the (in this movie) maternal Bonita Granville who unfortunately doesn't sing for once. Mickey Rooney looks appropriately much older than his previous movie (he has, after all, come back from service in the Army) in the series but still manages to play the irrepressible 'Andy' as only he could. Lewis Stone and Fay Holden as his folks are wonderful as usual, despite the often insipid script. That's the main problem with this movie. The script is at times puerile and it's only the mostly excellent cast which makes it worth watching. We miss 'Marion' and Polly', while the charming Sarah Haden as 'Aunt Milly' is given few lines. She might as well not be there. Marion is apparently working in New York (it is she who wires the family that Andy is on his way) while we, so far as I noticed, are given no reason for Polly's absence, despite her father's presence.The standout guest in this movie is the stunning Dorothy Ford as 'Coffy Smith'. Not only is Dorothy tall at 6ft 4", she is both graceful and beautiful. Though as before (and after), the script remains puerile, but the cast do their best to rise above it.The high point in most Hardy movies - those without Judy Garland, anyway - is the father and son or rather 'man to man' talk between Lewis Stone and Mickey Rooney. In this movie it's on the subject of Andy either going to college and following in the Judge's footsteps, or running off to South America to make his fortune. Unfortunately, the problematic script results in an awkward, almost embarrassing scene between the two. Lewis Stone doesn't look at all well; he was in his late 60s at the time but looks much older (he died in 1953, chasing vandals off his property). Lina Romay as 'Isolbel' sings on two occasions but she's an unsatisfactory substitute for Polly. Hal Hackett as 'Duke' is unimpressive but again, maybe that's the fault of that script.Overall, this is a necessary part of the Hardy series but it deserved a much better script. Despite this reservation, I can still recommend it. My copy came as one half of a double bill region 4 DVD (with 'The Perils of Pauline'). It was made from an extremely poor print and should be avoided at all costs.