The Courtship of Andy Hardy
| The Courtship of Andy Hardy | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | George B. Seitz |
| Produced by | Carey Wilson |
| Written by |
Agnes Christine Johnston Aurania Rouverol |
| Starring |
Mickey Rooney Lewis Stone Donna Reed |
| Music by | David Snell |
| Cinematography | Lester White |
| Edited by | Elmo Veron |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
|
Release date
|
March 1942 |
|
Running time
|
95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $338,000 |
| Box office | $2,409,000 |
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.
This was the 12th entry in the long-running Andy Hardy series of sixteen.
When Carvel teenager and new tow truck-owner Andy Hardy is stopped by a policeman for driving without a license plate, a radio report implicates him in stealing the car he is towing.
At home, Andy finds it hard to be cheerful, even though his mother Emily, his father, Judge James K. Hardy, and his aunt Milly are celebrating his sister Marian's return from New York. Marian thinks that Carvel is too unsophisticated for her and is annoyed by her family's worries that she is dating Jeff Willis, a local young man who is considered a "wolf."
As the judge sits in his study, Andy comes in and tells him about the misunderstanding that led to the auto theft problem. The judge promises to sort things out if Andy will help him by befriending Melodie Nesbit, a teenager at the center of a custody battle between her mother Olivia and her father Roderick. Although Melodie is not as pretty or outgoing as Andy's other girl friends, he agrees to help by asking her to a dance.
Jeff arrives, announcing his presence on a loudspeaker set up in his car, and broadcasts his invitation to Marian to come with him to the Red Door Inn on the 19th. Andy tells her about the notorious inn and warns her not to get involved in a scandal.
On the night of the dance, Melodie is happy to be there, even though she knows that Andy has only asked her out because of his father. Andy has to bribe his friends to dance with her, but one boy, Harry Land, refuses the money because he has a secret crush on Melodie. After the dance, Melodie, who has a crush on Andy, asks his advice on how to appeal to boys.
The same night, Emily secretly orders a forty dollar cut-away coat for her husband out of her household account.
A few days later, Andy's friend Susie comes to distribute posters for a "spinster skip" dance, to which the girls are to invite the boys. Andy offers to drive Susie around town and is seen by Melodie, who immediately goes to the judge and asks him to say that he accepted her invitation for Andy to come to the dance.
At the same time, the postman arrives with Emily's COD coat and informs her that the amount due is $61.40. Emily is upset because the ad said nothing about extra charges and refuses to accept the package.
On the night of Marian's date with Jeff, she becomes annoyed when her family makes fun of her choice of a dress, which is really a fancy nightgown, and promises that she "will show them."
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