''Andy Hardy Comes Home'' is a 1958

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Howard W. Koch Howard Winchel Koch (April 11, 1916 – February 16, 2001) was an American producer and director of film and television. Life and career Koch was born in New York City, the son of Beatrice (Winchel) and William Jacob Koch. His family was Jewish. ...

. It is the 16th and final film in the Andy Hardy series, with

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

reprising his signature role. It was produced 12 years after the previous Hardy film, and was an attempt to revive what had once been an enormously popular film series. Because the film fell short of box office projections,

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

did not resume the series.

Plot

Returning to his hometown of Carvel after several years' absence, Andrew "Andy" Hardy, now a high-flying West Coast lawyer, reminiscences (in flashbacks to earlier films) about his past. He also reconnects with his mother, aunt, sister, and nephew Jimmy as he attempts to convince the skeptical townsfolk to let his company build a factory there. When his plan to buy land from his old friend Beezy runs into difficulty, Andy brings his wife, Jane, and two children, Andy Jr. and Cricket, to bolster his resolve, and to help him live up to the lessons instilled in him by his late father. While all seems lost, the closing moments reposition the resurrected series for a new set of Andy Hardy films, but these never materialized.

Cast

as Andy Hardy *

Patricia Breslin Patricia Rose Breslin (March 17, 1925 – October 12, 2011) was an American actress and philanthropist. She had a prominent career in television, which included recurring roles as Amanda Miller on '' The People's Choice'' (1955–58), and as Laur ...

as Jane Hardy *

Fay Holden Dorothy Fay Hammerton (26 September 1893 – 23 June 1973), known professionally as Fay Holden, was a British-born, American-based actress. She was known as Gaby Fay early in her career. Biography Holden was born in Birmingham, England. After ...

as Mrs. Emily Hardy *

Cecilia Parker Cecilia Parker (April 26, 1914 – July 25, 1993) was a Canadian-born American film actress. She was best known for portraying Marian Hardy, the sister of Andy Hardy in eleven of the Andy Hardy film series. Early life and career Cecilia ...

as Marian Hardy *

Sara Haden Sara Haden (born Catherine Haden, November 17, 1898 – September 15, 1981) was an American actress of the 1930s through the 1950s and in television into the mid-1960s. She may be best remembered for appearing as Aunt Milly Forrest in 14 entrie ...

as Aunt Milly Forrest * Joey Forman as Beezy "Beez" Anderson * Jerry Colonna as Doc *

Vaughn Taylor Vaughn Joseph Taylor (born March 9, 1976) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour. Born in Roanoke, Virginia, Taylor was raised in Augusta, Georgia, from infancy. After attending Hephzibah High Sch ...

as Thomas Chandler *

Frank Ferguson Frank S. Ferguson (December 25, 1906 – September 12, 1978) was an American character actor with hundreds of appearances in both film and television. Background Ferguson was the younger of two children of W. Thomas Ferguson, a native Scottish ...

as Mayor Benson * William Leslie as Jack Bailey *

Tom Duggan Thomas Duggan Goss (August 20, 1915 – May 28, 1969) was an NBC and ABC radio and television commentator in Chicago and Los Angeles and a crusader against Chicago mob involvement in boxing and politics. Early years Duggan was born as Tho ...

as Councilman Warren *

Jeanne Baird Jeanne Baird is a former American actress. During her career, her name was often confused with that of singer Eugenie Baird. Early years Baird was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and raised and educated in Santa Barbara, California. She attend ...

as Sally Anderson *

Gina Gillespie Gina Gail Gillespie (born September 20, 1951) is an American former child actress best known for her recurring roles in the television series ''Law of the Plainsman'' and ''Karen'', and for playing Pippi Longstocking in a 1961 episode of ''Shirl ...

as Cricket Hardy * Jimmy Bates as Chuck * Teddy Rooney as Andrew "Andy" Hardy, Jr. * Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. as Jimmy * Pat Cawley as Betty Wilson

Production

Songwriter Robert Donley and journalist Edward Hushting wrote an original Andy Hardy synopsis on speculation and brought it to Rooney's agent, Red Doff. He showed it to Rooney, who was enthusiastic, and they pitched the project to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a co-production with Rooney's own company, Fryman Enterprises. The studio, then under the control of Joseph Vogel, agreed to make the film. "We feel it's time for another Hardy picture", said Doff. "Time for a good, warm, wholesome family comedy – no violence, no monsters, no sex! There are millions who have seen and loved the Hardys – and who would like to see them again. And there are millions who never saw them on the big screen, but who are being presold by seeing them on TV. People like things nostalgic. We believe they'll be curious to see a re-creation of what they loved 15 and 20 years ago." Lewis Stone, who had played the beloved Judge James Hardy in the previous films, had died in 1953 and his character's passing was portrayed in the film.

, and

all reprised their roles of Emily Hardy, Aunt Milly and Marian, respectively. (Parker had mostly retired from acting since the previous film in 1947, devoting herself to raising her children). Mickey Rooney tried to persuade

Ann Rutherford Therese Ann Rutherford (November 2, 1917 – June 11, 2012) was a Canadian-born American actress in film, radio, and television. She had a long career starring and co-starring in films, playing Polly Benedict during the 1930s and 1940s in the An ...

to return as Polly Benedict, Andy's on-and-off sweetheart in most of the original movies, so the two characters could be a married couple, but Rutherford's salary demands were too high, and the character was written out. Andy's wife in the film, Jane (played by Patricia Breslin), had no prior connection to the town of Carvel. In line with MGM's practice of introducing studio contract players in the series, contractee Pat Cawley was given a role. The role of Andy Hardy Jr. was played by Rooney's real-life son, Teddy. Filming began on 7 May 1958. The film premiered on 22 December 1958 in New York City.

Reception

According to MGM records, the movie earned $400,000 in the US and Canada and $210,000 elsewhere, making a loss to the studio of $5,000. Before the film was released, Hutshing and Donley worked on a sequel about Andy Hardy as a judge called ''Andy Hardy Carries On''. There was also some talk of an Andy Hardy TV series. In the early 1960s, a pilot was shot for a prospective Andy Hardy sitcom for NBC, with a totally different cast and with the character of Judge Hardy returning, but NBC did not pick it up as a series.

References

External links