''Judge Hardy and Son'' (1939) is the 8th film, of 16, in the
Andy Hardy series. It is the last MGM film in the 1930s.
''Judge Hardy and Son'' Article
at TCMDB
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...
Plot summary
An older couple, the Valduzzis, (Ouspenskaya, Brecher) come to Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone
Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 – September 12, 1953) was an American film actor. He spent 29 years as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was best known for his portrayal of Judge James Hardy in the studio's popular ''Andy H ...
) for help when they are about to be evicted from their home. He asks if their daughter can help, and they say she is dead. The Judge doesn't believe she is dead, and takes the case. Judge Hardy enlists the help of his son, Andy (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 ...
), to find the couple's daughter.
Andy is having his own problems. He needs new tires, and has no money. Beezy takes his last money as repayment of a debt. He tries to borrow money from his sister, Marian, who gives him two dollars. While he tries to buy new tires, Polly Benedict finds him, and asks him to buy tickets to the dance. The tickets are more expensive than he thought, leaving him not enough money for new tires. On a ride to the courthouse, he continues to try to patch the old. He tries to get money from the Judge, but he is so overdrawn on his allowance that this isn't possible. The Judge agrees that, if Andy helps him find his client's daughter, he will get paid. Andy's tires pop again as his dad exits the car.
Andy gets to work. Taking a break at Polly's house, she wants to get romantic. All Andy wants to do is sit and have a cold drink after visiting fourteen houses in the heat—all on foot. Eventually, they go for a walk, and end up at L.V. Horton's home. Polly calls her stuck-up because she uses her initials and is a freshman. Andy dumps Polly on a hunch that L.V. Horton is who he might be looking for.
He enters the property and finds L.V. by the pool. She is a well-developed girl, who looks older than a freshman. They chat and have a soda at her own soda fountain. Andy finds out her name is Elvie and that she is writing an essay on Alexander Hamilton, which could net her a $50 prize. Her mother comes in and asks why they aren't playing. Elvie says, "We were digesting our sodas." Her mother is concerned about Andy's age. He confesses he is over 14 (whereas she is actually 18) and leaves.
Andy runs to the tire store and takes his new tires on credit- as he does on his new suit.
The ladies in the family are planning a trip to Canada to see Mrs. Hardy's family, but the Judge must remain at home and work. Andy stays to work for his father. Marian is going to lake for vacation. The Judge and Andy work and return home to find Mrs. Hardy, who didn't think they could fend for themselves. She doesn't feel well so she goes to bed. Mrs. 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 ...
) contracts pleurisy and is in an oxygen tent.
In the meantime, Andy begins an essay on Alexander Hamilton, but finds it is only for girls. He visits several girls trying to con them into using his and giving him the $50 and they keep the glory and a 20 volume set of historical biographies. Because of his conning, Andy gets stuck with too many girls bothering him while he is trying to solve the case. Including several who think he is taking them to the dance.
Mrs. Hardy gets worse and Andy drives to get Marian. They get stuck on the opposite side of a bridge in danger of washing out. They walk with a cop to the other side and he gives them his car to get home. Their mother makes it through the crisis and gets better.
The next day, Andy visits the girls and finds that they didn't use his essay and are wildly inappropriate. He visits Elvie and finds her crying and tries to help her. She says she hates her mother. Andy is shocked but then Elvie says she didn't mean it. He asks if she could talk to her father and she says the man is her stepfather. She said she can't even write her essay. Once she is calmed he asks about Elvie using his essay.
She asks why he was asking about her name. He said it is because of his father. She said that her real name is Leonora Valduzzi Brock. He takes off to go home and hits a pot hole, losing his tires and bumper. The Judge comes to pick him up. Andy tells him the story and the Judge takes off to talk to Leonora's mother.
He tells Mrs. Horton that the Valduzzis need money and he was hoping to find children—and children can be compelled to take care of parents. She wants to give him a check. He tells her about her own daughter. Elvie comes in and wonders why her mother is crying but is sent upstairs. Mrs. Horton said she will confess to her husband and help her parents. Part of the problem is that she told her husband she was younger than she is, and that her parents were dead. She says her daughter can stop living her lie today.
With two dates, Andy talks to his father. He wants to go with Polly, and not with the other girl. He sees no way out, and he is in debt. The Judge agrees to take care of his debts except the car until it gets fixed. He tells Andy they will have to take a bus to the fireworks and dance.
Later that day, Polly comes by, angry that Andy has two dates. She said she told the other girl to back off. Meanwhile, Elvie comes to the door looking her age. She thanks him, and tries to give him $100, which he refuses. Later, Polly and Andy show off to Mrs. Hardy before the dance. They go in Elvie's car.
Cast
* Lewis Stone
Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 – September 12, 1953) was an American film actor. He spent 29 years as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was best known for his portrayal of Judge James Hardy in the studio's popular ''Andy H ...
as Judge James K. Hardy
* 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 ...
as Andy 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
* 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
* 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 ...
as Polly Benedict
* 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 Mildred 'Millie' Forrest
* June Preisser
June Preisser (June 26, 1918 – September 19, 1984) was an American actress, popular in musical films during the late 1930s and through the 1940s, many of which capitalized on her skills as an acrobat.
Life and career
Born June 26, 1918 in ...
as Euphrasia 'Phrasie Daisy' Clark
* Maria Ouspenskaya
Maria Alekseyevna Ouspenskaya (russian: Мария Алексеевна Успенская; 29 July 1876 – 3 December 1949) was a Russian actress and acting teacher.Nissen, Axel. 2006. ''Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywoo ...
as Mrs. Judith Volduzzi
* Henry Hull
Henry Watterson Hull (October 3, 1890 – March 8, 1977) was an American character actor perhaps best known for playing the lead in Universal Pictures's '' Werewolf of London'' (1935). For most of his career, he was a lead actor on stage and a c ...
as Dr. Jones
* Martha O'Driscoll
Martha O'Driscoll (March 4, 1922 – November 3, 1998) was an American film actress from 1937 until 1947. She retired from the screen in 1947 after marrying her second husband, Arthur I. Appleton, president of Appleton Electric Company in Chic ...
as Leonora V. 'Elvie' Horton
* Leona Maricle as Mrs. Maria Horton
* Margaret Early
Margaret Early (December 25, 1919 – November 29, 2000) was an American film actress who was active in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. She is best remembered for her endearing Southern charm.
Life and career
Born on Christmas Day 191 ...
as Clarabelle V. Lee
* George Breakston
George Paul Breakston (January 22, 1920 – May 21, 1973) was a French-American actor, film producer, producer and film director, active in Hollywood from his days as a child actor in Andy Hardy films in the 1930s (where he played the charac ...
as 'Beezy' Anderson
* Egon Brecher
Egon Brecher (18 February 1880 – 12 August 1946) was an Austria-Hungary-born actor and director, who also served as the chief director of Vienna's Stadttheater, before entering the motion picture industry.
Early years
The son of a professor, ...
as Mr. Anton Volduzzi
* Edna Holland
Edna Milton Holland (September 20, 1895 – May 4, 1982) was an American actress. Her stage, screen and television lasted from the beginning of the 20th century to 1965.
Holland was the daughter of comedian Edmund Milton Holland and actress ...
as Nurse Trowbridge
* Marie Blake
Edith Marie Blossom MacDonald (August 21, 1895 – January 14, 1978), also known as Blossom Rock, was an American actress of vaudeville, stage, film and television. During her career she was also billed as Marie Blake or Blossom MacDonald. He ...
as Augusta McBride
References
External links
''Judge Hardy and Son''
at IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
''Judge Hardy and Son''
at Andy Hardy Films
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Judge Hardy And Son
1939 films
1939 comedy films
American comedy films
American black-and-white films
Films about old age
Films directed by George B. Seitz
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
1930s English-language films
1930s American films