''Girl Crazy'' is a 1943 American

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

starring

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

and

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 ...

. Produced by the Freed Unit of

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 ...

, it is based on the stage musical ''

Girl Crazy ''Girl Crazy'' is a 1930 musical by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and John McGowan. Ethel Merman made her stage debut in the first production and co-lead Ginger Rogers became an overnight star. Rich in song, ...

''which was written by

Guy Bolton Guy Reginald Bolton (23 November 1884 – 4 September 1979) was an Anglo-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the US, he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred w ...

and

Jack McGowan John McGowan (1894–1977) was an American librettist, director and producer. Selected credits *'' Say When'', Producer and Book *''Pardon My English'', Book Director *'' Earl Carroll's Vanities of 1932'', Book *'' Heigh-ho, Everybody'', Writer ...

, with music and lyrics by

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

and

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

. It was the last of Garland and Rooney's nine movies as co-stars, the pair appearing only once more together on film, as guest stars in 1948's '' Words and Music''. Production began with

Busby Berkeley Busby Berkeley (born Berkeley William Enos; November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976) was an American film director and musical choreographer. Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns. Berke ...

as director, but he was soon replaced by

Norman Taurog Norman Rae Taurog (February 23, 1899 – April 7, 1981) was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Skippy'' (1931). He i ...

. The film used all six songs from the original stage musical, plus another Gershwin song, "

Fascinating Rhythm "Fascinating Rhythm" is a popular song written by George Gershwin in 1924 with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was first introduced by Cliff Edwards, Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire in the Broadway musical '' Lady Be Good.'' The Astaires also recorde ...

".Green, Stanley; Schmidt, Elaine
"Girl Crazy, 1943"
''Hollywood Musicals Year By Year'' (2 ed.), Hal Leonard Corporation, 2000, , p. 125

Plot

Dan Churchill, Jr., a young

playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

, is a headache for his concerned tycoon father. In hopes that isolation from girls will help Junior concentrate on his studies, Churchill senior takes Danny out of

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and packs him off to the all-male Cody College of Mines and Agriculture somewhere deep in the

saguaro The saguaro (, ) (''Carnegiea gigantea'') is a tree-like cactus species in the monotypic genus ''Carnegiea'' that can grow to be over tall. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and the Whipple Mountains a ...

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

. Walking endless miles from the train depot to the isolated college he meets Ginger Gray, the local

postmistress A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

and favorite of all the students. He immediately falls for her. Though he is initially not pleased with what he finds at the school, including the primitive facilities, rough-riding, and practical-joking fellow students, he eventually settles in - and resumes pitching woo at Ginger. The couple become attracted to each other, and are devastated when they learn that the college, run by her grandfather, must close due to falling enrollment. Using his father's name, Danny wheedles his way into seeing the state

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, and extracts a one-month reprieve to boost applications and avoid a shuttering. Danny divines that an

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

show that crowns a "Queen of the Rodeo" will attract not only desired attention but that of the fairer sex.

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

's band is engaged to play and the event is a success, but Danny crowns the governor's daughter Queen instead of Ginger. Applications surge, the school's future is secured, but he must win back the heart of his true love. He does, and a celebration of dance and music caps their reconciliation.

Cast

as Ginger Gray *

as Danny Churchill, Jr. *

Gil Stratton Gil Stratton Jr. (June 2, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an actor and sportscaster who was born in Brooklyn, New York. He most recently resided in Toluca Lake, California, until his death from congestive heart failure. Early life Stratton was ...

as Bud Livermore * Robert E. Strickland as Henry Lathrop *

Rags Ragland Rags Ragland (born John Lee Morgan Beauregard Ragland, August 23, 1905 – August 20, 1946) was an American comedian and character actor. Personal life Ragland was born on August 23, 1905, in Louisville, Kentucky, to parents Adam Joseph Ragland ...

as Rags *

June Allyson June Allyson (born Eleanor Geisman; October 7, 1917 – July 8, 2006) was an American stage, film, and television actress, dancer, and singer. Allyson began her career in 1937 as a dancer in short subject films and on Broadway in 1938. She sign ...

as specialty singer *

Nancy Walker Nancy Walker (born Anna Myrtle Swoyer; May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992) was an American actress and comedian of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director (lending her talents to ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', on wh ...

as Polly Williams *

Guy Kibbee Guy Bridges Kibbee (March 6, 1882 – May 24, 1956) was an American stage and film actor. Early years Kibbee was born in El Paso, Texas. His father was editor of the '' El Paso Herald-Post'' newspaper, and Kibbee learned how to set type at age ...

as Dean Phineas Armour *

Frances Rafferty Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the F ...

as Marjorie Tait *

Henry O'Neill Henry O'Neill (August 10, 1891 – May 18, 1961) was an American film actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles during the 1930s and 1940s. Early years He was born in Orange, New Jersey. Career ...

as Danny Churchill Sr. *

Howard Freeman Howard Freeman (December 9, 1899 – December 11, 1967) was an American actor of the early 20th century, and film and television actor of the 1940s through the 1960s. Biography Freeman was born in Helena, Montana, and began working as ...

as Governor Tait *

and His Orchestra as themselves *

Irving Bacon Irving Bacon (born Irving Von Peters; September 6, 1893 – February 5, 1965) was an American character actor who appeared in almost 500 films. Early years Bacon was the son of entertainers Millar Bacon and Myrtle Vane. He was born in St. Jose ...

as John, the Governor's secretary (uncredited) *

Charles Walters Charles Powell Walters (November 17, 1911 – August 13, 1982) was an American Hollywood director and choreographer most noted for his work in MGM musicals and comedies from the 1940s to the 1960s. Early years Charles Walters was born in Pasad ...

as specialty dancer (uncredited) Cast notes: *''Girl Crazy'' was June Allyson's film debut. *Judy Garland's part, Ginger Gray, was played in the original Broadway stage production by

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

Songs

All songs by George Gershwin (music) and Ira Gershwin (lyrics) except where noted # " Treat Me Rough" - June Allyson, Mickey Rooney and chorus with Tommy Dorsey's orchestra # "

Bidin' My Time "Bidin' My Time" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was introduced by The Foursome ( Del Porter, Ray Johnson, J. Marshall and Dwight Snyder) in the 1930 musical ''Girl Crazy''. Not to be confused with the Anne M ...

" - Judy Garland, The King's Men # "Could You Use Me?" - Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland # "Happy Birthday Ginger" (written by Roger Edens) # "

Embraceable You "Embraceable You" is a jazz standard song with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song was written in 1928 for an unpublished operetta named ''East Is West''. It was published in 1930 and included in that year's Broadway m ...

" - Rags Ragland and chorus, Judy Garland and chorus, Charles Walters (dancer with Garland) # "

" - Tommy Dorsey's orchestra # " But Not For Me" - Rags Ragland with vocal by Judy Garland # "

I Got Rhythm "I Got Rhythm" is a piece composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and published in 1930, which became a jazz standard. Its chord progression, known as the "rhythm changes", is the foundation for many other popular jazz tunes such ...

" - Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney and chorus with Tommy Dorsey's orchestra Choreography for the musical numbers is by

Jack Donahue John Donahue (c. 1806 – 1 September 1830), also spelled Donohoe, and known as Jack Donahue and Bold Jack Donahue, was an Irish-born bushranger in Australia between 1825 and 1830. He became part of the notorious "Wild Colonial Boys". Early l ...

, with Charles Walters responsible for "Embraceable You". An additional production number, "Bronco Busters", which was sung by Garland, Rooney and Nancy Walker, was cut from the film. The musical numbers were recorded in

stereophonic sound Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

but mixed into mono for release to theaters.

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

released a compact disc featuring the original stereo recordings, which include probably the only stereo tracks of Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra.

Production

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

and

Eleanor Powell Eleanor Torrey Powell (November 21, 1912 – February 11, 1982) was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars duri ...

were originally announced to star in the film as a follow-up to ''

Broadway Melody of 1940 ''Broadway Melody of 1940'' is a 1940 MGM film musical starring Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell and George Murphy (Astaire's first male dancing partner on film). It was directed by Norman Taurog and features music by Cole Porter, including "Begin the ...

''.Fristoe, Roge
"Girl Crazy (1943)" (article)

TCM.com 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 ...

MGM's

Roger Edens Roger Edens (November 9, 1905 – July 13, 1970) was a Hollywood composer, arranger and associate producer, and is considered one of the major creative figures in Arthur Freed's musical film production unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the "go ...

the Freed Unit's musical arranger and associate producer, and Garland's mentorconvinced Garland, who was eager to play more adult roles, that one more pairing with Rooney would be a good idea. Production began in early January 1943 with

as director. Berkeley had previously directed Rooney and Garland in ''

Babes in Arms ''Babes in Arms'' is a 1937 coming-of-age musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Rodgers and Hart. It concerns a group of small-town Long Island teenagers who put on a show to avoid being sent to a work f ...

'' (1939), '' Strike Up the Band'' (1940) and ''

Babes on Broadway ''Babes on Broadway'' is a 1941 American musical film starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland and directed by Busby Berkeley, with Vincente Minnelli directing Garland's big solo numbers. The film, which features Fay Bainter and Virginia Weidler ...

'' (1941), their biggest hits together, but he was fired for a number of reasons. He and Edens conflicted over Berkeley's staging of ''

'', with Edens complaining later about Berkeley's "big ensembles and trick cameras ..with people cracking whips and guns and cannons going off all over my arrangements and Judy's voice". M-G-M was also not happy with the amount of money Berkeley spent on the elaborate production number. The final straw may have been conflicts with Garland, who bridled under Berkeley's demanding style of direction. "I used to feel as if he had a big black bull whip and he was lashing me with it", she wrote. "Sometimes I used to think I couldn't live through the day". "I Got Rhythm" was to be Berkeley's only major contribution to the final film.

took over for Berkeley in early February. His calmer style of direction contrasted sharply with Berkeley's. Film historian Frank N. Magill wrote that Taurog's work "reflected the beginnings of a new style in film musicals", in which the musical numbers were used for the development of the film's characters. ''Girl Crazy'' was partly filmed on location in the desert near

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

Critical reception

Contemporary reviews of ''Girl Crazy'' were generally positive. In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', Theodore Strauss wrote, "the immortal Mickey ooney ..is an entertainer to his fingertips. And with Judy arland who sings and acts like an earthbound angel, to temper his brashness, well, they can do almost anything they wish, and we'll like it even in spite of ourselves".

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $2,608,000 in the US and Canada and $1,163,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $1,068,000. It was one of the top box office hits of 1943. The film recorded admissions in France of 898,335.Box office information for France in 1945
at Box Office Story

Home media

''Girl Crazys VHS format was first released on March 22, 1991 as part of the MGM Musicals lineup.

MGM 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 through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

also released the laserdisc format while

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

re-released the former format in 2001. The DVD was released as part of ''The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection'' on September 25, 2007. A fifth bonus disc includes one number ("I Got Rhythm") in stereo, although stereo tracks exist for all the film's musical numbers. MGM technicians transferred the original multi-channel optical film tracks to 1/4" audiotape when ordered to destroy all the elements in the early 1950s; these surviving tracks were released on a stereo CD in 1995. The individual DVD and Blu-ray format were released through

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

on October 2, 2018 and July 28, 2020 respectively.

Other versions

The 1943 film was the second adaptation of the stage musical. The earlier, also called ''

'', was released by

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...

in 1932, and starred

Bert Wheeler Albert Jerome Wheeler (April 7, 1895 – January 18, 1968) was an American comedian who performed in Broadway theatre, American comedy feature films, and vaudeville acts. He was the comedy partner of Robert Woolsey, and together they formed ...

Robert Woolsey Robert Rollie Woolsey (August 14, 1888 – October 31, 1938) was an American stage and screen comedian and half of the 1930s comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey. Early life Robert Rollie (sometimes spelled Rolla or even Raleigh) was born on Augu ...

and Dorothy Lee. Another version, with

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

and

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English beat, rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester, originally called Herman and His Hermits and featuring lead singer Peter Noone. Produced by Mickie Most, the Hermits charted with number ones in the UK a ...

, was released by MGM in 1965 as ''

When the Boys Meet the Girls ''When the Boys Meet the Girls'' is a 1965 American musical film directed by Alvin Ganzer and starring Connie Francis and Harve Presnell based on the musical ''Girl Crazy'' and a remake of MGM's 1943 film ''Girl Crazy''. Plot A playboy (Harve ...

''.

References

External links

* * * * *
The Judy Garland Online Discography for ''Girl Crazy''
{{Authority control 1943 films 1943 romantic comedy films 1943 musical comedy films American musical comedy films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films Films based on musicals Films shot in California Films set in California Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films produced by Arthur Freed Films directed by Busby Berkeley Films directed by Norman Taurog George Gershwin in film 1940s English-language films 1940s American films