weezeralfalfa The rather dull plot seems like an attempt to wed "Andy Hardy" to "Meet Me in St. Louis". But with an over-aged Rooney as the male teen star,a poor screen play, and without the memorable musical scores and charm of the latter film, it doesn't really work very well, except perhaps as a portrait of ideal Americana of that period.The rather abundant Harry Warren-Ralph Blane songs are OK, but not really memorable the way Berlin could make memorable songs.The first half of the film flaunts conservative Victorian outward mores, as practiced by well off small townies of the early 20th century, countered only by Rooney's occasional espousal of French Revolution-derived socialist arguments.It also includes some romantic dabblings between Rooney and costar Gloria DeHaven in lush outdoor settings. Rooney's long-winded high school graduation speech was as boring for the film audience as it was for the graduation participants. The last portion of the film turns dark with, thus far, seemingly model son Rooney being led into an implied one-night stand with an exploitive chorus girl(played by Marilyn Maxwell), who sings some of her monologues. This has dire repercussions for his romantic relationship with prim Gloria, which is unrepaired when the film unexpectedly ends.The last portion of the film seems hurried and truncated, as if the producer recognized that it was already too long for its interest level. Even in '46, when this was made, not all MGM musicals were shot in color. Thus, we are treated to some colorful outdoor scenes and sometimes to colorful period outfits. Gloria had a good singing voice and a made a good looking girl next door, but she lacked Judy Garland's screen charisma as an actress, thus comes across as somewhat bland, in comparison. As MGM executives apparently feared, the film didn't do well at the box office when it was finally released in '48, losing money. I guess audiences preferred the likes of "Easter Parade", released the same year.

howyoodoon A perfectly enjoyable bit of mid-era Freed Unit MGM, with many of the hallmarks of their greatest musicals. But the real surprise in this film is the extended bar room sequence in which Mickey Rooney is led astray by a wanton showgirl named "Belle," played in an extraordinarily vivid way by Marilyn Maxwell. She positively glows in her many extreme close-ups as she tries to vamp Mickey Rooney down the path of corruption. Her Technicolor costume changes color throughout the scene, reflecting Rooney's increasing drunkenness. As mentioned by other reviewers here, the number is sort of a stand-alone scene that seems rather transplanted from another film altogether...but for this viewer, it's a welcomed shot of "oomph", incongruous or not. One is left wondering why it is that Miss Maxwell is largely forgotten today and wasn't really handed any other roles that fulfilled the promise she showed in "Summer Holiday" (with the possible exception of her equally vivid showing in "The Lemon Drop Kid"). She had a long and busy career, mostly in television...yet her name rings few bells today. Could it be that a certain "Norma Jeane Baker," in largely co-opting her name, sort of pulled the rug out from under her in the process? Bottom-line: If you don't want to see the whole film, tune in about halfway through and catch an indelible star-turn by an indelible star: Marilyn Maxwell. It's her film.

buzz_swanson "Summer Holiday" is a summer treat that has become an annual ritual at our house. I never fail to slip the video tape into the VCR as May morphs into June and the last days of school are rolling into summer vacation.Mickey Rooney is exuberant as Richard, and Gloria DeHaven is cute and charming as his timorous girlfriend Muriel. Walter Huston is at his reassuring best as Richard's wise and rock-steady father, while Frank Morgan plays the likable, avuncular family drunk who can never quite overcome his dependence on the bottle.The scenery is gorgeous, particularly in the opening scene as protagonists Richard and Muriel sing "Afraid to Fall in Love" to one other then go dancing off into a summery green field together - and also in the celebratory Fourth of July number "Independence Day," shot at the lush Busch Gardens in Pasadena.My one complaint is that the extended barroom scene in which Richard is lured into a night of drunkenness by the temptress bar-girl (Marilyn Maxwell) doesn't seen to match the wholesome tone of the rest of the movie.But it is the Harry Warren/Ralph Bane music that compels me to return for more and more re-viewings. (I must have watched this movie over twenty times since I first spotted it - then taped it - on TNT in the late eighties.) Honestly, I cannot fathom what drives certain reviewers to term the score as "uninspired" or a "dud" except perhaps that they have not listened to the songs enough times or with sufficient earnestness.A disappointing score? Quite the contrary. The Warren/Blane music is extraordinary - even those songs that meddling MGM executives chose to delete from the final version of the film. As it turned out, gorgeous numbers such as "Never Again," in which the rueful but determined Morgan character sadly recounts his battles with alcohol; the exquisitely haunting "Omar and the Princess"; Muriel's lovely confessional, "I Wish I Had a Braver Heart"; and Huston's wistful "Spring Isn't Everything" were inexplicably cut. (One needs to buy the CD soundtrack to hear those and other excised numbers.) Mere disappointment turned into artistic tragedy when a nitrate-vault fire in the mid-fifties destroyed the musical outtakes, rendering impossible any possible restoration of the film to the version envisioned by Warren and Blane. That huge chunks of the score were slashed from the film left Warren so embittered he refused to view the film for over thirty years.Perhaps, the critics should listen to the score a second, third, or fourth time, for a few of the melodies may strike some ears as somewhat subtle and may require repeated hearings. I remember being unimpressed the first time I saw the film and heard the score but have since come to adore the music. I'd categorize the uniquely delightful "Afraid to Fall in Love" as one of the songs that needs to be heard more than once to be fully appreciated.Despite the meat-cleaver cuts, what remains of the score makes for luscious listening. From the brief but tuneful overture while credits are rolling, to the winsome "Our Home Town" - extended opening-scene dialog set to music, to the rousing anthem "Dan-Dan Danville High," to the gloriously catchy "The Stanley Steamer," the music lilts. One of my personal favorites is "While the Men Are All Drinking," a brief number sung by the ladies as they organize their picnic food in the park while their men are off competing in an Independence Day beer-drinking contest and the children are off diving into a nearby pond.To my ears, the music is stunning beautiful and the reason I place "Summer Holiday" in my top ten, all-time-favorite movie list and why I consider Warren one of the top seven or eight composers of popular music that ever lived. He considered this score his best, and I enthusiastically concur.

rhwasc I cannot imagine the conversations that must have gone on in the Freed offices during the development of this property! It is so completely unlike anything that the Freed Unit had ever done, reflecting a more dissonant period of American history (during the making of this film). This is an extraordinary reflection on the MGM Everyman (especially Andy Hardy grown up). How did they get this past Louis B. Mayer? In my mind the history of MGM's innocence is resolved in this picture. When Andy Hardy/Mickey Rooney stands outside the family home, at the end of the picture, looking into the darkness that his future might bring it completes the Series that was so loved by MGM. I must believe Mamoulian really understood the dark journey he was taking his characters into and the dark post war future the American audience would soon face. A remarkable historical document that doesn't always work. Well worth viewing with a perspective on it's origins (Ah, Wilderness!). This film should be viewed as an original. Roy H. Wagner ASC Director of Photography