Strike Up the Band (1940)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Despite the excellence of dance, music, singing, acting--though one always suspects the combination of Rooney / Garland was more being themselves than acting--the movie cannot transcend its severe limitations. The movies sound exactly what they were--high school kids putting on a performance and such acting is exactly that-high school kids putting on a performance. Despite Freed, Busby Berkeley, Paul Whitman, and the singing and dancing of Rooney & Garland-- the movie fails. I can watch "The Music Man', "My Fair Lady', "Gigi", Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers--and never get tired; while these four movies wear thin after first viewing.

Overlong but fun Mickey & Judy "let's put on a show" musical, directed by the great Busby Berkeley. Drummer Jimmy (Mickey Rooney) and would-be girlfriend Mary (Judy Garland) try to make their high school band a success. Along the way they deal with little personal dramas like Jimmy's mother wanting him to be a doctor, a new girl in town who captures Jimmy's eye, and one of the band members needing an emergency operation. The musical numbers are good, if not particularly memorable. Mickey & Judy are terrific, as always. It's probably pretty corny stuff for those who aren't fans but, if you enjoy these types of movies, I'm sure you'll have a good time with this one.

This is a high energy film about music, talent, success, family, imagination, fun and teenagers growing up in a "typical" Midwestern town of the time. The year is 1940, and the world is on the brink of war. The recovery from the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl in America was in its infancy. The movie studios of Hollywood were in their heyday. MGM was leading in the battle to produce the best musicals, and it had some hot talent in two young stars. Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland were 20- and 18-year-old actors who had proved their talent. Rooney had been in movies since early childhood, and had made a successful transition into older boy roles. He had made "Boys Town," "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," and was a huge success in the Andy Hardy series. Garland's rising star was even more recent. She had some songs in a couple of small musicals and sang two numbers in the 1938 Andy Hardy film, "Love Finds Andy Hardy." Then she made the classic fantasy adventure musical, "The Wizard of Oz." To round out 1939, the two were paired as the leads of a comedy musical and they scored a smashing success in "Babes in Arms." So, MGM had all the proof it needed for future box-office success with this dynamic duo. "Strike Up the Band" had even more going for it than its two stars. Busby Berkeley had directed "Babes in Arms" and got the nod again. But in this film, he inserted some of the extravaganza of music and dance that were his forté. And Arthur Freed brought his considerable resources in music, story and sets as producer. The talent in "Strike Up the Band" isn't only in the music – the performances and numbers headed by Rooney and Garland, or in Paul Whiteman's Orchestra. Rooney and company do a splendid job with a Gay Nineties spoof, ala Vaudeville, that had me laughing out loud a number of times. And a fantasy dream sequence with pieces of fruit as men playing instruments for a dream number show some creative talent in the Freed unit and MGM studio. It's the only example of clay-animation I can think of in early movies. Some 50 years later, Will Vinton and others would make "claymation" much more popular in film and on TV. The chorus lines, great choreography, costumes, and dance and show numbers staged by Berkeley round out this talent spectacular. All-in-all, this is an excellent film that showcases some of the rising stars of the time. It has a big-name band, great imagination, and wonderful musical numbers. And, it's topped off with clever scenes, lots of laughs and tons of energy. As for Rooney's high energy that some may find over the top at times – it was as much a part of the story and movie as all the other pieces that, put together, add up to a very good comedy musical. It's first rate entertainment. Oh, yes – there are a few tender, serious moments, and those fit very nicely.

I recently saw it and enjoyed it.Its very balanced out: no over-doing anything romantic kind of thing. The songs were great, just as they always are in old movies. I would probably give it a 8 out of 10 stars!!