Babes on Broadway

My least favorite of the Judy / Mickey musicals, but that's a lot like saying that between chocolate almond, chocolate chip and plain chocolate ice cream, plain is my least favorite - maybe so, but it's all good! Berkeley is masterful at moving and placing both camera and actors. Judy is mesmerizing, Rooney never leaves the volume at 5 when 10 will do. The "Blackout on Broadway" finale is unfortunate: still entertaining, but guarantees that this picture won't get any airing in the 21st century.

If you've seen one blackface banjo performance you've seen them all, you might think. But you would be wrong. Rooney left me simply slack-jawed. Oh yes, and the rest of the movie was good.

Barely any plot at all. Just the "kids" putting on a show, with Judy Garland shining and a ton of Busby Berkeley musical numbers for nearly two hours repeating himself over and over. When things were getting really repetitive Mickey Rooney shows up in a gruesome Latin American drag and the rest of the crew in blackface (with Rooney joining in blackface too doing some really eclectic banjo playing)..... and all was right with the world again.