Strike up the Band

1940 Musical Comedy

Cast:

Jimmy Connors: Mickey Rooney

Mary Holden: Judy Garland

Phillip Turner: William Tracy

Willie Brewster: Larry Nunn

Mrs. Connors: Ann Shoemaker

Director:

Busby Berkeley

A small town high school student dreams of becoming a famous musician. He enlists a group of his musical friends and forms a band with his gal friend as the singer. He is on the brink of fulfilling his dream when complications occur.

Teenager Jimmy Connors (Rooney) is a gifted musician and songwriter. His dream is to become the leader of a famous dance band. He gathers a group of friends together to form a modern band and they perform at local dances.

His good friend Mary Holden (Garland) longs to be his girlfriend, but he is focused on making his dream come true.

His mother (Shoemaker) has another dream, for her son to become a doctor like his late father.

A famous band leader and his band come to town to perform at a wealthy girl's birthday party. The band leader hears Jimmy and his band perform and offers them a once in a lifetime opportunity to perform in Chicago.

When tragedy strikes, Jimmy's dreams are compromised.

The film is full of original songs and complex dance numbers by Busby Berkeley.

The setting is an idyllic small town where children are respectful and adults are helpful. The community always pulls together to lend a helping hand.

Lessons are learned about friendship, responsibility and doing the right thing.

Like most musicals from this period, everything turns out well in the end.

This was the perfect movie for the time when people wanted to escape their everyday problems. The country was emerging from the great depression and we were on the brink of war.

It was a time when people were looking for an escape when they went to the movies, so reality wasn't so important. People were looking for comfort.

Judy Garland and Micky Rooney made several movies around this time where towns and communities were picture perfect. Singing and dancing were the ultimate in entertainment.

This movie is not a masterpiece and I don't think it was meant to be. It was clearly only made to be a fun experience for people who love movies.

And it is. Great fun!

Boffo Buff