Film Friday: «Babes in Arms» (1939)
In honor of Mickey Rooney's 96th birthday, which happens to be today, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you what remains one of his most famous pictures. This is also the film that made him the first teenager to be nominated for an Academy Award. Directed by Busby Berkley, Babes in Arms (1939) begins in 1921 with the birth of Mickey Moran (Mickey Rooney), the son of popular vaudeville entertainers Joe and Florrie Moran (Charles Winninger and Grace Hayes). Years later, when vaudeville is eclipsed by the movie industry, Joe and Florrie, along with their former colleagues, decide to resurrect their careers by financing a travelling show of their own. Their children want to be a part of it, but their parents refuse to let them go. Undaunted, Mickey resolves to write a show to be presented by himself and the kids, which include his sister Molly (Betty Jaynes), his sweetheart Patsy Barton (Judy Garland) and their friend Don Brice (Douglas MacPhail), in his hometown of Seaport, Long...