Strike Up the Band [Blu-ray]

Director: Busby Berkeley Busby Berkeley

Overview

Hey, gang! Let's put on a swell show and call it Strike Up the Band! Yes, it's the irrepressible Mickey Rooney, teamed up again with Judy Garland to show the grownups how to do things right. This time, Rooney wants to organize a high-school band. He hopes to enter a competition being held in Chicago by the great orchestra leader Paul Whiteman; all he needs is two hundred dollars for train fare. To raise the money, Rooney, Garland and company stage a student "mellerdrammer" that in real life would have cost the equivalent of a third-world-nation annual budget. They get the dough, but soft-hearted Rooney turns over the money to the mother of student musician Larry Nunn, who is in desperate need of emergency surgery. It looks hopeless until, luck of luck, Paul Whiteman arrives in Rooney's town. The original George and Ira Gershwin Broadway musical Strike Up the Band was a satire of warfare, with America declaring war on Switzerland in order to corner the chocolate industry. You'll see none of that subversive stuff in this MGM musical; instead, we are treated to such highlights as a George Pal animated sequence involving dancing fruit. It ain't profound, but Strike Up the Band is sure entertaining.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/23/2020
UPC:	0883929715497
Original Release:	1940
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	2:00:00
Sales rank:	22,815

Special Features

Introduction by Mickey Rooney; Pete Smith Specialty Comedy Short Wedding Bills; Cartoon Romeo in Rhythm; "Do the La Conga" Stero Remix Version; Audio-Only Bonuses: Leo Is on the Air Radio Promo, Millions for Defense and 1940 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast ; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Mickey Rooney	Jimmy Connors
Judy Garland	Mary Holden
Larry Nunn	Willie Brewster
June Preisser	Barbara Frances Morgan
Ann Shoemaker	Mrs. Connors
Paul Whiteman	Himself
William Tracy	Phillip Turner
Margaret Early	Annie
George Lessey	Mr. Morgan
Francis Pierlot	Mr. Judd
Harry McCrillis	Booper Barton
Sarah Edwards	Miss Hodges
Elliot Carpenter	Henry
Milt Kibbee	Mr. Holden,Mr. Holden
Virginia Brissac	Mrs. May Holden
Howard Hickman	The Doctor
Virginia Sale	Music Teacher
Mickey Martin	Boy
Charles Smith	Boy,Boy
Sherrie Overton	Girl
Margaret Marquis	Girl
Maxine Cook	Girl
Phil Silvers	Pitchman
Billy Wayne	Clown
Joe Devlin	Attendant
Don Castle	Charlie
Enid Bennett	Mrs. Morgan
Earl Hodgins	Hammer Concessionaire,Hammer Concessionaire
Helen Jerome Eddy	Mrs. Brewster
Harlan Briggs	Doctor
Richard E. Allen	Policeman
Jimmie Lucas	Barker
Víctor Laplace	Actor
Jack Albertson	Barker
Harry Harvey	Shooting Gallery Concessionaire
Jack Baxley	Ice Cream Concessionaire
Harry Lash	Hot Dog Concessionaire
Jack Kenney	Hot Dog Concessionaire
Roland Got	House Boy
Lowden Adams	Butler
Margaret Seddon	Old Lady
Margaret McWade	Old Lady
Louise LaPlanche	Student
Lois James	Student
Helen Seamon	Student
Mary Jo Ellis	Student
Naida Reynolds	Student
Linda Johnson	Student
Wallace Musselwhite	Student
Myron Speth	Student
Douglas Wilson	Student
Sidney Miller	Student
Vendell Darr	Student
Jack Mulhall	Man
Henry Roquemore	Man
Leonard Sues	Trumpet Player

Technical Credits

Busby Berkeley	Director
Arthur Freed	Producer

Editorial Reviews

The only connection Strike Up the Band has with the stage musical from which it is drawn is the glorious George and Ira Gershwin title tune. The movie is saddled with a typical "let's put on a show" plot, although for variety this time it's a show involving an orchestra. The dialogue runs exactly as you expect it to, but it still has a certain naïve charm that makes it fun, and the "Nell of New Rochelle" melodrama is amusing. The real reason for seeing Band, of course, is the stars. Mickey Rooney gives a quintessential Mickey Rooney performance, which means that some will love it and some will hate it. He's energetic and effervescent, especially in the "Drummer Boy" sequence; if ever a performer gave everything to his work, it's Rooney. But he also has some gentle, more subdued moments, and his duet with Judy Garland on "Our Love Affair" is charming. Garland is in great form and voice, singing the blazes out of "Nobody" and "The La Conga." Director Busby Berkeley works some of his military marching magic on the title tune and shoots "The La Conga" from just about every angle possible. Most impressive, however, is the bizarre but fascinating sequence in which a symphony orchestra is created from a table full of fruit. Band would be followed soon after by another Rooney-Garland-Berkeley effort, Babes on Broadway.