Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

tavm It's almost ironic I watched this Judge Hardy's Family entry on Father's Day (yesterday) since for most of the film, Andy is away from his dad in New York City trying to make it on his own there during the summer after just graduating high school. Judy Garland-in her last series appearance-is there as Betsy Booth to lend him support though he doesn't accept her money to get by when he's initially jobless. He also has to deal with an aspiring dancer who used to live in his room and who is getting no offers. And then there's a lady in his new job who he seems to have fallen for...This was a more serious entry in the series with only a few laughs. Ms. Garland had filmed some songs as in previous entries but they were cut for supposedly breaking the flow of the drama. She and Mickey are the best thing in it and when Lewis Stone joins them, it's even more fun! Another touching father-and-son talk occurs in the restaurant scene. Oh, and I also liked Andy and Polly's goodbye scene. So on that note, Life Begins for Andy Hardy is worth seeing for those who like the series.

sdiner82 Following his graduation from high school, a small-town teenager decides to try his luck learning about life and making it on his own in New York City. Where he encounters the death of a disillusioned, penniless young friend and the seductive wiles of a glamorous "older woman" he encounters at his office job. Not to mention the wrath of the censors (who forced the studio the change the cause of death from a suicide to a heart attack) as well as the Catholic church (whose Legion of Decency damned the film with an "objectionable for children" rating). Hard to believe that an episode in the ebullient Andy Hardy series caused such controversy, but it is this film's commendable attempt to portray the dilemmas of youth with honesty and candor (incredible for 1941) that make it the most durable and disarming entry of the entire series. As contemporary today as it was 60 years ago, "Life Begins for Andy Hardy" is blessed with, besides a refreshingly adult screenplay that evokes emotions unchanged by the passage of time, astoundingly "mature" performances by Mickey Rooney (for once underplaying) and Judy Garland (displaying a sincerity and warmth without ever singing a note).Rooney's portrayal of a good-hearted teenager who decent instincts hardly prepare him for the brutal reality of survival in the "Big City" will strike resonant chords with anyone in a similar situation 60 years later. And, in addition to Rooney and Ms. Garland, sterling performances are contributed by the Hardy regulars (Lewis Stone, never more sage or heartrending as Andy's concerned father); the lovely Patricia Dane, as Andy's office co-worker and would-be seducer; and Ray McDonald, heartbreaking as a penniless aspiring actor reduced to living (and starving) in Central Park. A tacked-on happy ending and jarring lapses in continuity (indicating heavy studio re-cutting and re-shooting) fail to undermine the sweet sadness of this most unusual MGM drama--flirting with themes that would be dealt with far more candidly and cruelly some 20 years later in such innocents-lost-in-the-city classics as "The Rat Race" and "Breakfast at Tiffanys," of which "Life Begins for Andy Hardy" is a most poignant pre-cursor.

ccmazz This movie is worth seeing just for the advice Judge Hardy gives Andy. He explains beautifully why every unmarried person should be faithful to his or her future spouse, even before they ever meet each other.It is interesting that the Legion of Decency objected to this speech. In 1941 such parental advice was so well known that it was not helpful to hear it in a movie, and it was dangerous to display sexual advice in the public setting of a movie. Keep in mind that the speech is so tasteful that we would not even call it sexual at all. Yet to them it was good, sound advice but far too personal to publicize.In our time we have fallen so far from those wholesome principles that it would be very helpful to publicize them broadly. I am seeking a copy of this movie to show to my children and friends.

Arthur Hausner I found this movie to be a tedious entry, so different from the other movies in the Hardy family series that it took me by surprise and disappointed me. It begins on the night the previous entry, "Andy Hardy's Private Secretary (1941)" ended -- high school graduation night. Andy (Mickey Rooney) has a month to apply for a scholarship to go to college, so he decides, with his family's reluctant blessing, to go to New York, get a job, and see what life is all about. Judy Garland lives there and keeps an eye on him, but her talents are totally wasted. Judy doesn't sing at all (unless you count the few lines of "Happy Birthday to You"); Mickey finds the school of hard knocks so trying it was painful to watch his plight, which included an attempted seduction of him by an older woman (Patricia Dane) and the death of a friend. I hardly laughed at any point of this somber movie. I might have enjoyed the movie more had I been forewarned that it is much more of a drama than a comedy.The National Legion of Decency classified this movie as unsuitable for children because of Rooney's scenes with Dane and his man-to-man talks with his father (Lewis Stone) about fidelity to one's future wife, whoever she may be.