SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

LuvSopr Everyone who knows of Judy knows the story behind Summer Stock - no point in repeating it yet again. And of course everyone knows of "Get Happy," which has, with changing times and tastes, probably become her signature song even more than "Over the Rainbow." What isn't as known is the movie itself, a putting-on-a-show feature that on the surface seems more than a little ramshackle, and out of date even for 1950, but is actually an interesting, touching, more than worthy showpiece in Judy's film canon, and in movie musicals in general. It is, along with In the Good Old Summertime, my favorite of her films.The cast is of high quality - other than Phil Silvers (who seems out of place at times, although he has his moments) hamming a bit for my tastes, this is a really solid group. Both Silvers and Eddie Bracken add something different to the usual style of this genre. Bracken is both nerdy and oddly endearing, and in spite of only having a small number of scenes with Gloria DeHaven (pretty and polished in a very underwritten role), they have believable, sweet chemistry that makes you happy for them at the end, rather than just wanting to get them out of the way. Marjorie Main adds her usual impeccable comic timing and warmly rough touch. Ray Collins offers strong support and character work as Bracken's father - he has one of those so distinctive voices characters actors had back then.Then we have our leads, who are both superb. Judy looks a bit poorly made up at times, and is stuck in some unflattering getups that remind me of what she wore in her earliest MGM days, but she is in this film a perfect blend of neurosis and confidence. You aren't frightened for her, the way you often are in her later films. Yet she isn't as pulled together here as she sometimes was in her biggest '40s pictures. She's more open. She's a blend of everything that made her an enduring icon. And she, in spite of her legendary difficulties, throws herself into everything - singing, dancing, comedy, dramatic acting. Even if she may have only filmed a small amount of time a day, you wouldn't know it from watching her work. She makes this picture a worthy farewell to her time at MGM in a way that a glossier, "bigger" picture, the kind she'd regularly made before being burnt out, would not have been. This is Judy saying - take my flaws and love me for them. And we do. Gene is simply fantastic in a role that could have easily been a throwaway, but becomes so much more thanks to his earnest portrayal. Even the name (Joe Ross) is generic, but you get caught up with this decent guy who just wants to put on a show and never expects to fall in love. One of my favorite moments is the pure ache as he listens to Judy plaintively singing "Friendly Star" - letting us see just how much he treasures her and how much her own obvious angst over their love for each other is weighing on him.Indeed, it's the angst in this film that sets it apart from many of Judy's adult MGM musicals, where she and the leading men fell for each other in large part because that's what the script called for. Summer Stock is oddly modern in that it really lets us see the process and the pain of a love story. This works in large part because Judy and Gene Kelly have incredible, all-encompassing chemistry. This is a love story first, a musical second.The numbers are, for the most part, pretty good. Some seem a bit cheap by Judy standards, although that can add to their charm ("Howdy, Neighbor!" for instance). The Portland Fancy dance sequence is a great deal of fun. And "Friendly Star" is in many ways the high point of the film, and one of Judy's most tender performances. "Get Happy" is, of course, a marvel, but one that has been shown so many times it's difficult to react today.There are lots of small bits to enjoy as well, my favorite being the moment where Silvers and Bracken crash into each other and end up accidentally wearing the other's glasses. Of all the Judy movies, this is the one I have the fondest memories of and want to rewatch (some parts more than others, admittedly) most often. As a final note on a brilliant legacy, and on a charming genre of film, a wonderful and ageless romantic pairing - it's perfectly imperfect.

richspenc Sadly, this is the last film before MGM fired Judy Garland. Its sad that her life was getting shaky around this time due to the toll her drug addiction was having on her. And I think it's even more sad that it was never Judy's fault that she got addicted to pills in the first place since it was MGM and Judy's mother that forced her to start and to keep taking these pills years earlier. They made her take these addictive stimulants so she could keep working long energetic hours at the studio. Then she became addicted to barbiturates cause the stimulants gave her insomnia. She and the other MGM stars were given some barbiturate pills half hour before bed, then fell asleep, then got woken up only 4 hours later and given their first stimulants of the day, a little breakfast (they were never allowed to eat that much so to keep their weight down), then back to work. Judy worked such long hours, slept those short 4 hour nights, and ate such a low calorie diet for so many years, that it all had taken such a toll on her by this time period, around 1950. And she wasn't as up to scratch at work anymore and was missing work all the time. That's why MGM fired her. Its all so unfair. Judy Garland was one of the most wonderful gifts we ever had in this world.Anyway, this film was pretty good but it wasn't one of the best like many of Judy's earlier films, but it was not Judy's fault. Some of the script is rather corny with the whole "goofy actors barging unannounced into Judy's barn" deal. I didn't care that much for the Phil Silvers character since he was too goofy and sorta a "bull in a China shop" kinda character. He destroys Judy's tractor, but not to be destructive, it's because he's clumsy and not smart enough to stay off a machine that he didn't know how to operate. Gene Kelly was good here but not quite as good as he was in "Me and my gal", "Anchors aweigh", and "Singin in the rain". And he and Judy, even though they are good together, did not have as much wonderful chemistry and magic together that they had in "Me and my gal". He still had a very good dance number where he kept ripping newspaper on the floor into smaller pieces with his dance moves. Judy still had some wonderful shining moments, especially when she sang including a very good song " Howdy neighbor, happy harvest" while she was riding home on her tractor. And also great in her famous "Get happy" song. Judy was engaged to Eddie Bracken, who was also sort of a goofy character, who was always irritating his dad. I liked Gloria Dehalivand as Judy's acting school sister who was the one who had the idea to stage production in her and Judy's barn to begin with. I didn't care for Judy's short hairstyle in this film as much as all her hairstyles in her previous films, but I still love Judy Garland very much. She was really one of the greatest things in Hollywood's already golden golden age.

tortillachips-972-975637 I agree she looked thicker but goodness that determines a good movie or not? Hence, why she had many issues. They harassed actresses then about being skinny made folks crazy. I like the movie. Great singing and dancing. Did the plot have to be supreme? I had fun. She was a very...no extremely talented woman. I will watch anything she ever did in show business. Actresses are nit multi talented like that anymore. Very one dimensional. They are just skinny...big deal. Give me talent anytime. I would watch it again. Love Judy Garland. Besides doesn't help in real life come from unexpected places just like the movie. The farm got help from actors. Hey what a good idea!

weezeralfalfa The story is completely hokey, which is standard for these types of musicals of this era.But, it moves along well, with just enough melodrama and romantic tension to add interest, without becoming tedious, and with many of the songs and dances woven into the behind the scenes action, rather than in the show that is gradually being put together throughout most of the film. The very productive team of Harry Warren and Mack Gordon composed most of the new songs, which does not include the most-remembered "Get Happy". Although there are plenty of personal and financial problems to be worked out by the main characters, I feel the title of film could have been "It's Always Fair Weather", as that is the overall impression the audience gets. It never seemed to rain on this farm! This title was given to a later Kelly-dominated musical, in which it seemed to parody the mostly negative relationships and attitudes of the stars through much of the film.This was Judy's last MGM musical. She barely made it through the film making, often not showing up or leaving early, but we are all glad she made the sacrifice to finish it. Unfortunately, she was in a similar state of mind during the filming of the previous Kelly-Garland vehicle:"The Pirate". Their initial pairing: "For Me and My Gal", Kelly's first Hollywood film, made during Judy's physical and mental peak in the early '40s,remains their most pleasing collaboration, in my opinion, although Kelly has more challenging dances in this film. Gloria De Haven, as her younger sister, is given minimal opportunity to display her singing and dancing talent. Too bad, as I often prefer her voice and style over Judy's, for some romantic ballads.Her duet "Fall In Love" was cut, but can be heard as an audio outtake on the 2006 DVD. For a much better sampling of her singing and dancing talents, try to catch "I'll Get By" on TV, get the "Step Lively" DVD, in which she is paired with Sinatra, or get one of her CDs. Phil Silvers and Kelly make a great comedy team (together or separately), at times, which mostly relates to their inexperience in dealing with farm machinery and animals. This film reminds me of the Fox musical "Something For the Boys", also in a rural setting, in which Silver's is given a freer reign for his comedy, sometimes teaming with Carmen Miranda, in place of Kelly.Actually, Silvers and Kelly had previously been effectively paired as an on and off vaudeville team , in the Rita Hayworth-featuring musical: "Cover Girl"Margorie Main plays her classic role as a rural or frontier mother. Eddie Bracken plays his usually role as a nerdy, clumsy, bashful, if well off, beau for the leading lady, until something a lot more exciting shows up(Kelly, in this case). The hinted budding relationship between Bracken's and De Haven's characters, at the end, seemed very forced, as a union of losers.After her soon-forgotten opening shower song, Judy belts out the memorable optimistic "Howdy Neighbor", while driving her tractor around the neighborhood. This song will also serve as the closing song, then with Kelly.Garland's character, initially hostile to the unexpected arrival of a troop of mostly amateur actors on her farm, gradually warms up to them, and gradually steals Kelly away from sister De Haven, as Kelly discovers her inexplicable singing and dancing talent and more mature personality. Kelly, sometimes aided by Silvers and a chorus, does an impressive morale-boosting song and dance routine to "Dig, Dig, Dig for Your Dinner". This is followed by an abbreviated De Haven duet trial for the show. A local barn dance held in the same barn where the actors are doing their things gradually turns into a swing dance scene, with Judy and Kelly the final starring dance pair. Later, this pair sing "You, Wonderful You" in private, and kiss for the first time. Sensing he has serious competition for the first time, Bracken asks Judy to marry him, and she reluctantly says yes. She then sings, in private, the soulful "Friendly Star", to help her decide which man to marry. Kelly overhears her, they talk, and she cries. Kelly later does his noted impromptu newspaper dance in private, in the barn.(Actually, I thought his "Dig,Dig,Dig" routine was as impressive).Kelly and De Haven argue about her performance in the show, and she leaves for NYC. Judy reluctantly takes her place in the show, which finally opens(in the barn!). Judy and Kelly do a couple of song and dance routines, including an encore of their "You, Wonderful, You" Kelly and Silvers, made up as extreme backwoods yokels, including grossly bloated bare feet, then perform a humorous song and dance impression of life on a general farm.The canine population has a gradual population explosion during this performance, until they completely drown out the pair with their barking. I have observed that farms often have an excess of barking dogs. However, perhaps they are partially meant to represent the entire cacophony of farm animal sounds, or an ever increasing number of children. Some reviewers feel that this scene was way too campy, but I'll bet the kids in the audience enjoyed it! Incongruously, this heehaw scene is immediately followed by Judy's sophisticated "Get Happy" routine. Upon De Haven's unexpected return, with Bracken, the now muddled romantic relationships between the 4 get finalized for the happy ending scene.