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Girl Crazy
MGM, 1943 (BW, 100 minutes, Production No. 1285)
When a youngster with a yen for feminine company is banished to an all-boy school, he refuses to cooperate until he meets the Dean's niece [sic]. Now that the girl shortage is taken care of, all he has to do is persuade the
lass she needs him. This is a bigger problem than he had expected and it isn't until he solves the school's student shortage by a well-planned publicity campaign, that the girl begins to show any leaning in his direction.
[MGM press sheet]
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Crew
Produced by: Arthur Freed
Directed by: Norman Taurog
Screen Play by: Fred F. Finklehoffe
Music by:
Lyrics by:
Based Upon Musical Play "Girl Crazy" by Guy Bolton and Jack McGowan
Musical Adaptation: Roger Edens
Musical Direction: Georgie Stoll
Orchestration: Conrad Salinger, Axel Stordahl, Sy Oliver
Vocal Arrangements: Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane
Dance Direction and Solo Dance with Miss Garland by: Charles Walters
"I Got Rhythm" Number directed by Busby Berkeley
Musical Presentation: Merrill Pye
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons
Set Decorations: Edwin B. Willis
Associate: Mac Alper
Costume Supervision: Irene
Associate: Sharaff
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Directors of Photography: William Daniels, Robert Planck
Film Editor: Albert Akst
Filmed: January 1943 - April 1943
Released: November 1943
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Cast
... Danny Churchill, Jr.
... Ginger Gray
... Bud Livermore
... Henry Lathrop
... Rags
... Specialty Number
... Polly Williams
... Dean Phineas Armour
... Marjorie Tait
... Mr. Churchill, Sr.
... Governor Tait
... Themselves
... Ed
... Brunette
... Blonde
... Blonde
... Buckets
... Cameraman
... Maitre d'Hotel
... Nervous Man
... Dignified Man
... Fat Man
... Waiter
... Churchill's Secretary
... Tom
... cameo as student
Frances McInerney ... Checkroom Girl
... Checkroom Girl
Victor Potel ... Stationmaster
Joe "Corky" Geil ... Student
Ken Stewart ... Student
... Reception Clerk
George Offerman, Jr. ... Messenger
... Southern Girl
(aka Karin Booth) ... Girl
Harry C. Bradley ... Governor's Crony
... Indian Chief
Rose Higgins ... Indian Squaw
Spec O'Donnell ... Fiddle Player
... Governor's Secretary
William Bishop ... Radio Man
James Warren ... Radio Man
Fred Beckner (aka Fred Coby) ... Radio Man
,
,
Noreen Nash,
,
,
,
,
Linda Deane ... Showgirls
Don Taylor,
Jimmy Butler,
John Estes,
Bob Lowell ... Boys
,
Helen Dickson,
Milissa Ten Eyck,
Vangie Beilby,
Julia Griffith,
,
Sandra Morgan,
Peggy Leon,
... Committee Women
... vocals
... vocals
... vocals
... vocals
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Musical Program
[0:00] Overture: "I Got Rhythm" (played by Orchestra behind titles)
[0:04] (June Allyson, Mickey Rooney, The Music Maids, The Stafford Trio, Kathleen Carns, Ruth Clark and Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra)
[0:26] (Judy Garland, The King's Men and the MGM Studio Chorus)
[0:37] (Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland)
[0:42] (Judy Garland, Henry Kruze, P. Hanna, G. Mershon, H. Stanton, E. Newton, Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra and the MGM Studio Chorus)
[1:12] (Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra with piano solo by Mickey Rooney)
[cut] (Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Nancy Walker and the MGM Studio Orchestra and Chorus, cut from film)
[1:25] (Judy Garland)
[1:31] (Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Six Hits and a Miss, The Music Maids, Hal Hopper, Trudy Erwin, Bobbie Canvin, Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra and the MGM Studio Chorus)
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Notes
Girl Crazy was June Allyson's MGM screen debut. Though her "official" debut was to be , she was given a specialty number in this film while waiting for work to commence on Best Foot
Forward. She was a member of the "Best Foot Forward" Broadway cast, and had been brought to Hollywood by MGM to reprise her role in the film version. June also appeared in short films made in New York prior to moving to Hollywood.
Busby Berkeley began directing Girl Crazy, but was replaced by Norman Taurog after running far over budget and over schedule with the finale (shot first). Some accounts indicate that Judy had Buz replaced because he
was driving her too hard.
Molly Gray was played by Ginger Rogers in the very successful original Broadway production of Girl Crazy, which opened in 1930. The character name was changed to Ginger Gray for the film version, in honor of Ginger
Rogers.
This was the last of the four Mickey/Judy "backyard musicals" directed by Busby Berkeley. Previously there was (1939), (1940) and (1941). See .
Parts of the movie were filmed on location near Palm Springs, California - a very unusual practice for movie musicals at the time. The Saguaro cacti, made of cardboard, were added to the scenery to give it that Arizona look
- Cody college was originally set in Arizona.
Soundtrack included in Rhino 4-CD set entitled "Mickey and Judy," (1995).
See for information about the latest releases of home video and sountrack.
See for more information on this and other classic films.
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Critical Response
"Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland ... are the most incorrigibly talented pair of youngsters in movies ... Judy ... sings and acts like an earthbound angel."
- New York Times, December 3, 1943
"As sung by cinemactress Judy Garland, 'Embraceable You' and 'Bidin' My Time' become hits all over again and the new 'But Not for Me' sounds like another. Her presence is open, cheerful, warming. If she were not so
profitably good at her own game, she could obviously be a dramatic cinema actress with profit to all."
- Time, December 27, 1943]
"Miss Garland is a nifty saleswoman of the numbers, right down to the overproduced 'Rhythm' finale which was Busby Berkeley's special chore. Her 'Embraceable You' delivery is a standout; ditto 'Bidin' My Time' and 'Not for
Me'. She's also got two nice dancing sessions.
- Variety, August 4, 1943
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Memorable Lines
Danny (to Ginger): The Government is making a big mistake! They ought to put your picture on a postage stamp!"
Ginger: "Did you ever kiss that debutante?"
Danny: "I take an oath!"
Ginger: "Did you ever want to?" (looking at the painful expression on Danny's face) "Never mind, don't answer that."
Polly: "When you look like I do from the neck up, from the neck down is no problem!"
Dean Armour: "Could you tell me something?"
Danny: "Yes, sir."
Dean Armour: "Just what is the meaning of the word 'snerpy'?"
Danny: "Well, a snerp is a loogan with a belt in the back; sometimes referred to as a diljo. A diljo is a..."
Dean Armour: "Never mind! I have a rough idea."
Dean Armour (to Danny): "All you've done since you've been here is pack and unpack and resign. Now, why don't you see if you can quit resigning long enough to learn something?"
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