Listen Darling [VHS]

Listen Darling [VHS]
by Edwin L. Marin

Listen Darling [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Alan Hale, Freddie Bartholomew, Judy Garland, Mary Astor, Walter Pidgeon
Director: Edwin L. Marin
Cinematographer: Charles Lawton Jr.
Cinematographer: Lester White
Editor: Blanche Sewell
Producer: Jack Cummings
Writer: Anne Morrison Chapin
Writer: Elaine Ryan
Writer: Katharine Brush
Writer: Noel Langley
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
Running Time: 75 minutes
Release Date: 1992-04-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)

VHS Movie Reviews of Listen Darling [VHS]

Movie Review: A rarely seen comedy gem with Judy Garland
Summary: 4 Stars

LISTEN, DARLING (1938)

The film features Mary Astor, Walter Pidgeon, Alan Hale and great comedic character actor Gene Lockhart. That would be an interesting cast in itself, but the two actors that get top billing above all of them are Judy Garland and Freddy Bartholomew. This is a great little "feel good" movie.

Set in a small town, Mary Astor plays a widow raising her daughter played by Garland and her young son played by Scotty Beckett. Widowed mother Astor is struggling to get over the death of her free spirit husband who has died leaving Astor with barely any assets. Gene Lockhart is the town Banker and buffoon who swoons over Astor. Garland of course can't stand Lockhart. Astor, in light of her financial situation, is seriously considering Lockharts proposal of marriage. Garland looks to her best pal Bartholomew to help her stop her mother from making a terrible mistake.

Bartholomew and Garland come up with a desperate plan to literally kidnap Astor and get her out of town in the hopes that they will have the time to change her mind and perhaps find her another suitor. Tricking her and little brother Beckett into the back of the family trailer, Freddy and Judy take off for the great outdoors. Now miles and miles away, a furious Astor chides Freddy and Judy. But a tearful Judy tells Astor that she doesn't want her mother to marry for convenience. Astor easily forgives the two crazy kids and they all decide to take the opportunity to have a little vacation.

Enter Walter Pidgeon. A Lawyer, part time photographer and all around cool guy, he is also on vacation. Freddy discovers his trailer parked just a little ways down from Astors. After a hilarious grilling by Bartholomew to see if Pidgeon is a suitable "suitor" (Freddy is aghast that Pidgeon has no life insurance), Pidgeon meets Astor and they immediately take a shine to each other.

Meanwhile, Judy's little brother has had a run in with a family of skunks. She and Freddy are trying to get his smelly clothes off and give him a bath, but stubborn Beckett is having none of it. Unknown to them however, they've stumbled on the property of good natured, millionaire insurance magnate Alan Hale. Hale takes an immediate liking to Garland and her little pistol of a brother. He takes them into his mansion and after getting her little brother cleaned up, Garland favors them all with a nice little song.

Meanwhile, Astor, while in love with Pidgeon, listens to him ramble on about his "free spirit" philosophy and concludes that, like her deceased husband, he might be too irresponsible to take on a wife and two kids (three counting the ever present Bartholomew)

Will Astor marry the nerdy Banker? Will Pidgeon grow up enough to persuade Astor to marry him? Will Millionaire Alan Hale make a move on Astor himself? That would be telling. All I'll say is that this is an MGM musical comedy from the thirties (do you really think there's going to be a sad ending here?)

This was a surprisingly fun film. Funny dialogue, great songs for Garland to sing at all the appropriate moments. Great mother/daughter chemistry between Garland and Astor goes a long way to carrying the mood and setting all the right tones. Bartholomew has a scene at the beginning where he's giving a hilariously "unfocused" oral report on Daniel Webster. After he's finished he asks his uncle (played by Charles Grapewin, Garlands uncle in Wizard Of Oz) if he left anything out. Grapewin responds in wonderful deadpan, "just the beginning the end and the point". Funny stuff.

As I watched this I wondered if it would have been a better film with longtime Garland film partner Mickey Rooney. However, this role was more suited to Bartholomew. Rooney's manic exuberance would have overshadowed the other characters, including Garland. Bartholomew has a funny facade of seriousness that plays nicely off Garlands sweetness and Astor and Pidgeons romance. The music is fun and not forced or intrusive to the scenes where it's incorporated. Astor, always great, has some sweet, tear jerky moments with Garland. It's not some grand musical epic, just a fun little 70 minute gem that should put a smile on your face.

It's not Casablanca or Citizen Kane. It's just a fun little picture, and I highly recommend it.

Movie Review: the #1 judy fan!
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a must see movie if your a judy garland fan.I am a HUGE! JUDY GARLAND FAN.

Movie Review: early Garland vehicle that lets her show her talents well despite the feeble plot
Summary: 4 Stars

Listen Darling gives us a fine look at an early Judy Garland vehicle from MGM. Sure, the plot is remarkably thin or even completely contrived at times; but Judy gets to sing a song or two in this flick and she looks absolutely beautiful. The movie plot moves along at a good pace and the actors do their very best with the mediocre material they received.

The action begins when Dorothy ("Dottie") Wingate (Mary Astor), a widow, decides to marry the wealthy but rather boring, stuffy banker Arthur Drubbs (Gene Lockhart). Her daughter Pinkie Wingate (Judy Garland) and Pinkie's friend "Buzz" Mitchell (Freddie Bartholomew) don't feel right about it. They believe that Pinkie's mother should marry someone much more upbeat and carefree about life to prioritize their mother's happiness; they know she won't be truly happy being married to a stuffy banker.

So what do Pinkie and Buzz do? Well, naturally (ahem) they simply kidnap Dottie. They fool Dottie Wingate into getting into the family trailer and then drive as fast as they can in search of a more suitable husband for Dottie Wingate. Dottie doesn't even get too angry about the whole thing when they finally do let her out. (oh brother)

As luck would have it, they finally camp nearby the trailer of Richard Thurlow (Walter Pidgeon), a carefree and clever lawyer with a passion for inventing gadgets and taking photographs. It's not long before Thurlow--and another very wealthy man named J.J. Slattery--become involved with the children and Dottie Wingate.

What happens next? No spoilers here, folks, you'll just have to get this movie and watch it for yourself! Will Dottie return to town to marry the banker? Will she have to choose between Slattery, Thurlow--or will she stay single and surprise a few people? The answers--and some good musical numbers by Garland--are in the picture.

The choreography is rather good; and the cinematography is excellent for its time. The movie is in black and white but that doesn't detract from the quality. Unfortunately, the script could have been improved a good deal--there are some scenes that reek of schmaltz. Couldn't they have left those scenes on the cutting room floor and shot some better scenes with better dialogue? Ouch!

Overall, Listen Darling is a typical light fare movie from the 1930s that features a young, pre-Wizard Of Oz Judy Garland getting ready to take a bite out of movies that would prove to be far more substantial and meaningful in her film career. Judy sings "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart;" "On The Bumpy Road To Love" and "Ten Pins In The Sky." She sings marvelously; you can tell she was born a natural for high quality entertainment. Although the plot needs work the acting isn't all that bad. Get this film and enjoy some light hearted entertainment today!

Movie Review: Why Not This One?
Summary: 4 Stars

The Judy Garland signature collection contains Love Finds Andy Hardy but one can't help but wonder why didn't they just wait to release that in an Andy Hardy Box set and replace it with this one? Judy is as sweet as she can be and this is one of her major teen films without Mickey Rooney. Listen Darling is a cute film with a great cast, nice songs and a pre-Oz Judy. See it for that or just for a classic teen film.

Movie Review: Early Judy Garland
Summary: 4 Stars

Listen, Darling is a sweet story about a family struggling to do the right thing for each other. Mary Astor plays the widowed mother of both Judy Garland and Scotty Beckett. Freddie Bartholomew plays Garland's best friend. The two scheme to find Astor a man she really loves to marry, instead of letting her follow through with her plan to marry a rich man who can provide for her children.

Mary Astor is a very sympathetic mother; her part is small but well written. Judy Garland is quite young and appropriate for her jr. high aged role. She appears to be modest and vulnerable, a characterization appropriate to the character's age; she is a great beautiful and emotional actress. Freddie Bartholomew is appropriately awkward yet skittishly forceful. Scotty Beckett is the mischievously annoying but adorable younger brother.

"Zing, Went the Strings of my Heart" is an understated song performed with the force that is apparent in all of Garland's singing. "Bumpy Road to Love" is a juvenile song with bad lip-synching. The "Ten Pins in the Sky" song is a sweet, melancholy song which proves Garland's ability as a singer, even in her youth.

Overall, this is a fun film, but nothing too outstanding.

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