It's 1906 in picturesque Dannville, Connecticut. Mature-looking 17-year-old Mickey Rooney (as Richard Miller) is looking forward to college and thinking about his first kiss with pretty high school sweetheart Gloria De Haven (as Muriel McComber). She's afraid to kiss Mr. Rooney because they might fall in love. Rooney, who has been named class valedictorian, prepares a rebellious, anti-Capitalist speech. During the summer, he goes to a bar and gets drunk. Rooney's behavior threatens to disgrace the family and end his relationship with Ms. De Haven...
This musical version Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" (1933) was no fun for MGM. Its main strength is vibrant Technicolor, which serves many musicals well, but not this "Summer Holiday". Most obviously, Rooney is embarrassingly miscast. He was in MGM's superior 1935 version, in the role played herein by freckle-faced Jackie "Butch" Jenkins. Director Rouben Mamoulian uses paintings interestingly, before Rooney's graduation speech and during the Fourth of July celebration. Cedric Gibbons and his crew designed some nice streets. Still, the production is a mistake...
You're better off watching the 1935 version.
*** Summer Holiday (2/23/48) Rouben Mamoulian ~ Mickey Rooney, Walter Huston, Frank Morgan, Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins
This musical version Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" (1933) was no fun for MGM. Its main strength is vibrant Technicolor, which serves many musicals well, but not this "Summer Holiday". Most obviously, Rooney is embarrassingly miscast. He was in MGM's superior 1935 version, in the role played herein by freckle-faced Jackie "Butch" Jenkins. Director Rouben Mamoulian uses paintings interestingly, before Rooney's graduation speech and during the Fourth of July celebration. Cedric Gibbons and his crew designed some nice streets. Still, the production is a mistake...
You're better off watching the 1935 version.
*** Summer Holiday (2/23/48) Rouben Mamoulian ~ Mickey Rooney, Walter Huston, Frank Morgan, Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins