In the Second Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland "putting on a show" musical, they want to get to Paul Whiteman's High School Band contest show in Chicago, despite obstacles like no money and a predatory June Preisser doing cartwheels to vamp Mickey.
It's also Arthur Freed's second credit as a producer of MGM musicals. My admiration for his production unit is unbounded. He would produce some of the greatest movie musicals ever. Here, however, he's still fighting against the MGM idea of a musical as a spectacular, and with Busby Berkeley directing, that's what he's got. Even so, there's a story that makes sense, Miss Garland sings a non-diagetic song ("Nobody"), and Rooney plays the drums very well and dances like a maniac. It holds together very well, and with most of the songs written by Roger Edens, it's very entertaining even today.
More than that, it was very profitable for MGM, and making a lot of money for your company is the best way to get control. Freed's unit would continue to do brilliantly, to the point where the profits for MEET ME IN SAINT LOUIS would reportedly pay all of Metro's production costs for the year. Freed would e given a free hand for a decade and a half after that, and would do well by himself, Metro, and movie lovers.
It's also Arthur Freed's second credit as a producer of MGM musicals. My admiration for his production unit is unbounded. He would produce some of the greatest movie musicals ever. Here, however, he's still fighting against the MGM idea of a musical as a spectacular, and with Busby Berkeley directing, that's what he's got. Even so, there's a story that makes sense, Miss Garland sings a non-diagetic song ("Nobody"), and Rooney plays the drums very well and dances like a maniac. It holds together very well, and with most of the songs written by Roger Edens, it's very entertaining even today.
More than that, it was very profitable for MGM, and making a lot of money for your company is the best way to get control. Freed's unit would continue to do brilliantly, to the point where the profits for MEET ME IN SAINT LOUIS would reportedly pay all of Metro's production costs for the year. Freed would e given a free hand for a decade and a half after that, and would do well by himself, Metro, and movie lovers.