Review of Babes in Arms (1939) by Jonny P — 15 Jul 2011

"Babes in Arms" is an awkward musical in which children behave like adults while it is emphasized that they are children. They go from being on a playground to smoking cigars - make up your mind.

I felt like this film did not have a very good flow to it. The one positive aspect is the music, as it was nice to hear all of the tunes from Singing in the Rain. Er... I suppose that it's the reverse, even though Singing in the Rain did contextualize all of them better.

One thing that majorly confused me is the fact that a lot of popular songs from musicals (Give My Regards to Broadway, The Lady is A Tramp) were used as background scenic music (or appeared during the overture) and were never actually performed by the characters.

Mickey Rooney is excellent in his animated actions, Judy Garland has a beautiful voice as always, but the story STINKS!!! The whole blackface sequence was rather uncomfortable and now I see why this dated show doesn't receive much attention.

Even without the blackface, the performance at the end was really disjointed and seemed like a weak way to conclude the film. I can think of 50 musicals that I would recommend ahead of this one - take your pick.