A Date with Judy

Director: Richard Thorpe

Overview

Jane Powell and Elizabeth Taylor headline this youthful musical comedy in which they play two teenage best friends who team up to help Jane's father Wallace Beery after they suspect him of having an affair with Brazilian fireball Carmen Miranda. Actually, the portly Beery is really only taking dance lessons from the lithe, lively Miranda so he can surprise his beloved wife. When not meddling in her father's affairs, Powell and Taylor find their friendship tested after they fall for the same cute guy. Songs include: "Cuanto la Gusta," "Strictly on the Corny Side," "Judaline," "Temptation," and "Mulligatawny."

Product Details

Release Date:	11/01/2011
UPC:	0883316397138
Original Release:	1948
Source:	Warner Archives
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[monaural]
Language:	English
Time:	1:53:00
Sales rank:	21,096

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jane Powell	Judy Foster
Wallace Beery	Melvin R. Foster
Elizabeth Taylor	Carol Pringle
Carmen Miranda	Rosita Cochellas
Xavier Cugat	Cugat
Robert Stack	Stephen Andrews
Selena Royle	Mrs. Foster
Scotty Beckett	Ogden `Oogie' Pringle
Leon Ames	Lucien T. Pringle
George Cleveland	Gramps
Lloyd Corrigan	Pop Scully
Clinton Sundberg	Jameson
Jean McLaren	Mitzie
Jerry Hunter	Randolph Foster
Buddy Howard	Jo-Jo Hoffenpepper
Lillian Yarbo	Nightingale
Eula Guy	Miss Clarke
Francis Pierlot	Prof. Green
Rena Lenart	Olga
Sheila Stein	Little Girl in Drug Store
Paul Bradley	Headwaiter
Polly Bailey	Elderly Woman
Alice Kelley	Girl
Fern Eggen	Miss Sampson

Technical Credits

Warren Newcombe	Special Effects
Joe Pasternak	Producer

Editorial Reviews

A modest, unassuming little musical, A Date with Judy is the kind of featherweight piece of fluff that Hollywood routinely produced even into the 1950s. Chipper and perky to a fault, Judy is also one of the "teen-aged" viewpoint films (such as the Andy Hardy or Henry Aldrich series) that were also popular at the time. As might be gathered, the plotting is calculated and unbelievable -- but it's busy enough to keep things moving, and the structure of the piece holds up (even if much of the dialogue does not). Director Richard Thorpe keeps things appropriately light and breezy, never letting the plot bog down for too long at a stretch, and Stanley Donen's choreography is appropriately fast paced and occasionally imaginative. Jane Powell overplays the energy and cuteness, but her rendition of " It's a Most Unusual Day" is lovely. Elizabeth Taylor looks stunning and brings more conviction to her part than it deserves, and Wallace Beery is quite amusing and endearing. As usual, Carmen Miranda can be counted on to liven things up, and her "Cuanto Le Gusta" is quite diverting. Very dated in its attitude about girls and too inconsequential to amount to a great deal, Judy is still moderately entertaining on its own terms.