User reviews

Summer Stock was the third and last pairing of Gene Kelly and Judy Garland by MGM. It's sad to think that there were no others because of Judy's personal problems. She would have a breakdown and would not be before the cameras again until four year later with A Star Is Born.

Judy barely got through Summer Stock. She had been replaced in Annie Get Your Gun by Betty Hutton and had not started Royal Wedding yet, but was also replaced there by Jane Powell. It was Gene Kelly's patience with her that got her through this film. Interesting also because Kelly was not known as the world's most patient man when working.

It was worth it because Summer Stock contains some of Judy's best musical moments. Most of the score was written by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon, but someone was inspired at MGM to give Judy Get Happy by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler. That is half of the team that wrote Over the Rainbow for her. Get Happy became another song identified with Judy Garland the rest of her life and into her legend.

But a favorite of mine is Howdy Neighbor. I do so love how that number is staged with Judy riding on a tractor through the fields and on the road near her farm. Catch her at the very end of the song and you can visibly see her breathing heavy. She was obviously under a strain doing this number and in fact the whole film.

Kelly doesn't do too bad either with a song that became identified with him, You Wonderful You. I still remember him singing it to Miss Piggy when guesting on the Muppets.

Summer Stock is another variation on a backstage romance and the discovery of hidden talent. Judy's sister Gloria DeHaven invites the cast and crew of her show to stay at their farm in Connecticut. But Judy's not happy with it. Of course Kelly charms her and discovers along the way who has the real talent in the family.

The film holds up well today and the talent of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly is absolutely eternal.

This was Judy Garland's last MGM film, and she had basically been a MGM lifer, being under contract there since 1937 at age 15. Judy was naturally always a little heavy, so MGM plied her with uppers to cause her to lose weight and then with sleeping pills at night so she could sleep through those uppers. The end result was a terrible substance abuse problem by the time she was 28 that MGM then fired her for. But I digress, mainly to let you know what she was working through in this final MGM musical film.

Jane Falbury (Judy Garland) works the family farm diligently, but she is in danger of losing it due to three bad harvests in a row, and then her two long time farm hands quit due to lack of being paid. Her younger sister Abigail (Gloria DeHaven) is due to come home to pitch in after failing in art school, and she does, but she brings with her the entire cast, crew, and props for her boyfriend Joe's (Gene Kelly) new musical show, which he plans to try out in her barn. Abigail somehow failed to tell her sister about that. At first Jane is going to make everybody leave, but then she changes her mind and lets the gang stay and put on their show as long as they pitch in on the farm. They have no idea how to do the simplest farming tasks, but they do their best, often with humorous results. And then Abigail abandons the show on a lark, leaving everybody in a lurch. Complications and a classic musical number starring Garland ensue.

This is not the best MGM musical out there, but it is enjoyable enough. Apparently Gene Kelly was instrumental in helping Judy Garland get through this, which is odd enough since he could be very harsh. After all he left Debbie Reynolds crying under a table after his withering criticism of her during the making of Singin' in the Rain. It's got a good cast including Phil Silvers shortly before he does so well on TV, and Marjorie Main steals every scene she is in as the farm housekeeper. Eddie Bracken is a good sport as he plays probably the most unappealing man in the history of the world as Jane's fiancee.

One reviewer claimed Judy Garland looked overweight and uncomfortable, and to some extent, I agree. She was poorly costumed in ridiculous looking overalls for much of the film. In the black/white show number, while most of the girls wore sleek showgirl outfits, Ms. Garland's dress looked like someone got it stuck in a sewing machine.

That said, I adored this movie because of the performances. Gene Kelly is absolutely stunning...a gorgeous man with a gorgeous voice and dance ability that would make the best Broadway "hoofer" jealous. His scenes and songs with Judy were top-notch.

I had never seen this film until recently, and I was delighted to see "Get Happy" was a part of this film. It's one of the highlights of the movie, along with a special tap dance routine Gene Kelly has with a creaky floorboard and a piece of newspaper (wow, is all I can say about that one).

See this movie because of the stars...they carried it. A truly fun and enjoyable film, despite its flaws.

Some moments of this otherwise B-level film are quite astonishing, like Gene Kelly's solo dance with the newspaper or the conversation between Gloria De Haven and Eddie Bracken which gently reveals their affection for each other. But the film, more or less, belongs to Judy Garland- she of the frequently strained health and nerves, who nevertheless made it all look very easy. That said, this is a good one, albeit a corny one. The hillbilly number done with Kelly, Phil Silvers, and the chorus is a bit much, but the film does show off Garland's talent for low-key, witty comedy. And "Get Happy" aside, the 'Portland Fancy' square dance which seamlessly turns into a swing duet with Garland and Kelly is probably the most enjoyable moment of the whole film. (Considering Garland's strength was singing, her dancing was quite impressive.) And my favorite Garland solo is the moonlit ballad "Friendly Star," done almost all in closeup, with the star's beautiful dark eyes on the brink of tears through the whole number. It's a pleasant swan song for her MGM era, but thankfully, her greatest musical (A Star Is Born) was still yet to come.

Sadly, this is the last film before MGM fired Judy Garland. Its sad that her life was getting shaky around this time due to the toll her drug addiction was having on her. And I think it's even more sad that it was never Judy's fault that she got addicted to pills in the first place since it was MGM and Judy's mother that forced her to start and to keep taking these pills years earlier. They made her take these addictive stimulants so she could keep working long energetic hours at the studio. Then she became addicted to barbiturates cause the stimulants gave her insomnia. She and the other MGM stars were given some barbiturate pills half hour before bed, then fell asleep, then got woken up only 4 hours later and given their first stimulants of the day, a little breakfast (they were never allowed to eat that much so to keep their weight down), then back to work. Judy worked such long hours, slept those short 4 hour nights, and ate such a low calorie diet for so many years, that it all had taken such a toll on her by this time period, around 1950. And she wasn't as up to scratch at work anymore and was missing work all the time. That's why MGM fired her. Its all so unfair. Judy Garland was one of the most wonderful gifts we ever had in this world.

Anyway, this film was pretty good but it wasn't one of the best like many of Judy's earlier films, but it was not Judy's fault. Some of the script is rather corny with the whole "goofy actors barging unannounced into Judy's barn" deal. I didn't care that much for the Phil Silvers character since he was too goofy and sorta a "bull in a China shop" kinda character. He destroys Judy's tractor, but not to be destructive, it's because he's clumsy and not smart enough to stay off a machine that he didn't know how to operate. Gene Kelly was good here but not quite as good as he was in "Me and my gal", "Anchors aweigh", and "Singin in the rain". And he and Judy, even though they are good together, did not have as much wonderful chemistry and magic together that they had in "Me and my gal". He still had a very good dance number where he kept ripping newspaper on the floor into smaller pieces with his dance moves. Judy still had some wonderful shining moments, especially when she sang including a very good song " Howdy neighbor, happy harvest" while she was riding home on her tractor. And also great in her famous "Get happy" song. Judy was engaged to Eddie Bracken, who was also sort of a goofy character, who was always irritating his dad. I liked Gloria Dehalivand as Judy's acting school sister who was the one who had the idea to stage production in her and Judy's barn to begin with. I didn't care for Judy's short hairstyle in this film as much as all her hairstyles in her previous films, but I still love Judy Garland very much. She was really one of the greatest things in Hollywood's already golden golden age.

I like it. Let me explain, I like Gene Kelly and I like Judy Garland so I like this movie. It's a little weak on the plot, but there are a lot of good reasons to see it. For example- this was Judy Garland's last film with M-G-M. It has Get Happy in it, which is now included on practically all of Judy's 'best of' CDs. It's great to hear, but watching the number is marvelous. This was the year just before one of Kelly's major achievements, An American in Paris, and it's nice to see the difference in his billing, character, etc. Also, there's the romantic number 'You Wonderful You', which bears a resemblance to 'You Were Meant For Me' in Singin' in the Rain with the stage lights and stuff. It's obvious that Gene Kelly picked up some things he liked and carried them with him. That's why I like this movie. Yes, it's cute and breezy, but sometimes you just want a Garland/Kelly musical!

P.S. And who could blame you? ; )

Theater people invade Judy Garland's farm; they want to put on a show in her barn, but will she let her guard down long enough to join them on stage? Since the picture opens with Garland in a musical sequence (performing "If You Feel Like Singing", this film's title overseas) and the information is dropped early on that her property is in dire straits financially, the answer (and the entire plot) is fairly obvious. Some of the numbers are wonderful, particularly the justifiably famous "Get Happy" show-stopper, but several just pad the running-time and the screenplay is second-hand stuff. Gene Kelly does an ingenious bit dancing with a newspaper, but his dumb yokel act with Phil Silvers is excruciating, as is their pseudo-gospel number "Dig For Your Dinner". **1/2 from ****

I actually made a point to see this film after reading about Miss Garland. The final "Get Happy" scene was shot weeks after the film wrapped and Miss Garland was sent to a "clinic"...she was called back only weeks later and fell into a deep depression and was, suppposedly, not in good good shape mentally as she shot that scene but if you notice, she is at least 20 pounds lighter in the scene than the rest of the film. I think this just shows how brilliant Miss Garland really was, to be so troubled but still nail the scene and song that would later be a staple in her act...she truly had something in her that few have ever and will ever possess.

There are two excellent high points in this movie. One is Kelley's newspaper and creaking board dance and the other is when Judy Garland sings and dances to Harold Arlen's "Get Happy" (his first published song from 1929 -- brought out of mothballs in this 1950 film). The irony is that "Get Happy" and the comic happy nature of the film are the opposite of what you can see in Judy Garland. Her fragility and fear of being unattractive simmer up through her performance. That makes the movie interesting on an unintended level.

The plot of the movie is really bad, but the movie is saved by the sensational dancing and one great song. It is also very interesting to watch the expertise used to hide Judy Garland's body shape as much as possible. I appreciated Judy Garland much more after seeing this movie. You can see the sadness and despair through all the smiles, dancing, and singing. If you are a Judy Garland fan, you must see this movie.

As it pertains to Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, they are Magnificent together. Not one bad thing in this well done movie. Judy has so much talent. Dont overlook this One and I loved it.

Summer Stock has one of my favorite Judy Garland songs in it, one that became a staple on her television show and during her concerts: "Get Happy". I never get tired of watching this number. Judy, clad in a black extra-long, low-cut blazer, black pumps, and a black fedora over one eye, captivates the men in the chorus, and the audience, as she sings and dances to the jazzy tune. It's pretty much impossible not to follow her instructions.

The rest of the movie isn't that great. She reunites with Gene Kelly, and while they're both experts at hamming it up for the camera in a silly musical comedy, they don't really save the tired "Let's put on a show!" plot. Gene starts the film engaged to Judy's sister, Gloria DeHaven, but when they decide to put on a show, he and Judy spend a lot of time together and fall in love. There are a few songs interspersed in the movie, both as parts of the show and parts of the regular plot, but the best and most memorable one is "Get Happy". If you love both leads, you can rent this one, but if you'd rather watch them in good movies, you can rent Meet Me in St. Louis and Anchors Aweigh.

To look at "Summer Stock" you wouldn't think there were any challenges. Everyone seems to be having a happy time.

The remarkable thing is how Judy Garland's weight problems, due to over eating and drugs, were covered up. She looks fresh and bubbly, along with here co-star, Gene Kelly, who was pushing 40, and hankering to get on to more ambitious film projects.

The two are perfectly paired and, with the comedy of Phil Silvers and "other woman" of Gloria DeHaven, this musical comes off swimmingly.

I really love Judy's renditions of the joyous "Hello, Neighbor," the lovely "Friendly Star," and the show-stopping, "Get Happy." Her voice is in fine condition, and is a pleasure to hear. Kelly dances up a storm, and the entire production smiles with good cheer.

As one of Judy's songs go, "If You Feel Like Singing . . . Sing!" She does, and we are the lucky recipients.

"Summer Stock" is not up to par with other MGM musicals, yet, this take on a group of thespians invading a farm to do summer theater will delight anyone looking for a movie that doesn't demand much from its viewers, yet it delivers some unexpected pleasures. As directed by Charles Walters, "Summer Stock" is a rarity, in that it still has a fresh look about how summer theater started. The music, especially Harold Arlen's songs, are tuneful and stay with the viewer.

This was another pairing of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, two of the most admired musical performers at the golden era of MGM. Both performers do well together as they project an ease and charm that filters down to the rest of the movie. Judy Garland is perfect as the girl trying to make ends meet working at the family farm. Gene Kelly is the city slicker who comes unannounced to take over everything to try out his musical play.

There are some familiar faces in supporting roles. Eddie Bracken, Phil Silvers, Marjorie Main, Ray Collins, Hans Conreid, and the beautiful Gloria DeHaven.

By the magic of the movies we are shown how the rustic barn is transformed into a place that no one would have been able to predict could be made into a stage where the musical takes place. Stay tuned and get happy with this summer film that is as refreshing as an ice cream cone on a hot day.

Down on her luck farmer Jane Falbury (Judy Garland) is angry whe her younger sister (Gloria DeHaven) brings a theatrical troupe to stay at her farm. However, Jane soon falls in love with Joe Ross (Gene Kelly), the leader of the troupe.

The last film Judy Garland made at MGM, Summer Stock is a good musical. This is probably the only film she made at MGM where you can see her emotional issues on the screen, as her weight fluctuates noticeably throughout the film.

However, she's still fantastic, delivering a great performance. The songs and dances are great: Gene and Judy's impressive dance to "Portland Fancy", Gene's fantastic dance with a newspaper and squeaky floorboard, and, perhaps the highlight of the entire film, Judy's performance of "Get Happy".

Recommended. First time viewing. 3.5/5

I'll be surprised if this gets read very often, coming as far down the line as it does. Enough others have praised this film, and given sufficient summaries of its gossamer plot, that I am gratefully relieved of the duty.

My only comment is that, if you are interested at all in cinema choreography, you watch at least through the "Portland Fancy" number. You don't have to sit through to "Get Happy"; watch whichever "That's Entertainment" anthology that features it. But if you ever want to understand what drives movie dancing, and why Kelly and Garland are equated by many with Astaire and Rogers, "Portland Fancy" should provide your education. a traditional square/contradance that segues into a jitterbug session and then to a challenge tap between the two stars, it is in this viewer's opinion one of the finest dance moments in any movie. To enjoy dance but ignore this moment does the soul a disservice.

Many years ago, I saw this movie gem for the first time. I adored it. Today, I saw it again, but I must confess it wasn't a joyful experience. Yes, sure, the fantastic song and dance numbers where there all right, but the magic was gone. I guess that's because I already knew what was going to happen. Plus the irritating persona (almost every character in this movie is pulling the blood from under my nails). I would give this a 5 on 10, if there wasn't a meaning in the picture. Oh yes, there is a meaning in this picture, but not quite like I hoped it was. The whole reason to see this movie is to hear Judy Garland sing 'Get Happy'. That song has been tried by many of the 'Idol' contestants over the world, but none of them did it the way Judy did. Garland, I love you!

Despite a few good Garland songs and Kelly dance routines this is a dispiriting musical. Maybe it's because, as with all Garland films, there's an overall air of gloom about it when watched today, knowing what we know of its star's travails at the time it was being shot. Even the celebrated finale, "Get Happy", is anything but as Judy appears on stage suddenly twenty pounds lighter than she was in her last scene and images fill the head of her real life hospital stay that brought about the shed weight. Also dragging the film down is an uninspired screenplay that doesn't do much with its supporting players. Rarely, if ever, have Eddie Bracken and Marjorie Main been this unfunny. And Phil Silvers, who is often less than amusing, scales new heights of hammy annoyance. C plus.

Judy's last MGM film is bright, colorful and cheery but excepting two numbers a minor musical in her canon.

Judy is wonderfully alive and sprightly, amazing in itself since the production of this was famously fraught with delays due to her fragile physical and emotional state during shooting. She's in glorious voice but her weight fluctuates noticeably from scene to scene, most jarringly in the finale where she walks off stage plump and reemerges whippet thin within the same show. There are other instances as well, the "Howdy Neigbor" number which should have taken 3 days to shoot and ended up taking 3 weeks, only completed by splicing together different successful takes, is the most obvious. Whole backgrounds change abruptly behind her while she's singing!

The first of the two numbers that raise the film above the norm is the justly famous "Get Happy". An icon making moment that was filmed two weeks after the film had wrapped during which Judy had lost 20 pounds creating one of those sequences that were it not so galvanizing in and of itself would take you right out of the film. It is a bit jarring anyway since the quality of the material is so high above the rest of the film and in particular the awful number that precedes it, a barnyard travesty with Phil Silvers and Gene Kelly that is probably the worst thing he's ever done.

The second number stands out in several ways. It's the hauntingly beautiful "Friendly Star" which Judy sings with tender delicacy, it's the scene in the film where she looks her best and it's appended by the movie's best straight passage, a tentative love scene between Judy and Gene.

The rest of the film doesn't match these two high points but there are several pleasant scenes. Gene dances with newspapers, the lead pair tear it up during a barn dance that shows what an accomplished dancer Judy was, she effortlessly keeps up with Kelly. The film is loaded with high quality MGM stock players with Marjorie Main adding her customary basso spice to the proceedings.

Metro had originally planned to reunite Judy with Mickey Rooney but changed their mind, a wise decision on their part since the two had grown apart in their performance styles. Just watch them in their last teaming in "Words and Music" two years prior to this, Judy has matured into an accomplished adult song interpreter while Mickey is still trying to get away with the same old tricks from a decade before and making a fool of himself. Fortunately Gene Kelly stepped into the role because of Judy and the kindness she had shown him in his first film "For Me & My Gal", they are a much better match. While his part isn't completely secondary it's Judy that stands out and she's the reason to see this. A shame to realize that after this she would only make five more films in the following 19 years and only two of those were musicals, a great loss to cinema.

SUMMER STOCK was the final musical that Judy Garland appeared in while under contract to MGM. Judy plays Jane Falbury, a woman single-handedly struggling to run a farm and keep a milquetoast of a fiancée (Eddie Bracken) at arm's length. One day, Jane's sister, Abigail (Gloria DeHaven) arrives at the farm and informs Jane that she has invited the cast of a show she's appearing in to rehearse at the farm. Jane reluctantly agrees to let the cast rehearse at the farm if they agree to help with chores around the farm. Then Jane falls for Joe (Gene Kelly) the director and star of the show and Abigail's boyfriend. This is the paper-thin plot from which this delightful musical springs and Garland, despite the hell that was her personal life at the time, never lets it show on screen. The most famous musical number in the film is "Get Happy" which features Judy in a sexy cut-off tuxedo surrounded by muscular chorus boys. If the number looks out of place with the rest of the film, there's good reason. After the film was completed, MGM bigwigs decided the movie needed a stronger finale. Judy was called back to the studio six months after the rest of the movie had been completed and they shot "Get Happy" and inserted the number near the end of the film. During that six month interim, Judy had lost twenty pounds and does look noticeably thinner in "Get Happy" than she does in the rest of the film. This was Judy's third and final film with Kelly, who also makes a strong impression with a solo dance he does on an empty stage that involves a squeaky floorboard and a newspaper, and two great duets with co-star Phil Silvers: "Dig dig dig for your Dinner" and "Heavenly Music." Attention should also be paid to a lovely solo Judy has called "Friendly Star". An MGM classic that definitely marked the end of an era.

SUMMER STOCK is hooky stock for sure, but fun if one checks reality at the door. Judy Garland is not at her best, with her plump body and bloated looking face and bad hair due. Her acting is grating as she doesn't say a complete sentence with out a stammer or interruption. However she is in fine voice and could keep up with Gene Kelly in the dance numbers. Story is inane and doesn't make a bit of sense. The barn suddenly turns into a big theatre with huge stage at the end. What? Where are all the chorus people who were in all the rehearsal numbers? The character of Gloria DeHaven is unbelievable. She actually leaves the show at the last minute and for plot purposes is replaced by her sister, Judy. How convenient. The leading man also leaves the show and Gene Kelly takes over. Now could you possible see the leading man played by Hans Conried do all those numbers that Gene eventually does? NO WAY JOSE. It's plot points like this that make this an irritating film. The the number with the dogs...My Gawd...Where did the dogs come from? Who trained them? Where where they in the rest of the film from beginning to end? The whole number was worthless and insulting and should have been dropped or better yet, never filmed. Aside from my complaints there were some pleasant aspects like some of the numbers and Gene's dance with the newspaper. Judy's big GET HAPPY number is completely of of place and she looked altogether different before and after the number. Should never have been filmed. Again if one wants even a bit of reality...forget SUMMER STOCK.