Summer Stock (1950)

Yup, another "summer" movie. I was unaware of the theatrical term to which the title alludes. There might be a double entendre, considering the agriculture herein.

Somewhere in New England, Jane (Judy Garland) has just had two farmhands quit on her due to poor outputs of late. Fortunately, her fiance, Orville Wingait (Eddie Bracken), has a rich father (Ray Collins) willing to buy her a tractor to make up the loss...and unwilling to let her forget it. Jane's work faces further disruption when her sister, Abigail (Gloria DeHaven), begs to let her troupe practice and perform in the barn, because they never get a good place. Jane agrees on the condition that all the actors/singers/dancers pull their weight in farmwork, which they don't do well. Stage director and star Joe (Gene Kelly) is Abigail's fiance, but he and Jane start emotionally straying toward each other. It doesn't help that the Wingaits disdain show business....

Perhaps the first element I found far-fetched was Jane's long-time engagement. Sure, 4 years isn't the 14 of Guys and Dolls, but she and Orville don't seem to have any chemistry in any scenes. Abigail and Joe do better, partly because, well, Joe's handsome and physically fit, whereas Orville is a nebbish who usually defers to his overbearing dad -- and is still less pleasant when he takes Abigail's advice to be assertive.

The idea that women want men who tell rather than ask is one reason for my "politically incorrect" label. Another is Jane's sentiment that women can't do farm chores as well as even elderly men. Still, the women generally stand up for themselves well enough in this movie. When Joe borders on abusive toward Abigail in his role as director, Jane talks him out of it. She does cave to his pressure to take the stage after Abigail runs off, but that doesn't strike me as sexist. (In a pinch, you could say that one number featuring yokel caricatures is PI, but who complains about that?)

There sure are a lot of issues to take with Abigail: In addition to her questionable advice and irresponsible sudden departure, she's lazy, proud, and so keen on surprising Jane that she doesn't send any warning before the troupe moves in. I wouldn't have blamed Jane for choking her out on the spot. But in case you feel sorry for Abigail or Orville as their intended spouses find new love, I might as well tell you that they fall for each other -- a predictable plot wrap-up fit for the Astaire and Rogers era. (Really, the main things to set SS apart from that era are full Technicolor and a rural setting.)

Several other characters stand out. Esme (Marjorie Main) is the matron of the farm, capable of serving 24 for dinner but putting up with only so much. Herb (Phil Silvers) makes a playful ham but bombs at anything other than stagecraft. And the one actor who's supposed to be a big name already, Harrison Keath (Han Conried), sticks out like a sore thumb, not just on a farm but among the troupe. Too bad his handsome singing is obviously dubbed.

But we didn't come for the plot or the supporting roles, did we? How about music and dancing? Well, unsurprisingly, Kelly blows away all company at the latter. His best scene sees him completely alone, using a creaky board and a newspaper to add sound effects with his feet. I don't particularly care for the innovation, but those are some tough moves to get all correct in one take.

Surely the best writing to be found in SS remains in the lyrics. They contain some creative rhymes, like "groceries" and "no-sirrees." The catchy #1 song? Why, the whole reason I even knew about this film: "Get Happy."

I should mention that Garland was in terrible health and missing too many days' work (ironically, in light of her character), leading to her subsequent dismissal from MGM. She still puts on a good show in the final cut, but the famous "Get Happy" sequence, shot months later, has her noticeably slimmer. In fact, pretty much everything about the scene makes it looked spliced in from another, probably better picture, as was widely rumored.

I don't know; you might want to watch only the highlights of SS. The rest tends to be merely adequate for what it is.