DVD : The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection (Babes in Arms / Babes on Broadway / Girl Crazy / Strike Up the Band)

Rating: - Classic Musicals
This collection has four of the great Rooney-Garland musicals of all time. You will enjoy all the musical numbers and productions. I would recommend this to all fans of the great MGM musical era.

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Rating: - Beware Amazon's possibly selling off damaged stock
My one star is more for what I've been through with this title, which looks to be another great set from Warners - not that I'd actually be able to tell you from being unable to look inside!

I purchased this item recently - along with the Classic Comedies (Briging Up Baby, Philadelphia Story, etc) and Classic Musicals (Easter Parade, The Band Wagon, etc) box sets as Amazon listed them at a third off and I'd had them on my wish list for a long time. All three sets turned up in very poorly packaged conditions, but the Classic Comedies was a passable acceptance (I wouldn't have taken one home from a store in the condition it was in, but there you go).

I wrote to Amazon about Rooney & Garland and the Classic Musicals collections, asking for replacements. These both came (at a little more cost to me than I had originally paid, the reason for buying them), and were arguably in even worse condition, even though the packaging this time was sturdy boxes. I then wondered if Amazon was selling off damaged or "second hand" stock at the reduced prices. I've been an Amazon customer for many years and never had a series of purchases turn up in such a state.

They have now commendedly refunded my money on Rooney & Garland and the Classic Musical boxes (I didn't complain about the Classic Comedies, but that wasn't in the best shape either) and have said they will review their stock on these, barring me from actually buying them again. Now I am still left without decent editions of these boxes and will probably have to pay top price again for them.

I hate having to complain as I otherwise have nothing but good comments for Amazon and how they deal with any issues, but in this case, and being invited to report on my experience, I thought I had better point this out to other potential purchasers of these collections. Bottom line: send it back if it looks crushed or second hand!

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Rating: - Very Nicely Done
This is the best put together collection that I have seen. It is done very nicely, with class. A collection of movies from a different time, a time when life was cleaner, simpler. Not only do you get the DVD's, you also receive a book with all the information about the movies and black and white photos of the stars. I recommend this collection for anyone, especially if you are a collector of fine things.

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Rating: - Worth Every Penny!
I love old movies, so when I saw this DVD set of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland musicals, I was pretty sure I would like it. How right I was! Judy's charm and Mickey's exuberance perfectly compliment each other in these four films. It seems like most of the other reviewers have dismissed the plots as being mostly irrelevant, but I found them interesting, so here are brief descriptions of every one:

In the first film, a group of aging vaudevillians decide to go on a tour to make some money. When their parents refuse to take them along, Mickey and Patsy (Judy Garland) decide to put on their own show. Mickey directs, of course, and Patsy stars until she is forced to understudy by a temperamental actress who will fund the show only if SHE can play the lead. Patsy loyally stands by until Mickey seems to have an interest in the other girl. With everything falling apart, how will they be able to come together on the opening night and put on a successful performance? "Babes in Arms" is a cute little musical and gets the series off to a good start.

"Strike up the Band" was definitely my favorite of the set. The story is centered on Mickey's character, Jimmy, whose passion is playing the drums. The problem? It's his mother's dearest wish that he take up his late father's profession and become a doctor. The only person who really understands him is his pal, Mary (Judy Garland.) However, in trying to help Jimmy realize his dreams, Mary is hoping that he might make a dream of her own come true... The reason I like this story so much is because of the traditional values it cherishes. Unlike the "follow your heart - no matter what" motto that most modern movies spout, the moral of this story is that, while it is a great thing to pursue your dreams, you should value others above yourself.

In "Babes on Broadway," Mickey Rooney and his two singing, dancing buddies are in NY hoping for a spot on Broadway. Putting on their own show sounds like a great idea, but where will they get the money? "What we need is a cause," Tommy (Rooney) tells his buddies. When he finds out that the local orphanage backed out of their promise to take kids to the country, he thinks he's found just the cause to pull at the heartstrings of the public. He offers to put on a benefit show to raise the money they need. Judy doesn't know his true motive, and thinks that he such a generous person. When his true colors show, he begins wishing that he were the kind of man she used to believe in.

In "Girl Crazy," Mickey Rooney is a millionaire's son with out of control hormones. His father decides to send him out west to a rugged boarding school where there is a lot of hard work, discipline, and most important of all, NO GIRLS! Danny hates the school until he meets the headmaster's daughter and, of course, falls in love with her. However, she's different than the silly city girls back home, and he finds that winning her over may be harder than he expected.

Naturally, the musical numbers are incredible. It's hard to choose favorites because there are so many great ones! Additionally, the bonus disk includes many of Judy Garland's best performances from her other movies, ranging from rare gems to well known songs. Also on the bonus DVD is a wonderful interview with Mickey Rooney as he fondly recalls memories of his early years and people he worked with. I could go on and on, but I probably should just say, in closing, that I have been saving up for a long time to buy this set, and it was worth every penny!

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Rating: - A REAL WORK OF ART - BUY IT!
What a brilliant box set this is. The films speak for themselves: clear, crisp, and all there in their full glory. Brilliant. This package is so well produced, with the excellent bonus disk featuring songs from Judy's movies from 1936 - 1954, and so well packaged too. I love the folder of black and white photo's - many I havent seen before, and the hard backed book of over 40 pages which gives historical snippets as well as menus.

The only pity is its not avaliable over in the UK except second hand, so I bought it straight from Amazon USA. It cost me less to get it new from America, even with shipping costs.

Well worth the money. Its put together like a work of art.