Tonight's Movie: A Date With Judy (1948) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

One of my very favorite MGM musicals, A DATE WITH JUDY (1948), has recently been released on a beautiful Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection.

A DATE WITH JUDY won't be found on many lists of the best MGM musicals, but it's certainly a great favorite of mine. It has a wonderful cast, exquisite costumes by Helen Rose, and is surely one of MGM's most beautiful Technicolor films, photographed by Robert Surtees.

The plot of this lightweight confection isn't much; it's about two families in beautiful Santa Barbara, California, and particularly the love lives of teenaged friends Carol Pringle (Elizabeth Taylor) and Judy Foster (Jane Powell).

Judy repeatedly considers ditching her longtime sweetheart, Carol's brother Oogie (Scotty Beckett), in favor of the older college man Stephen (Robert Stack)...but Stephen, while kind to Judy, really has eyes for gorgeous Carol.

Meanwhile Carol's father, prodded by interactions with Stephen and his butler (Clinton Sundberg), realizes he's been neglecting his children in favor of his business...and when Judy's father (Wallace Beery) secretly learns the rhumba to surprise his wife (Selena Royle), Judy worries he's up to no good.

Of course, all is amicably settled by the end of the movie's 113 minutes!

This is a wonderful "feel good" movie, written by Dorothy Kingsley and Dorothy Cooper and directed by Richard Thorpe. The deep cast also includes Xavier Cugat and Carmen Miranda, Lloyd Corrigan, and George Cleveland.

I went into my feelings on the film in some detail when I last watched it in 2020, via the Warner Archive Collection's DVD, and I'd like to encourage clicking over to that review for additional thoughts, including a comparison of the film with my feelings for STATE FAIR (1945).

The entire cast is wonderful -- even Beery tones down his usual bluster to play a loving family man -- and I'd add that although the marriages didn't last, it's sweet to think that Powell and Taylor were such good friends that they were bridesmaids in each other's weddings in the two years after this film was made.

The new Warner Archive Blu-ray, with a print from a 1080 HD master from a 4K scan of the original nitrate Technicolor negatives, provides an even better viewing experience of this favorite film.

Extras include the trailer; the eight-minute Tom and Jerry cartoon PROFESSOR TOM (1948; the 11-minute short MUSICAL MERRY-GO-ROUND #3 (1948) with Ray Noble and His Orchestra; a 30-minute episode of the radio show A DATE WITH JUDY; a six-minute Jane Powell interview; and a song selection menu. The song selection menu is one of my favorite features of most of the Warner Archive's MGM musical releases.

 I've been watching A DATE WITH JUDY every few years for most of my life, and I highly recommend both the film and this lovely Blu-ray.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

Tweet