No, not Oscar nominee Stuart Erwin (who must have impressed someone in the Academy for his ability of tossing watermelons across a field), but his on-screen sister, Judy Garland, who catches them in a net without falling into the mud. She sings three songs, and intercepts the audience's affection from the rest of the cast.
Not that the rest of the cast isn't a dream. Long before a Kansas Tornado took Garland off to the land of Oz where she met Tin Man Jack Haley, he was the big city football coach assigned to Texas University by mistake, not the University of Texas. This corn-pone town could fit onto any university campus, and that makes his comically nagging wife Patsy Kelly want to head back to New York on the latest train. This film is all about the big game, ridiculously teaming them against Yale.
This was an inauspicious debut for Garland in a full-length feature, not flatteringly photographed, but the magic in her presence transcends the awkwardness of the 12 year old initially seen in pigtails, bringing her big voice into the production number of "The Balboa" , "The Texas Tornado" and "It's Love I'm After". Something in her eyes and smile indicates that one day, she will be one of the biggest stars in the world. Another future legend, Betty Grable, also appears, although fellow co-eds Arlene Judge and Dixie Dunbar get more footage and storyline.
The Yacht Club Boys get several rousing songs of mixed memorability, and Tony (billed her as "Anthony") Martin displays his fine young baritone. But when you've got the future Dorothy and Tin Man together three years before that legendary film, funny lady Patsy Kelly (swinging on the rings while tipsy, singing "The Man on the Flying Trapeze") and sexy Betty (even in what is basically a specialty), that's where the attention will lie and the memories will be sustained.
Not that the rest of the cast isn't a dream. Long before a Kansas Tornado took Garland off to the land of Oz where she met Tin Man Jack Haley, he was the big city football coach assigned to Texas University by mistake, not the University of Texas. This corn-pone town could fit onto any university campus, and that makes his comically nagging wife Patsy Kelly want to head back to New York on the latest train. This film is all about the big game, ridiculously teaming them against Yale.
This was an inauspicious debut for Garland in a full-length feature, not flatteringly photographed, but the magic in her presence transcends the awkwardness of the 12 year old initially seen in pigtails, bringing her big voice into the production number of "The Balboa" , "The Texas Tornado" and "It's Love I'm After". Something in her eyes and smile indicates that one day, she will be one of the biggest stars in the world. Another future legend, Betty Grable, also appears, although fellow co-eds Arlene Judge and Dixie Dunbar get more footage and storyline.
The Yacht Club Boys get several rousing songs of mixed memorability, and Tony (billed her as "Anthony") Martin displays his fine young baritone. But when you've got the future Dorothy and Tin Man together three years before that legendary film, funny lady Patsy Kelly (swinging on the rings while tipsy, singing "The Man on the Flying Trapeze") and sexy Betty (even in what is basically a specialty), that's where the attention will lie and the memories will be sustained.