Judge Hardy and Son is a weird juxtaposition of extremely sad and extremely silly. Mickey Rooney is up to his old tricks, looking out for a quick buck and an easy girl. He chases every girl in town, only sobering up when there's a crisis at home. It's about time someone in the Hardy family got sick, isn't it? Mama Hardy's number gets called, and Fay Holden becomes bedridden with pneumonia. Henry Hull guest stars as the family doctor, and he's very comforting and sympathetic to the family.
Lewis Stone gets a chance to show off his acting chops in a different way. He's already shown audiences he can be a family man, a devoted husband, and a wise, patient father, but now he faces losing the most important person in his life. If you've seen him in The Girl from Missouri, when he's so distraught over financial ruin he commits suicide, you know how depressed he can get.
This volume isn't that great, since it's either too silly or too worrisome. At the time, I'm sure it was a nail biter whether Mama Hardy would come out of it or not, but since modern audiences know there were seven more movies in the series, it's not very suspenseful. I'd check out a different one if you're new to the series.
Lewis Stone gets a chance to show off his acting chops in a different way. He's already shown audiences he can be a family man, a devoted husband, and a wise, patient father, but now he faces losing the most important person in his life. If you've seen him in The Girl from Missouri, when he's so distraught over financial ruin he commits suicide, you know how depressed he can get.
This volume isn't that great, since it's either too silly or too worrisome. At the time, I'm sure it was a nail biter whether Mama Hardy would come out of it or not, but since modern audiences know there were seven more movies in the series, it's not very suspenseful. I'd check out a different one if you're new to the series.