Synopsis

Andy Hardy wants a car in time for the Christmas Eve dance, but his plans become complicated when his girlfriend leaves town and he agrees to escort another boy's date. When his original romance unexpectedly returns, Andy's attempts to balance competing obligations only create more confusion. A younger admirer ultimately helps him salvage the evening and repair his damaged relationship.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film is the fourth entry in MGM's Hardy Family series and the first to place "Andy Hardy" in the title, reflecting Mickey Rooney's growing importance to the franchise.

• Judy Garland makes her first appearance as Betsy Booth, a character she would play in two more Hardy films. Her musical number "In-Between" gives the film one of its clearest showcases for her developing screen persona.

• Rooney and Garland's appealing chemistry helped establish a screen partnership that MGM would revisit in several later films, including a number of major musicals.

• Production took place at MGM between mid-May and mid-June 1938. The film was released on July 22, 1938, only weeks after production ended.

• Rooney worked on this film while also making Boys Town. His success here led MGM to give him "star" billing in subsequent Hardy pictures.

• The film placed ninth in Film Daily's annual poll of the top films released in 1938.

• Its carefully sheltered version of small-town American life became part of the Hardy series' lasting appeal. The Library of Congress later described the film as an important expression of the era's idealized, family-friendly Americana.

• Love Finds Andy Hardy was added to the National Film Registry in 2000.