Alicia I love this movie so much

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

HotToastyRag Something happened between Love Finds Andy Hardy and Andy Hardy Meets Debutante. Mickey Rooney's ridiculous mugging to the camera is in the past, and while this one still isn't a good movie, at least it's not painfully torturous whenever he's on the screen. And, since he's the lead, that's a plus.The Hardy family returns, including Lewis Stone, Fay Holden, Cecilia Parker, and Mickey Rooney. Mickey, with his hormones still raging, has a collection of magazine clippings of the famous New York debutante, Diana Lewis, and when his friends tease him about his crush, he's humiliated. Then, when he goes to New York to visit his friend Judy Garland, he tries to meet Diana in person-but of course, his plans go awry. If you're a teenager and you think the biggest problem in the world is getting teased by your friends for having a celebrity crush, you might like this very silly teen comedy. If you don't get annoyed by a hormone-struck Mickey Rooney, a loud Judy Garland, and a pointless plot, you might like this. I didn't like it, but it's not nearly as painful as the earlier films.

mark.waltz Andy Hardy may have been the shining member of his class in Carvel, but when his family goes to New York with the Judge on business, he finds he can't take it on as he did the less sophisticated people in his home town. He has lied to his girlfriend Polly that he has made friends with a rising young New York débutante named Daphne Fowler (Diana Lewis). She expects evidence or will put a doctored picture of Daphne and Andy on the school's newspaper. I guess Polly had access to some pre-historic version of photo shop because she sends him a copy of the cover she intends to use unless he comes back with proof. In New York, Andy runs into old pal Betsy Booth (Judy Garland) whom he still considers a little girl. But two years have turned Betsy into a lovely teenaged girl and she has moved gracefully out of adolescence into being rather sophisticated herself. She looks like Jane Wyman in the later "Lost Weekend" in her leopard coat and hat. Of course, she still gets two songs belittling her attempts to find romance-"Alone" and "I'm Nobody's Baby". She adds some comic twists to the first song in order to get Andy's attention, and finally does when she starts swingin' to the latter. Andy finally opens his eyes to what he has been missing and sees his feelings for the débutante for the infatuation it was.As far as the other Hardy's, Andy and Marian don't argue all that much in this one which is a nice omission from the previous films, and Fay Holden's ma finally is the more gentle "would you care for more pie?" type mom rather than the lightly nagging wife she was in the beginning of the series. Sara Haden is back as Aunt Millie although she doesn't appear in the opening credits. She is actually more sympathetic to Andy than his parents are, while some of Lewis Stone's fatherly advice is laughably preachy. French born George P. Breakston is the little boy (whom Andy first assumes is a little girl) who is used in a silly plot twist involving Judge Hardy's attempts to keep funding for the Carvel orphanage from being stopped.I can't highly recommend this film other than for die-hard Judy fans. It's another MGM moral lesson from Louis B. Mayer's one-sided mind of what the American family should be, never has been, and never could be. The saving grace in this aspect of the film is that Andy does get himself into a shopping cart load of trouble and is less than the peppy All-American teenager Andy was in his home town. Look for references and a photo of Lana Turner's character Cynthia, who is mentioned several times, and referenced to no longer living in town.

xerses13 ANDY HARDY MEETS DEBUTANTE (1940) is the ninth (9th) film of the series and it shows the direction it was inevitably headed into. Characters ANDY HARDY (Mickey Rooney) and JUDGE HARDY (Lewis Stone) were going to be front and center. The rest of the cast was going too just punch the clock and collect their checks. The series would rise to the occasion again and have its moments but a fatal decline had set in.Lewis Stone throughout the series would continue too portray the character of JUDGE HARDY in a sympathetic manner. The rest of the cast would be professional even though given less and less to do. Mickey Rooney on the other hand would continue his character as if there was no learning curve. ANDYs' reaction to any situation was in a naive and unbelievable way. Even after he returned as a veteran of World War II service in LOVE LAUGHS AT ANDY HARDY (1946) his reaction to any 'teapot tempest' was the same, juvenile.In this film it is clearly illustrated. ANDY gets himself into several unbelievable situations that with a simple explanation would have been resolved. This screen writing device was known as the 'idiot plot'. A means of stretching a poorly written scenario. Maybe it was less Mickey Rooneys' fault then the Director and the Writers. Most likely George B. Seitz had directed one too many and a firmer hand was needed too control Rooneys' excesses. To see our overview of the entire series go to YOU'RE ONLY YOUNG ONCE (1937).

JLB-4 I am a huge fan of Judy so this review may be biased. I enjoyed this very much. "I'm Nobody's Baby" was typical early Judy. She and Mickey make a delightful team. They just make me smile when they come on screen. You can tell they had a blast working together. I especially like when Mickey goes out on the town and his shirt stud...I like at the very end of the movie when he looks at his photographs and says, "How one's women do mount up!" Just priceless.