Andy Hardy's Dilemma

So this past Saturday night I fall asleep on the couch watching Turner Classics’ all-night William Powell-Myrna Loy marathon. No biggie, though, as I’ve seen all 13 of their collaborations numerous times, even the rather gloomy Evelyn Prentice (1934). So somewhere around the last part of Love Crazy (1941), with William Powell running around in drag trying to pull a fast on over on his overly suspicious mother-in-law, I drifted off to sleep, only to awaken next morning to the sound of Mickey Rooney and Lewis Stone - Andy Hardy and his father Judge Hardy - having what sounded like one of the famous “man to man” talks.

“Well, that’s a nice programming idea for Father’s Day,” I thought to myself. Sure, MGM’s Andy Hardy series may owe more to studio head Louis B. Mayer’s skewed idea of what middle America was like than to reality, but the father son dynamic between Stone and Rooney certainly fit the bill for nice, Father’s Day fare.

That is, until a moment later when I realized that what TCM was showing wasn’t any of the 16 feature length Andy Hardy films at all, but a 20 minute, one-reel short entitled Andy Hardy’s Dilemma, the bastard step-child of the series, rightfully forgotten by most people except for, apparently, those who work in TCM’s programming department.

Released in 1938, the short starts off innocently enough with young Andy Hardy driving along in his car, daydreaming of marrying his sweetheart Polly Benedict, Hardy series regular Ann Rutherford in a dialogue-less cameo. One bad dip in the road later and the whole back end of Andy’s car has fallen off. Figuring that it will cost about $200.00 for a new car, Andy goes to his father for a loan. Judge Hardy says that he was going to donate a like sum to charity, but would give it to Andy instead.

His father’s quick agreement should have alerted Andy that the Judge had something up his sleeve. While taking a potential new car out for a test drive, Judge Hardy has Andy drive by a public daycare center for working mothers. One look at the little moppets at play is enough to tell his dad to donate $50.00 of the $200.00 to the daycare center and he can settle for a car worth about $150.00. What comes afterwards should be painfully obvious to even those who have never seen any of the Andy Hardy series. While test driving successively cheaper cars, Judge Hardy has Andy stop by various charities around town including an All Nations Community House, a children’s osteopathic hospital and finally a Salvation Army Home for Women. Each stop is accompanied by a $50.00 donation to said charity. Finally Andy decides he can fix his old car for about ten bucks before Lewis Stone turns to the camera and gives the audience a stern talking to about donating to local charities. I have to say that this speech is the only time I have ever heard the phrase “Community Chest” used outside of a game of Monopoly.

What’s curious about this is the underlying premise that the small, bucolic town portrayed in the Andy Hardy series is actually prone to the many real world problems that Mayer had wanted to keep out of his cinematic suburbia. Since this short was produced early in the run of Andy Hardy films, it suddenly casts a pale light on the lighthearted antics of Andy and his friends in the films that follow. And please don’t get me started on the ham-fisted way that Stone’s Judge Hardy teaches Andy about extending a helping hand to those less fortunate.

But what’s even more curious, and at some level appalling, is the film’s depiction of the Salvation Army Home for Women. The film’s unseen narrator describes the place as “first of all, a maternity hospital.” However, he continues with, “[It is] a refuge where can be brought back to normal the mental system of a girl who has been shocked unduly by a great social problem.” The hospital, we are told, is happy to indulge any mother who wishes to be known by her first name only and once baby and mother are both healthy, the organization will find the mother a job where she can keep her infant nearby with “the belief that with her own child growing up beside her, a girl isn’t going to make the same mistake again.”

While it’s true that the Production Code only allowed for vague references at best to unwed mothers, this short really comes off condescending in its implication that unwed mothers are all mentally unbalanced. And although the narration makes no judgment on these women, outside of the slight tone of pity in narrator Carey Wilson’s voice, the segment’s opening shot of the hospital’s nursing staff that dissolves to a painting on the wall of Jesus praying in the Garden at Gethsemane speaks volumes.

We've come a long way since then baby.

Kevin Smith: Still Clerkin'

OK. I’ll admit that headline sucks. So let’s just move past that and get down to brass tacks, as it were.

This past Thursday, I attended the second day of director Kevin Smith’s Vulgarthon film festival, held in Red Bank, New Jersey. Smith is one of those rare breed that has never forgotten he was a fan long before he was a professional, and as such remains one of the most accessible of film directors working today. He makes frequent public speaking appearances and is a frequent guest at comic book conventions. But Vulgarthon is perhaps Smith’s biggest, and certainly the best, of his interactions with his fans.

A day long film festival, Vulgarthon screens nothing but movies that are in some way related to Kevin Smith. Past events have screened extended cuts of Smith’s films like Dogma (1999) and films directed by his friends Bryan John (Vulgar, 2000), Brian Johnson (Big Helium Dog, 1999) and Vincent Pereira (A Better Place, 1997). Smith hangs out through the day, introducing each film and being approachable for chatting, pictures and autographs. It’s also known as a place where Smith has given sneak previews of his own films in advance of their general release date and this year, attendees were treated to not one, but two Secret Surprise Movies. More on those in a moment.

Having purchased a ticket for the second day of the event - both days were advertised with basically the same schedule of films - I headed out towards Red Bank early in the morning, the two-and-a-half hour car ride turning into almost three hours due to congested Jersey highways. No surprise there. Still, managed to land in Red Bank and get to Smith’s comic book shop – Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, where the comic shop scenes of Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back were conveniently enough filmed – to pick up the wristband that also served as my assignment for one of the two auditoriums in the cinema with plenty of time to spare. Heading back up the block to the theatre, I found I’d arrived early enough that there were only four others in line yet. The group of us passed the next two hours or so waiting for the doors to open by chatting movies and music. At one point, we looked up in surprise as Clerks’ Marilyn Ghigliotti passed by. She hadn’t been scheduled to attend, but flew in from L.A. just to hang out. Needless to say, we jumped up and were able to get a few pictures with her before she headed into the theater.

Finally, the time came and Kevin himself - his trademark shorts and a t-shirt accented with a tuxedo jacket - threw open the doors to the theater like, as someone remarked, a bearded Willy Wonka and personally greeted each person in line as they entered. The Clearwater Cinema in Red Bank looks much like many other small town multiplexes. The carpeting is a little faded and the smell of buttered popcorn has permanently permeated the walls. The crowd shuffled past the refreshment stand towards their assigned theater to grab some seats and wait for the first film to unspool. (Actually, unspool is a bit of a misnomer as three of the four films were presented digitally.)

Once everyone was settled and armed with tubs of popcorn or other favorite movie snack, Kevin entered into the theater to fill introduce the first film and give everyone an overview of how the day would run. He informed the crowd that since yesterday’s screening ended several hours after the 10:30 pm scheduled end time due to the question and answer sessions after each film running long, they would be changing the posted schedule. Since Kevin is known for his lengthy and entertaining Q&As (He’s already turned out one DVD of his Q&As that runs almost four hours long), it should really have not surprised anyone that things would run over. Anyways, in order to ensure that the festivities would end at a reasonable time, they were planning on cutting two of the announced films- the extended cut of Smith’s Jersey Girl and Johnson’ Big Helium Dog – but would add onto the schedule a second “Secret Film” in addition to the one already scheduled. Although I had been looking forward to seeing how the extended cut of Jersey Girl played versus the theatrical version, it’s hard to say “No” to TWO Secret Films being dangled before you.

Anyways, here are a few impressions on the films screened-

Small Town Gay Bar- An absorbing documentary from Malcolm Ingram (for whom Smith has produced two previous films- Drawing Flies (1996) and Tail Lights Fade (1999)) that profiles three small town gay bars in the Deep South, a place that certainly doesn’t spring to mind when talking about regions that are tolerant of alternative lifestyles. As one lesbian in Tupelo states, “You can’t be a weak person and be gay in this city.” What emerge from this film are portraits of people who have forged their own unique combination of family and support group, oasises where they are free to be themselves without fear of reaction. Interestingly, Ingram also includes interviews with a representative from Focus On The Family and Fred Phelps, the minister who has gained notoriety for leading protesters at funerals of openly gay people. Ingram noted that while talking with Phelps he could definitely see the man had a certain kind of charisma, “Like a cross between Hitler and your grandfather.” The film just screened at the Sundance Festival, though Ingram said that he has since re-edited the ending and the Vulgarthon audiences are the first to have seen the new cut. The film is currently making the film festival rounds while trying to secure a theatrical distribution deal.

Oh, What A Lovely Little Tea Party- Essentially an almost two-hour long “Making of Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back” feature that got cut from the DVD release, this doc chronicles the making of the film and the thoughts of those involved on what was to be the last film set in Smith’s self-contained “Viewaskewniverse”. Shot by Ingram and Smith’s wife Jennifer Schwalbach, the movie really brings the viewer close into the production of the movie, with more access than the normal “Making Of” features one finds tacked onto DVDs these days. Schwalbach isn’t above hiding some of the more difficult days of the shoot, such as when her and Smith’s daughter Harley was on set to play Baby Silent Bob in the film’s opening prologue. At just under two years old, Harley was rather fussy and not interested in having her face smeared with chocolate, sitting still in her stroller or keeping on the baseball cap she needed to wear. “We must look like the world’s worst parents,” Schwalbach joked during the post film question session. Hopefully, this can find its way onto a DVD release at some point soon, as Smith’s fans should really enjoy it.

Secret Film #1- Catch And Release- An impressive directorial debut from writer Susannah Grant about a young woman (Jennifer Garner) who discovers that there was more to her recently deceased fiancée’s life than she suspected. Smith has a nice supporting role as one of three of the deceased’s friends who help Garner’s character cope with her loss. At turns funny and dramatic, Grant kept the film well-balanced, never letting it slip into sloppy sentimentality, which could have easily happened with a story like this. I’m thinking that this movie will surprise many people when it gets released next January.

Secret Film #2- That Clerks 2 would be the second “Secret Film” will probably go down in history one of the world’s worst kept secrets. Even before the internet reports from the first day of Vulgarthon showed up online the night before, it was obvious from the hints Smith dropped online that the film would screen. And as a Smith fan, it was a film I was most anxious to see. Was the film going to be some kind of creative retreat/retrenchment following the lukewarm reception Jersey Girl received? Was he going to surprise us with something that would be on par with the original film’s mix of pop culture references, crude jokes and exploration on Generation X’s generational angst? While I’m holding off on giving a full review until the film opens next month, I will say that the film is definitely the latter of the two. As a fan of the original film, it’s great to catch with Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randall (Jeff Anderson) again and see how the intervening decade or so has treated them. And interestingly, the film address some issues I could immediately relate to, much in the same way the original did when I first saw it while working a dead-end retail job.

To be sure, there’s plenty of comedy, and while I don’t want to spoil anything, I’m going to leave you with a few favorite moments from the film. Taken out of their context, they really don’t tell you anything, but once you see the film, you’ll understand.

“Terrorists?”

“Pillow pants.”

“A, B, C.”

“I’m taking it back.”

See you at the theaters for this one on July 21.

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See Also- Kevin Smith's New Jersey