Customer Rating: 
Summary: Life Begins For Andy Hardy
Comment: Judy Garland (in her third and final appearance on the Andy Hardy movie) plays Betsy Booth, and though she lost none of her charm, she did lose the childish look she had in "Love Finds Andy Hardy" and replaced it with the more glamorous "Presenting Lily Mars" look.
I think one of the reasons that I don't like "Life Begins For Andy Hardy" as much, would have to be the fact that Judy Garland isn't in very much of the movie. It's all about the problems that a small town boy like Andy (Mickey Rooney) has in the big city. He has just graduated from Carvel High School and has dreams of high living, but becomes disappointed when he can't find a job in New York City.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Goodbye Miss Booth
Comment: Life Begins For Andy Hardy brings us an Andy who has just graduated. He feels the need to prove that he is now a man, so he tells his parents (Lewis Stone and Fay Holden) that he is off to New York accompanied by his friend Betsy Booth (Judy Garland) to get a job and find out what he wants to do with his life. Once there, he meets devious dames (Patricia Dane), hunger, and struggle face to face and learns that living alone isn't as fun as it seems.
Another great addition to the Andy Hardy series, this film is a breeze to watch. Not only does it show that most of the series has been slightly unrealistic due to its small town setting, it enforces those family values that are a staple of the series.
Rooney and Garland are wonderful here in their last Andy Hardy teaming. Rooney overtly emphasizes his brilliant personality, his true asset. Garland feeds off of his energy and re-creates a character so perfect and sweet and yet not good enough for the star. She is beautiful and much more grown up than in her other films, yet poor Andy is too silly to see the catch standing in front of him.
Customer Rating:
Summary: 2nd Greatest of The Andy Hardy Films
Comment: This installment of the Andy Hardy series proves yet again the utter genius of Louis B. Mayer. He said the Andy Hardy Series were the best films MGM made and he was right. This is my second favorite Andy Hardy film. Band leader Tommy Dorsey's wife Patricia Dane is the beautiful dame who Andy gets mixed up with. The best scene in the movie was her and Mickey Rooney dancing the CONGA. This movie was years ahead of it's time as a coming of age movie for young people in 1941. The scene where Andy Hardy's friend suddenly dies and Andy finds the body was a shocking piece of melodrama for the Andy Hardy Series which tended to be light hearted stories that idealized American middle class values and life. Lewis Stone as Judge Hardy was one of the greatest actors of his generation and he is around the try give fatherly advice. It has been said the Andy Hardy series was the childhood L.B. Mayer always wanted, which is why he took such a personal interest in the development of the series. This was the last Andy Hardy film for Judy Garland & Ann Rutherford and Judy is utterly lovely in it. Sad when watching this film to realize all the trouble that lay ahead for her. This film like all the Andy Hardy movies is seething with New Deal era political correctness. The Andy Hardy movies were huge money makers for MGM in their day making Mickey Rooney the hottest young actor in Hollywood from 1937-1946. The Andy Hardy series give us all a rare look at what the teenage years of the WWII generation were like. The Andy Hardy movies were made over 60 + years ago but are still entertaining to watch. Mr. Mayer was half a century ahead of his time !
Customer Rating:
Summary: Loved It
Comment: I saw an hour and a half of this movie on TCM. I found it very funy and want to see the rest. It started at 11:15 and ended at one. So just 30 minutes to go my mom woke up and told me to go to bed. I loved it! I found the begining to go too fast, but I guess that's because I didn't see any of the others and didn't know the characters. But besides that I loved it!
Customer Rating:
Summary: "Today I am a man."
Comment: Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) has just graduated from Carvel High School and begins to ponder his future after his sweetheart Polly Benedict (Ann Rutherford) leaves for the summer. His father, Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone), would like to see Andy follow in his footsteps by attending Wainwright College & law school, but Andy himself isn't so sure.Meanwhile, Andy's friend & not-so-secret admirer Betsy Booth (Judy Garland) comes from New York City to pay a visit. Andy decides to return with Betsy to her hometown & spend a month away from his family to see if he can succeed in the Big Apple.
Andy has visions of living the high life, but a strong, sharp dose of reality awaits him. Andy eventually finds himself down to his last quarter, too proud even to accept Betsy Booth's help, and becomes the target of Jennitt Hicks (Patricia Dane), an "older woman" switchboard operator with a rather odious track record re relationships with men.
This eleventh Hardy series entry, as judged by my previous description, is so very different from the other films in the series as it takes on a darker, downbeat, and sometimes cynical air more in line with serious drama than sentimental comedy. Judy Garland made her third & final series appearance in this film, and Betsy Booth's maturity, sophistication & worldly-wise qualities contrast sharply with Judy's first appearance in "Love Finds Andy Hardy". Patricia Dane is also superb as the icy, calculating "wolfess" who tries to make Andy another of her conquests.
The very adult subject matter, quite straightforward for its time, earned "Life Begins for Andy Hardy" an "unobjectionble for adults" rating from the Legion for Decency of the Catholic Church, meaning that the film was unsuitable for children. Such a rating would be laughable by today's standards as the issues raised still ring true in many respects over 60 years later.
Yes, Andy Hardy definitely becomes a man after his time in New York City in more ways than one.
