Strike Up the Band (1940)
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77% of users liked it
(928 ratings)
Hey, gang! Let's put on a swell show and call it Strike Up the Band! Yes, it's the irrepressible Mickey Rooney, teamed up again with Judy Garland to show the grownups how to do things right. This time, Rooney wants to organize a high-school band. He hopes to enter a competition being held in… More Hey, gang! Let's put on a swell show and call it Strike Up the Band! Yes, it's the irrepressible Mickey Rooney, teamed up again with Judy Garland to show the grownups how to do things right. This time, Rooney wants to organize a high-school band. He hopes to enter a competition being held in Chicago by the great orchestra leader Paul Whiteman; all he needs is two hundred dollars for train fare. To raise the money, Rooney, Garland and company stage a student "mellerdrammer" that in real life would have cost the equivalent of a third-world-nation annual budget. They get the dough, but soft-hearted Rooney turns over the money to the mother of student musician Larry Nunn, who is in desperate need of emergency surgery. It looks hopeless until, luck of luck, Paul Whiteman arrives in Rooney's town. The original George and Ira Gershwin Broadway musical Strike Up the Band was a satire of warfare, with America declaring war on Switzerland in order to corner the chocolate industry. You'll see none of that subversive stuff in this MGM musical; instead, we are treated to such highlights as a George Pal animated sequence involving dancing fruit. It ain't profound, but Strike Up the Band is sure entertaining. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Busby Berkeley
- Written By
- Herbert Fields
- Genres
- Musical & Performing Arts, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1940 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
One of the most popular Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland teamings of lets put on a show, directed by Busby Berkeley
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
No Featured Audience Ratings Found…
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Cast
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Mickey Rooney
as Jimmy Connors
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Judy Garland
as Mary Holden
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June Preisser
as Barbara Frances Morgan
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William Tracy
as Phillip Turner
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Ann Shoemaker
as Mrs. Connors
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Larry Nunn
as Willie Brewster
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Margaret Early
as Annie
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Francis Pierlot
as Mr. Judd
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Virginia Brissac
as Mrs. May Holden
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George Lessey
as Mr. Morgan
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Howard Hickman
as The Doctor
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Sarah Edwards
as Miss Hodges
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Milt Kibbee
as Mr. Holden
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Helen Jerome Eddy
as Mrs. Brewster
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Jack Albertson
as Barker
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Richard Allen
as Policeman
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Jack Baxley
as Ice Cream Concessionaire
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Enid Bennett
as Mrs. Morgan
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Harlan Briggs
as Doctor
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Elliot Carpenter
as Henry
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Don Castle
as Charlie
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Vendell Darr
as Student
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Joe Devlin
as Attendant
- Mary Jo Ellis
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Roland Got
as House Boy
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Harry Harvey
as Shooting Gallery Concessionaire
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Earl Hodgins
as Hammer Concessionaire
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Jack Kenney
as Hot Dog Concessionaire
- Victor Laplace
- Margaret Marquis
- Mickey Martin
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Harry McCrillis
as Booper Barton
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Margaret McWade
as Old Lady
- Jack Mulhall
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Paul Whiteman & Orch.
as Themselves
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Henry Roquemore
as Man
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Virginia Sale
as Music Teacher
- Margaret Seddon
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Phil Silvers
as Pitchman
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Charles Smith
as Boy
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Leonard Sues
as Trumpet Player
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Billy Wayne
as Clown
- Sidney Miller
- Douglas Wilson
- Linda Johnson
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Lowden Adams
as Butler
- Jimmie Lucas
- Harry Lash
- Helen Seamon
- Paul Whiteman
