This was Judy Garland's last MGM film, and she had basically been a MGM lifer, being under contract there since 1937 at age 15. Judy was naturally always a little heavy, so MGM plied her with uppers to cause her to lose weight and then with sleeping pills at night so she could sleep through those uppers. The end result was a terrible substance abuse problem by the time she was 28 that MGM then fired her for. But I digress, mainly to let you know what she was working through in this final MGM musical film.

Jane Falbury (Judy Garland) works the family farm diligently, but she is in danger of losing it due to three bad harvests in a row, and then her two long time farm hands quit due to lack of being paid. Her younger sister Abigail (Gloria DeHaven) is due to come home to pitch in after failing in art school, and she does, but she brings with her the entire cast, crew, and props for her boyfriend Joe's (Gene Kelly) new musical show, which he plans to try out in her barn. Abigail somehow failed to tell her sister about that. At first Jane is going to make everybody leave, but then she changes her mind and lets the gang stay and put on their show as long as they pitch in on the farm. They have no idea how to do the simplest farming tasks, but they do their best, often with humorous results. And then Abigail abandons the show on a lark, leaving everybody in a lurch. Complications and a classic musical number starring Garland ensue.

This is not the best MGM musical out there, but it is enjoyable enough. Apparently Gene Kelly was instrumental in helping Judy Garland get through this, which is odd enough since he could be very harsh. After all he left Debbie Reynolds crying under a table after his withering criticism of her during the making of Singin' in the Rain. It's got a good cast including Phil Silvers shortly before he does so well on TV, and Marjorie Main steals every scene she is in as the farm housekeeper. Eddie Bracken is a good sport as he plays probably the most unappealing man in the history of the world as Jane's fiancee.

Theater people invade Judy Garland's farm; they want to put on a show in her barn, but will she let her guard down long enough to join them on stage? Since the picture opens with Garland in a musical sequence (performing "If You Feel Like Singing", this film's title overseas) and the information is dropped early on that her property is in dire straits financially, the answer (and the entire plot) is fairly obvious. Some of the numbers are wonderful, particularly the justifiably famous "Get Happy" show-stopper, but several just pad the running-time and the screenplay is second-hand stuff. Gene Kelly does an ingenious bit dancing with a newspaper, but his dumb yokel act with Phil Silvers is excruciating, as is their pseudo-gospel number "Dig For Your Dinner". **1/2 from ****

When "Summer Stock" began, my hopes for the film were dashed. This is because the lyrics to the opening tune were just awful--and an odd way to start a film. A friend who acts in musical theater was with me at the time and she also commented at how bad these lyrics were. Fortunately, I fought my strong desire to turn it off and saw the rest of the film. Now I am not saying it was a great film (or even close to it), but it was an enjoyable film.

Jane (Judy Garland) runs her family farm and dates a real drip, Orville (Eddie Bracken). Her life is rather predictable and she likes it that way. However, into her normal life comes a HUGE disturbance. Her annoying and self-centered sister, Abigail (Gloria DeHaven) neglected to tell her that she's invited an acting troop to come live with them and perform in their barn*. Considering Abigail was off acting and having fun and doesn't even work the farm, this is even worse--and Jane is determined to toss these folks off the property. However, the leader of the group, Joe (Gene Kelly) is awfully nice and quite charming and so Jane agrees that they can stay. However, Abigail is a budding prima donna and her antics MIGHT just result in the show being canceled. Can anyone guess who will come in to save the day?!

This film is entertaining and worth seeing. I must say, however, in the pantheon of MGM musicals it is only about average. In fact, I think the film was at its best when they were not singing. Many love the big show-stopping Garland number "Forget Your Troubles Come on Be Happy". It was decent but obviously filmed at a different time, as she looks about 30 pounds lighter. It also is about the only particularly memorable song in the film--though I did really like Kelly's dance number in the empty barn. Light and enjoyable--this one is worth seeing but quite formulaic and easy to predict. Well done...not great. It's a shame, as it was the last film she made on her MGM contract--too bad it couldn't have been more memorable.

*This is an odd case for Garland. In her movies with Mickey Rooney when they were a bit younger, they always were looking for a barn where they could put on a show. Here, however, she is the one with the barn and the folks are coming to her!