Jane Powell Double Feature: ‘A Date With Judy’ And ‘Two Weeks With Love’

Warner Archive provided me with free copies of the Blu-rays I reviewed in this article. The opinions I share are my own.

Coming of age has never been so dramatic as in these two MGM musicals where the song “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” wouldn’t have been out of place.

Richard Thorpe‘s A Date with Judy (1948)

The saying is “Man plans and God laughs,” but a better version would be: “Man plans and people like Elizabeth Taylor use words like ‘juvenile’ to describe your rendition of the song for the high school dance and it sends your confidence into a tailspin.” This is what happens to Judy (Powell) constantly in A Date with Judy, a film that is slightly too long (especially when it comes to the love triangle between Judy’s high school beau, Oggie (Scotty Beckett of Our Gang fame and sadly one of the cast members who died tragically young) and the nephew of the local soda jerk (Robert Stack) who’s somehow too old for her yet not(?) too old for Taylor’s Carol), but is so silly in a Riverdale way (Judy uses words like “jinkies” all the time) that it can’t be anything less than entertaining. Most of the drama, as hinted at earlier, revolves around the high school dance and Carol’s ability to manipulate everyone around her yet still come across as likable. This is because the film actually makes an effort to show why Carol behaves the way she does (namely that her wealthy father (Leon Ames) has no time for his children). This couldn’t be more different from Judy’s parents (the absolutely delightful Wallace Beery and Selena Royale). In one of the film’s best subplots, Beery is learning to dance the rhumba from dance teacher Carmen Miranda because his anniversary’s coming up and he wants to surprise his wife. Other highlights include Powell singing “It’s A Most Unusual Day” and Miranda’s “Cuanto Le Gusta” number.

As a bonus feature, Warner Archive have dug up an episode of the radio show, A Date With Judy, that this film is based on and it really shows the difference casting can make. The radio show’s Oggie is a lot more clawing, while the dad in the radio show comes across as more exasperated and grouchy. There’s also a Tom & Jerry cartoon called “Professor Tom” where Tom is up to his usual antics, but Jerry and an unnamed kitten are showing that cats and mice can be friends.

Roy Rowland‘s Two Weeks With Love (1950)

In a fantastic interview with Robert Osbourne that’s included as a bonus feature on this disc, Powell names Two Weeks With Love as her favorite role. It was also the first period piece she starred in. Two Weeks with Love shares a lot in common with A Date with Judy. From the parents (Louis Calhern and Ann Harding) who don’t understand Powell’s Patti (and, more importantly, won’t buy her the corset she needs to fit in) to the female rival (Phyllis Clark) who’s barely older than her but acts superior, to the way too old love interest (Ricardo Montalban) that the film agrees is too old for her… until suddenly it doesn’t.

Montalban’s Demi is fairly creepy but the film (perhaps not even intentionally) addresses the racism he races by these rich, white folks who immediately start talking about calling his counsel when they think he might be a threat to one of their daughters. Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter steal every scene they’re in as Patti’s sister, Melba, and the guy who’s in love with Patti but will finally realise Melba’s been standing there this whole time before the end. The best part about Two Weeks with Love are the dream sequences, which attempt to show what it’s like to be a teenage girl and the heightened emotions that pair so well with the musical genre.

Besides the interview with Powell, Warner Archive have included the Tex Avery cartoon, “Garden Gopher” as a bonus feature. A dog and a gopher get into it over a bone the dog wants to bury in the gopher’s territory but it’s very aggressive, to the point that it becomes unpleasant to watch.

A Date with Judy and Two Weeks with Love are available on Blu-ray now from Warner Archive and to purchase from Movie Zyng.