Summer Stock

Jane is trying to keep a farm running on her own. Her sister turns up with a theatre troupe wanting to convert the barn into a stage. Jane refuses, then, with debts mounting, strikes a deal: they can stay if they work the farm. From there rehearsals and field labour tangle together. This was Judy Garland's last film at MGM and her third and final pairing with Gene Kelly. Production stopped repeatedly because of her health, and at one point the producer considered abandoning the picture. Her contract with the studio ended in September of that year. The most famous stretch is the Get Happy number. A visibly different Garland appears in it, because it was filmed separately from the rest of the picture. The details of the story around it have grown into legend over the decades and some of them are disputed. Its flaw is the script. The put on a show in the barn formula was already worn out, and the musical numbers sit on top of the film rather than inside it. Who it is for: lovers of classic MGM musicals. Who it is not for: anyone who needs a story.